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Blair Witch

Posted by :MickMac On : September 17, 2016

Category: Psychological Horror, Supernatural Horror, Found Footage

“Once again that fear of being lost in the woods has been reignited!”

In 1999, the world had a bomb dropped on it when that iconic classic independent film The Blair Witch Project was released. It changed the way horror films were made and brought forth what is now known as “found footage” horror. Nowadays, this genre of horror is everywhere, and although some have been better than others, none will ever have the impact that Project did all those years ago. Since then, we all wondered if a proper sequel would ever surface. Book of Shadows was a failed attempt, and most have tried to forget about it.

This past spring, a teaser trailer was released for a film entitled The Woods. Eventually, it would be revealed to be the next film in the series simply titled Blair Witch. Written by Simon Barrett and directed by Adam Wingard, both known for the V/H/S series and Your Next, Blair Witch shows us all why being lost in the woods is still a terrifying thing!

THE PLOT

James (James Allen McCune) has made a startling discovery: a recent YouTube video of some found footage that could be a link in the mysterious vanishing of his older sister Heather, which happened years ago when he was a young boy. He wants some answers and decides to head to those same woods in the hopes that Heather is still out there. James and his friends Lisa (Callie Hernandez), Peter (Brandon Scott), and Ashley (Corbin Reed) all head out to Burkittsville, Maryland. Upon arriving, they locate Lane (Wes Robinson) and Talia (Valorie Curry), the local people who uploaded the video in question, in hopes of finding out where they found the tape. Lane and Talia agree to lead them to the location, as long as they’re allowed to accompany the group out of their own curiosity of the local legends of the Blair Witch.

Once they all arrive, things quickly go wrong when Ashley becomes injured, and it becomes apparent that things are not what they seem. As the hours go by, it now seems like they are lost, confused, and possibly being watched and hunted by an unseen force that drives them all to the brink of insanity. This planned out search and rescue mission has now become a fight for survival with seemingly no positive outcome for anyone involved!

SHOULD YOU SEE IT?

I had been looking forward to this film for quite some time. After first viewing the teaser trailer months ago, I was immediately intrigued. Another found footage horror film….one of my favorite genres! Despite the heavy negative reviews, my wife and I went into it optimistically. I wasn’t expecting it to break new ground, or have the same powerful impact as the original Blair Witch Project, but I was still pleasantly surprised. It’s hard to say if it’s a Remake, Reboot, or Sequel. A little bit of all three, I guess. It pays homage to the original quite a bit, but with its own spin, and is slightly modernized with newer filming technology. My only complaints would have to be the many, many predictable jump scares and the overuse of loud noises/screaming, along with a bit too many POV edits. It became a little unnerving at times, and the shaky camera effect was a little distracting. Then again, that somewhat made the tension and frantic actions of the actors seem believable.

All in all, I would say it was entertaining and definitely creepy at times. The last 20 minutes or so were very tense and full of heart-pounding moments with an interesting twist to the whole plot! To say it’s terrifying is totally subjective. Nowadays, it’s tough for a movie to truly scare the crap out of me, but I will say that Blair Witch definitely has its moments. All in all, fun fright flick!

Not rated yet!

Blair Witch

There's something evil hiding in the woods.

20161 h 30 min

Metadata

Certification R

Director Adam Wingard

Producer Keith Calder, Roy Lee, Steven Schneider, Jessica Wu

Runtime 1 h 30 min

Release Date 15 September 2016

Images

Actors

Starring: Corbin Reid, Wes Robinson, Valorie Curry, James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez, Brandon Scott

Trailer

The Blair Witch Project

Posted by :MickMac On : July 15, 2016

Category: Uncategorized

“Some legends are true…and better left unknown.”

When the term “found footage horror” is brought up, the first to do it was Cannibal Holocaust. In 1999, a low budget independent film changed the face of cinema and reinvented “found footage” into modern day pop culture. That movie is none other than The Blair Witch Project! Shot entirely on hand-held cameras by the actors themselves and filmed on a very low budget, it became one of the highest grossing indie films of all time. Co-written and co-directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, it has become an instant cult classic and will go down as one of the scariest films of all time. The plot is simple. Three documentary film students disappear into the woods, and a year later their footage was found.

THE PLOT

Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael Williams are three student filmmakers heading to the woods of Burkittsville, Maryland to make a documentary of the legend of the Blair Witch. Before heading into the woods, the three first decide to interview some of the locals and get their insight and impressions on the Blair Witch legend. Most of what they say is somewhat silly, but still a little eerie. Regardless if it’s just a legend or not, the townspeople strongly believe in it and advise against anyone entering the woods to investigate. After learning of the legend and ready to get started, the trio enthusiastically makes their way into the woods leaving the car behind on a back-road. Following a map that Heather is sure is accurate, they head deep into the woods to film a few locations before returning to the car. As night falls and it starts to rain, they decide to tent up for the night, but neither of them gets much sleep. The following morning, they all claim to have heard strange noises during the night, and Josh swears he heard a cackling.

As they head deeper into the woods searching for an old graveyard, eventually they come to the realization that they’re lost. Despite Heather’s optimism that they are fine, the group starts to fall apart and succumb to hunger, exhaustion, and paranoia of the creepy woods around them. With each passing night, more and more strange sounds and occurrences bring the three to the brink of insanity, as now they aren’t just fighting with each other but fighting for their own lives!

SHOULD YOU SEE IT?

Not much can be said that hasn’t already been said of this film. It has become notorious for its influence on modern day found footage horror. When I went to see this movie in the theater, I knew very little about it. I truly thought what I was watching was real! The audience was stunned, and we were all very silent when exiting the screening room. During the time it was released, a couple of friends and I had been late night wood walking every weekend out of boredom. Not much going on in our small town, so it was a least something to do. After viewing this movie though, neither of us did that anymore! Obviously, this film had that kind of effect on me. So, in my opinion, The Blair Witch Project is a great film, and one that will stand the test of time.

Not rated yet!