The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Film: The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Stars: Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, Michael C. Williams

Director: Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez

Oscar History: No nominations

Snap Judgment Ranking: 5/5 stars

All October long, The Many Rantings of John is running a marathon dedicated to the Horror classics of the 1960's-90's that I'm seeing for the first time this month.  If you want to take a look at past titles from previous horror marathons (both this and other seasons) check out the links at the bottom of this article.

Where do you end a film retrospective?  We started our month-long look at horror of the post-Classical Hollywood era with Night of the Living Dead, a quintessential horror film that shaped a new generation of filmmakers.  It seems appropriate, therefore, that we end our month with a movie that ushered in another new wave of moviemaking.  The Blair Witch Project was not, it's worth remembering, the first lost footage film but it was the first horror move of its kind to blend that lost footage aspect with viral marketing.  The movie (I remember when it came out, and this was such a phenomenon, though my parents wouldn't let me see it), was the first movie to really use the internet to sell its story, using websites to make it seem like it was a proper documentary, and the figures in the film (they are, in fact, actors) were made to actually have disappeared in the northern Maryland woods, where the "Blair Witch" supposedly resided.  This would mark a new chapter in horror films, as found footage movies would suddenly become the rage (without Blair Witch, you aren't getting Cloverfield or Paranormal Activity).  It would also be a new chapter in independent cinema, marked by just how good the movie itself is (and how it would become one of the most profitable films of all-time).

(Spoilers Ahead) The movie unfolds, with the exception of a title card saying that this is lost footage of three filmmakers who were never found, entirely through camera footage.  It starts a bit jarring, trying to get used to the bouncing camera (there were times I had to triple blink as I was getting a bit dizzy), but eventually you settle in for the story of director Heather (Donahue) and her two cameramen/assistants Josh (Leonard) and his buddy Mike (Williams).  They commence in a small town, discussing the many crimes that have been committed in the city, but settle largely on the legend of the Blair Witch, who apparently haunts the woods nearby, though the more chilling story is perhaps of the actual serial killer who murdered seven children, making one stand in the corner as he killed the rest, in the 1940's.  As they go deeper into the woods, they begin to see things that must be recent, including a den of stick figures in the middle of the woods.  They are also harassed by what initially seems like townspeople pulling a prank, but eventually it appears it's something more sinister, especially after Josh disappears, with only his tongue & teeth wrapped in a part of his shirt left behind (strongly implying that they've killed him).  The film ends with the filmmakers coming across a cabin that resembles the serial killer's from the beginning of the film, even though that building burned down over 50 years ago, and with the camera cutting out as Heather, our "final girl" as it were, falls to the ground, the last shot being a hunched Mike looking into the corner...just like the serial killer's victims.

The movie's best aspects are the strange juxtaposition of the expansive, never-ending woods compared to the claustrophobia of our characters.  Like all good horror movies, our three leads seem impervious to their surroundings.  These figures aren't particularly likable, it's true, which may have been where the vitriol for this film initially came from (more on that in a second).  Heather is overconfident, and if you think about it for longer than about two seconds you realize that the characters themselves are not making a "good" movie even though the filmmakers think they are (which makes the fact that they're risking their lives all the more pointless), and both guys are obnoxious & frequently a bit misogynistic.  But that helps as we go, as they make believable mistakes that aren't remotely out-of-character, like Mike purposefully abandoning the map or Heather insisting on not returning the same way they came (rather than admit she got them lost).  As the film continues, it's clear there's no escape from the endless woods, which makes the film feel in part like a dream where you never reach the door you're chasing, knowing that it will continue forever & ever, until the characters find the house...and their doom.

The movie was critically polarizing at the time, with audiences undecided on the film while critics were more kind.  Watching it back now, it's impossible not to use the word "masterpiece" even if people clearly weren't ready for it yet in 1999.  The movie is so well-structured, never indulging in, say, a respite from the woods (there were supposedly going to be scenes showing the aftermath or prologue of people looking at these characters, which would've killed the whole "march into hell" vibe the movie has going for it), and the acting is uniformly good (Donahue getting the Razzie for Best Actress, and this film being the best-reviewed movie of all-time to be nominated for Best Picture at the Razzies, shows just how pointless that organization truly is).  

The best part of it, though, is that knockout of an ending.  We get no confirmation of what is happening, what paranoia is in their heads & what is real. Though in the original script they wanted to show the Blair Witch or a figure in the woods, they never do.  We never get any confirmation of who is doing this to the filmmakers, if any of them actually die, or if anyone is even out there or if they're just being haunted by the dark.  The only evidence is the bloodied tongue & tooth, and the shaking of the tent.  The movie's ending, hearkening back to the serial killer's house that shouldn't exist anymore (it burned down), a story that the audience likely had forgotten before it showed up, and we realize alongside the characters in the film what they have been led to...it's genuinely terrifying.  I was advised to watch this in a darkened room and to put down my cell phone, and it was SO worth it-I was gripping my chair.  One of the scariest, most chilling payoffs I've seen in a movie...and the perfect sendoff to our series.  Happy Halloween!

Past Horror Month Reviews (Listed Chronologically): The Golem, The Phantom of the Opera, Dracula, Frankenstein, Freaks, The Mummy, The Old Dark House, The Invisible Man, The Black Cat, The Bride of Frankenstein, Mad Love, The Raven, Werewolf of London, Dracula's Daughter, Son of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man Returns, The Mummy's Hand, The Invisible Woman, The Wolf Man, Cat People, The Ghost of Frankenstein, Invisible Agent, The Mummy's Curse, The Mummy's Tomb, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, Phantom of the Opera, Son of Dracula, The House of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man's Revenge, The Mummy's Ghost, The Uninvited, House of Dracula, She-Wolf of London, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man, It Came from Outer Space, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy, Revenge of the Creature, The Creature Walks Among Us, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Attack of the 50-Foot Woman, The Blob, Village of the Damned, The Innocents, The Masque of the Red Death, Night of the Living Dead, The Wicker Man, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Carrie, Dawn of the Dead, Halloween, The Amityville Horror, When a Stranger Calls, Friday the 13th, The Evil Dead, Poltergeist, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Child's Play, Scream