The Blair Witch Project (1999)

If you follow me on Instagram than you will have seen my post saying I was prolonging watching this for as long as possible. The reason for this is because I felt like this was going to be the scariest one yet. We have watched films with little jump scares or tense feelings or even gore but something about this film being all hand shot makes it feel so much more intimate. I'm sure that was the whole point, the more intimate the more scary because it truly feels like we are watching found footage of something that happened. It was also the first time I found myself looking away from the screen because I was scared of what was going to be shown. I have been trying my best throughout to not look away during tense moments to give the film full justice and I would say I have done pretty well so far. The only time previously I looked away was during The Thing (1982) and even then I only flinched away because I am squeamish and it was making me feel queasy. But here I was looking away because I didn't want to see whatever was going to be shown.

To specify I do want it to be known this only happened at the end! I was not hiding, looking from over my blanket the whole film. In fact most of the film was an easy watch and then the final five minutes were the worst part. It felt like the film was riding on a level 2 on my fear meter and then the second they entered that fuck ass house it raised to a 7 before hitting max level when the running picked up and high pitch scream rang out. That shit was awful! I will say it does go to show that sometimes the best outcome for creating a scary scene is often the unknown. I can emphasize that as I have a fear of the sea, the dark and space. All elements that are very scary because you can never be certain of what is there and it is something this film really prioritised on. I would say the overall fear or mystery factor only raised for me from the house onwards, there were obviously moments created to raise fear like introducing the twig creations or the night noises. However that did little to frighten me so it was only really the final scene onwards which in relation to everything does seem very slow and then extremely sudden. But I also don't want to say I wish it was scarier sooner because I really don't think I would have survived longer than ten minutes in that house.

I also think the film did a really good job feeling so accurate to life. In a lot of films that have attempted to recreate realistic conversations there comes this underlying element of cringe in which the writers have tried too hard to be realistic that it makes it unrealistic. It becomes a horse shoe in a way, where too little is unrealistic but then too much is too cringe. That's why we have so many skits of gen z always on their phones yelling slay at every scenario- it turns into an exaggeration. But this did a really good job at keeping it in the realm of believability that we could just as easily join that conversation. I would be interested to know how the film itself came to be, I'm sure I can watch a documentary somewhere, as I have heard the budget was very low. Which in a way makes sense and does give reason for the shaky camera movement I mean I don't think there was a single static camera that I can remember. I was surprised by that in a way as I was sure they would have movement from the main characters creating the documentary but then I thought they'd have a single static shot every now and then from in the distance as if they were being watched but there never was. The point I am trying to make is that I would not have been surprised if they truly sent out the main characters into the forest with a basic bullet point list of key points in the movie and allowed them to get on with it, that's how down to earth it felt.

Even the very beginning when they were joking about and kissing the start slate and one character bit it. So unnecessary and yet so real. I know people in my film class that would do shit like that. It wasn't just the appearance of the film but even smaller character details that added to one bigger picture. I would say in terms of realism I wish they had included at least one character during the town interviews that had no clue what they were talking about. I suppose it was giving small town vibes so everyone knows everything but I do find it would have been better to even have a five seconds clip of them asking if they knew it and one person encouraging it saying 'oh yeah! Yeah, yeah... I have no idea what that is'. Just the complete let down of clearly not getting the footage they want because I know from experience that takes a lot of time to get right. And surely they weren't going upto people and every single one had something to say, or even people they went up to film who then refused to be on camera. But then I do have to encourage that the ones who were shown did a great job at mixing the words of a story. I believe there was a historical murder that took place and that is what supposedly made the town haunted. But aside from that story everyone else has a different story of what exactly is haunting the woods. From witches performing rituals to hairy women creatures to moving mists they never lined up which I thought was fun because of course over time or through word of mouth from different people stories they are going to get mixed.

The only other negative thing in terms of filming I suppose would be filming the arguments. As Josh later states it makes sense that Heather would film every interaction outside of the intended documentary project because it feels like escaping reality. Which is true, the same was watching YouTube through a screen films like a fake realm no matter how realistic of a day they may be blogging. The use of having a screen between you separates the emotional aspects of what is happening and also allows you to have an additional focus to distract you. However at the start of the movie it has no reason for filming the behind the scenes elements. The occasional fooling around with friends I can understand but it happened so many times it made it feel more like a vlog which I would understand more than framing it as a project. Also a quick follow up, how long did camera batteries used to last. The film took place over multiple days and yet there was never once worry of low battery or even mentioning switching them over. If that's the case and they have batteries that last for days I need to get me one of them cameras!

In opposition to this I do think Heather was smart to at least respect the elements of the woods as a precaution. I do enjoy watching ghost hunting and I always get frustrated when they treat it as something stupid. Whether or not I find a place haunted or with any affiliation to the acult you will find me giving the place the up most respect I can offer because nothing is scarier than pissing of a ghost and having that be the first and last interaction you have with the afterlife before joing it yourself. So when Heather bent down and fixed the pile of rocks that were kicked over and 'kissed' it as an apology I was so glad. Again even if there is no correlation and it truly is a pile of rocks I'm glad she didn't take that chance and hey she wasn't the one that got kidnapped so clearly it worked somehow. Speaking of kidnapped, I understand that Josh was targeted because of his clothes and bags specifically being stolen and messed up but what was the reason for slime. It seemed to add to the disorientation of never having a set answer for what's in the wood because I was never once told there would be slime. I thought slime was related to aliens so was it aliens in the wood? Again I'm glad there wasn't an answer because I prefer the mystery over a clear picture but it does leave me with questions.

In summary I did like the film, I thought it was fine. I probably wouldn't watch it against not because of the end fear but because it was such a slow build up. There also wasn't any stand out part for me personally besides that ending scene so for me to watch it I feel like I would just feel like I am facetimeing friends for an hour as they're lost in the woods. Again I don't want to put down the film it isn't by far the worst thing I've ever seen I would just say it isn't my taste. If the characters were made a touch more dimensional and we saw an insight into their personality such as one specifically being the comedic friend it may have made it more worth while. Or even if they stretched out the house a bit longer and made it they found the house at sun set and decided to set up camp only to hear those screams in the middle of the night, that would have changed it for me. But all things considered it wasn't the worst film just perhaps not for me and that's okay. Everyone has their own individual preferences.