A flashier update to the mind-bending original
The Blair Witch Project in 1999 was a game changing approach to horror. Not only did it make the found footage genre mainstream*, it altered marketing and budgets for aspiring producers and directors. The entire pitch was that three amateur filmmakers went into the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, and disappeared. Their footage revealed that they met a dismal end couresy of the titular villain.
The film is solid but the marketing was masterful. Potential viewers had to question whether Heather, Mike and Josh were real people and that they died AND that there was camera footage to prove it. They (we) flocked to theaters. The little horror project with a $60,000 budget grossed over $248 million. The success of the film should have launched a franchise similar to Friday the 13th or Elm Street, but instead, the studio completely botched the approach to a sequel. The resulting Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 was a disaster.
However, others picked up the mantle in the name of the found footage subgenre. The most notable are Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield. The technique even expanded to sci-fi with films like District 9 and Chronicle. It wasn’t until 2016 that the franchise would attempt a continuation/reboot/update approach in the form of Blair Witch.
The movie is pretty close to a remake, but with the plot moving to Heather’s relative, James. It also changes the recording technology to mostly digital and adds in drones. The formula is identical to the original. There’s a very small cast. The iconic stickmen and piles of stones are still key to the story. The photography switches back and forth between two primary cameras. Heather’s mention is actually largely the only thing preventing this from being a straight remake.
The movie does pick up in the last few minutes with interesting usage of both lighting and claustrophobia. Outside of that, director Adam Wingard stays close to the aspects that made the original film such a success. There is more on-screen violence which is as much an expectation of the modern audience as a writing choice. (Look at the wild difference in on-screen and off-screen violence in the 1973 and 2003 versions of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.)
One interesting trick that Wingard and the crew put into place are the quick clips that intersect some of the scenes. These clips include single frame images from the original film but they’re largely subliminal. Wingard would also use air horns to get the jump scare reactions from his actions. Unlike the original, this movie was completely scripted.
Blair Witch is fine. It’s an average meeting that keeps the flames of nostalgia burning for fans of the franchise. It’s followed by a 2019 video game that is also trying to build a new generation of fans. Unfortunately, it’s also average. The movie doesn’t introduce anything groundbreaking, but it has enough hold your breath moments to be entertaining. In the interim, fans will continue to wait for something new and visionary in the name of the Blair Witch.
*(I didn’t say invented, I said mainstreamed. I’ve seen Cannibal Holocaust. – nk)