Classics Corner: The Blair Witch Project (10th Anniversary)

IN 1999, the landscape of the horror movie genre was changed completely with the release of The Blair Witch Project.
A decade after this groundbreaking movie hit the multiplexes; it is still widely regarded as one of the most important films of its generation.
At the same time, it remains a much-maligned picture by critics and moviegoers alike. I decided to dig it out of my collection in order to give it another whirl and so, ten years later, this review was found...

Before talking about the film itself, it is important to make mention of the hyperbole which surrounded the picture before its release.
The film's producers capitalised on the incredible internet boom taking place at the time, suggesting via online marketing that the events shown in the film – three filmmakers venturing into the woods to make a documentary about the 'Blair Witch' – were genuine, and that the footage had been recovered following their mysterious disappearance.
The movie and its events are entirely fictional, however, but praise must still be lavished upon those behind the Blair Witch Project for attempting such a daring campaign with which to market their creation. This bold movement paid off, and the film is one of the most profitable of all time, estimated to have made around $10,000 for every single dollar spent.
The film is shot exclusively on handheld cameras – a style which has since been emulated by more recent movies such as Cloverfield and Quarantine – and consists of a mixture of colour and black and white film.
In it, film students Heather Donahue, Michael Williams and Joshua Leonard are shown making a documentary about the Blair Witch, a legendary creature rumoured to haunt the woods near Burkitsville, Maryland.
As the film progresses, the trio become lost in the woods, where a number of strange occurrences – with a possibly supernatural element – begin to take place.
The plot is never entirely tied up, and the audience is required to use their own imagination with regards to what has taken place, a factor which only adds to the truly terrifying nature of the movie.
It has since been revealed that the actors were subjected to a genuinely frightening ordeal while filming, often being deprived of food and suffering harassment through the night, meaning the terror depicted on screen is authentic!
The film may not boast a Hollywood style, every-question-answered ending, but that is exactly why the Blair Witch Project holds such importance in the fright-flick genre.
It was vastly different, hugely audacious and it remains a cut above many of both its predecessors and successors to this day.