The Blair Witch Project (1999)

3.5 STARS

Directed by Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez
Produced by Robin Cowie, Gregg Hale
Written by Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez

Starring Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, Michael C. Williams

Runtime 1 hour, 26 min.
Worldwide Gross $248,639,099
Genres Horror, Suspense, Drama

Remember this film? It's hard not to. In case you don't know already, The Blair Witch Project is about three student filmmakers who go off into the woods to shoot a documentary about "The Blair Witch" of Burkittsville, Maryland. They start off by interviewing local townspeople, drinking beer and chilling out like normal college students. But once they wander off into the woods, things swiftly change.

After shooting for about a day, the team starts to get lost. The crew (Leonard, Williams) get restless and angered by the misdirection of their leader (Donahue). By the second night in the woods, they begin to be hassled by something in the Maryland woods. The harassment is small at first - small noises and such. At first, they believe someone from the town has followed them. But as the situation gets deeper and creepier, they subtly start to believe it's something else.

There are many faults in this film. First of all, it seems like they're always bitching about something. And the drama is incredibly overplayed. Needless to say, this dramatic arguing gets very annoying. But this may not be the fault of the actors. The directors made the decision to expose their ensemble to a week in the woods with rationed food and no break, which of course doesn't ensure the best performances possible.


Something else I have a problem with is the pacing. Editors Myrick and Sánchez barely give the audience a chance to adjust to each new twist in the plot. This is mainly a problem in the segues between day and night. There never seems to be a sense of time. There's just "day" and "night". One second they're talking in broad daylight and next, they're running through the forest in the dark.

Now onto the good in this film. First, it's unlike many other horror films of its time. Compared to the "slash and smash" gore fest typically seen in horror films and commonplace in 90s cinema, this film takes a more Hitchcock approach to things. Throughout the story, we never see hard, concrete evidence of the film's villain until the end of the film. And in a way like Hitchcock's own Psycho, the audience always seems to be guessing what exactly is going on. In the end, this adds to the film's suspense and to how effective it is.

One thing that to this day continues to amaze me is the strength of the film's actors. Though not Oscar-worthy by any means, the performances in this film are at times stellar because of one little thing. They are improvised. In parts of the film, it seems that the film is entirely scripted, while instead, the actors were required to create their own dialogue. This makes some of the scenes in Witch incredibly strong. The "motivation" scene between Leonard and Donahue is so effective, it's hard to believe that it was made up on the spot.

A monologue that most people remember is the "apology" scene by Donahue. Though her lines are obviously cheesy, you've got to give this girl some credit. Here's your motivation: you're tired, you've been in the woods for seven days, your directors are questionably insane, you're getting less and less food each day and now you have to make up an incredible monologue of which will drive the film towards its end. Stressful? I'd say so. And Donahue achieves her goal with flying colors. Who doesn't remember the apology scene after watching it? It's incredible. It's safe for me to say that Heather Donahue is an amazing improvisational actress. Without her, this film would not be what it is.

Another brilliant thing about The Blair Witch Project is its cinematography. Though the actors (who also doubled as camera operators) had little to no experience with a camera, there are many beautiful shots in this film. One is the infamous apology scene. Throughout the scene, Donahue's face is only half shown, bringing the focus of the shot straight to her eyes. After the film was released, Donahue admits this as a complete mistake. Supposedly, she thought her whole face was in the frame the whole time. Nevertheless, it makes for a great shot.

But this isn't just a one-time occurrence. There's other nice shots to be seen here, from capturing just a breath of cold air in a tense scene to cropping a character's face in a way that a large amount of tension is showcased. However, the actors' lack of prior knowledge sadly works against them as well. Many scenes are unbelievably shaky and out-of-focus. Though this sometimes works effectively, it often doesn't. The camera's shakiness can often get tiring.
One thing to keep in mind about this film is its success at the box office. With an initial investment of about $22,000, the film made almost $249,000,000 - 11,000 times its value. To be fair, after being bought at the Sundance Film Festival by Artisan Entertainment, $25 million was spent in marketing. This was no doubt a catalyst of the film's success. However, the box office receipts still make Witch one of the most successful independent films of all time.

All in all, The Blair Witch Project is a great film to watch. Though it sometimes takes itself too seriously, it often is entertaining enough to slide by. It's cheesy and annoying. But you've got to love it. Even if it doesn't scare you, there's decent acting and at times brilliant cinematography (serendipitous as it may be) to be seen here. And if you give it a chance, the film can be quite frightening as well. This makes Witch a decent movie and an intriguing one at that.

The Blair Witch Project is rated R for language.