The Blair Witch Project
Australian Rating: M15+, downgraded from a previous MA15+
Starring: Heather Donahue,
Oh the hype . . . such marvelous, unavoidable hype! Who could have NOT heard of The Blair Witch Project before it was released? If you didn't, you may have been hiding under a rock, which was buried beneath a kilometre of dirt on a large spaceborne body in the Asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter!
Anyway, "did it live up to the hype?" I hear you ask anxiously. Well, yes and no.
First of all, the film was shamelessly, repeatedly falsely promoted. It is not a horror film really. There are those who say it is, but I would like to meet someone who was actually scared my TBWP and beat them over the head several times. Forget the movie posters that sported quotes from some critics, claiming that it was "scary as hell". One accurate description on a movie poster was "one of the creepiest films since The Exorcist". 'Creepy' is the right word. TBWP is effectively very creepy and eerie. It has distinct, obvious atmosphere.
The problem with the false promotion was it drove movie-goers to the cinemas expecting to get something other than what they did. TBWP is a psychological journey into fear, essentially. We watch as three young people, Heather - armed with a black and white camera, Mike - the sound man and Josh - with a colour camera, set out into the woods to make a documentary about the legend of the Blair Witch. The film itself is presented to the audience as a documentary, an opening paragraph explaining that the footage you are about to see was recovered from the cameras of the three, a year after they went missing. The earlier scenes are surprisingly funny, but slowly the humour diffuses out of the story as Heather, Mike and Josh find themselves lost in the woods, with someone making strange noises at night, and leaving odd piles of sticks in front of their tents.
There is no blood, no gore. The tenseness of the situation is borne out through the stress upon the relationships between the three documentary makers. They start their project with a carefree nature and a sense of adventure - this is quickly replaced by fear and aggression as blame is laid, when the map does not help them from getting lost.
What is most remarkable about The Blair Witch Project is the performances. Particular Heather Donahue, who is essentially the central character. Her solitary confession to the camera (pictured above), a close-up of her face, towards the end of the film is highly emotional and with extreme dramatic potential and a definite highlight of this film and a very memorable moment in cinema history I would wager. The characters are surprisingly deep and developed for a film only 90 minutes long. We get to know them rather quickly and then watch as the situation grows grim.
The Blair Witch Project may be a disappointment, depending on how you perceived it to be, before you even saw it. It's not horror, it's tense, creepy, highly-atmospheric drama, based around the relationships of the characters and the fear of the unknown. A disturbing, peculiar modern thriller?
Whatever the case, one word would suffice.
Excellent. A rather good conclusion too...
Last updated: 15 July, 2000