The Blair Witch Project

This is how a cult is created. With a good idea, a well-thought-out campaign, and an ending that will be discussed long after the credits. I recommend watching it for the first time alone at night, you will never forget it. The final three minutes are still the peak of horror for me. However, even after years, I have no intention of testing the effectiveness of the situation. (12/23/2004)

Had I seen the film at the time of its release, I would have been happier, but in 2023, I have to say that the greatest magic of The Blair Witch Project is somehow gone and it has suffered a similar fate as, say, the radio play of War of the Worlds. The film is certainly watchable, but it can't be enjoyed like it was in 1999, when it was something truly unique. My fault, I know, but on the other hand, I didn’t have this problem with the original King Kong, Hitchcock's Psycho, or Jaws. That said, I definitely can't deny it its thick atmosphere during the night scenes, where I really tried not to blink so I wouldn’t miss anything... Yeah... What wasn't there (to be seen) in the end. (05/03/2023)

I didn't find it scary at any point, and let’s not talk about the atmosphere and the actors. But I'm fascinated by how much the filmmakers, on such a non-existent budget backed up by the brilliant website of its time, caught naive people out with a fable about a real documentary. When I was at school, almost everyone believed it. (04/11/2005)

Rubbish that denies the assumption that a successful film should offer a distinctive story or a well though-out concept. The only artistic motivation of Blair Witch is to “look like real footage” and it succeeded only because viewers weren’t yet able to debunk that “authenticity”. If this film was released today, it wouldn’t make any waves. 90% of its runtime is people being lost in the woods and the remaining 10% is filled with some sort of tension when the wandering in the woods moves into a scary cabin. It has cult status and won’t deny it, but personally I hate it and it bores me like most other found-footage movies (with the exception of: Cloverfield, REC and Troll Hunter, and actually even Jákl’s Ghoul is quite better). 20% (01/17/2021)

Sam Raimi taught us over twenty years ago in Evil Dead that nothing good hides in the dark forests, and The Blair Witch Project adds that the biggest carriers of fear are people themselves. If this film is taken as a pure cinematic experiment that a "serious" filmmaker would avoid, it can be considered a "serious" spectacle. Otherwise, it can be seen quite off because as a whole, this film offers nothing beyond the trio of scared students, plenty of cursing, shaky handheld "eights" and "sixteens," and absolutely nothing else, not even music. Indeed, it's hard to believe that the cracking of branches, unknown giggling, or children's screams can evoke a sense of horror that makes one's hair stand on end. Just as the presentation of The Blair Witch Project is very personal, so too will each viewer's perspective be as personal, because everything there is to love about it can be criticized without any inhibitions. I’m giving it four stars for the original idea and also for the fact that in the final ten minutes, I almost crushed the remote control that I was holding in my hand. (08/14/2005)