Blair Witch
- Thread starter Jahman
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In God we trust.
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I must admit I think it's one of the most over-hyped films ever. Just seemed based on the premise that if you film something indistinctly and jump the camera around, while the actors hyperventilate or scream: Oh my God, what's THAT?!--that's scary.
Nope, didn't scare me at all.
Films that did scare me were the old B&W films 'The Haunting', and 'Dead of Night'.
Nope, didn't scare me at all.
Films that did scare me were the old B&W films 'The Haunting', and 'Dead of Night'.
*~m3g*@n~*
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I found it about as scary as somebody shining a torch under their face and doing a ghost impression with that ghostly moaning noise.
I agree with sebright, I thought it was very weak.
I found it just a very boring film.
I agree with sebright, I thought it was very weak.
I found it just a very boring film.
Rockin Chocolate
New member
I found it boring too. Fell asleep in the middle of it 
hurleygurlee
New member
I hated it. I don't believe there is a more perfect example in the history of film of hype over substance. I recall going to the cinema and when filing in, everyone was actually a little nervous as they had heard of people fainting when it was released in the US. My brother even advised me not to go in case it traumatised me, as it had been reported in the papers as the scariest film ever made - one even ran a campaign to have it banned.
At the end of the film as the credits rolled, normally people will get up and start to leave. No-one did. Not one person in over 300 in the auditorium could believe it was over. They were all still waiting for the terrifying scares that were promised. When leaving, listening to others comments, almost everyone was of the same opinion, it wasn't scary, it wasn't creepy, and at just 80 minutes they felt short-changed. It was just an all round terrible film.
At the end of the film as the credits rolled, normally people will get up and start to leave. No-one did. Not one person in over 300 in the auditorium could believe it was over. They were all still waiting for the terrifying scares that were promised. When leaving, listening to others comments, almost everyone was of the same opinion, it wasn't scary, it wasn't creepy, and at just 80 minutes they felt short-changed. It was just an all round terrible film.
This film seems to so strangely polarise opinion!
I'm not being remotely macho but I don't scare easily. Don't know why, maybe i just can't suspend disbelief enough to really get into being scared.
Except for this film.
It is the only film to even remotely put the frights on me and it did it superbly, it's so completely unsettling and completely against type as a non-shock film.
The children shouting around the tent, their mate calling out, the teeth in the bag.. whoah...nope, don't like that one bit!
Maybe it depenRAB on what your expectation was going in? It's v definitely not a visceral shock/horror film and if that's what you're expecting then, yeah, it's a complete let down.
Still wanted the silly bint to die mind you.
I'm not being remotely macho but I don't scare easily. Don't know why, maybe i just can't suspend disbelief enough to really get into being scared.
Except for this film.
It is the only film to even remotely put the frights on me and it did it superbly, it's so completely unsettling and completely against type as a non-shock film.
The children shouting around the tent, their mate calling out, the teeth in the bag.. whoah...nope, don't like that one bit!
Maybe it depenRAB on what your expectation was going in? It's v definitely not a visceral shock/horror film and if that's what you're expecting then, yeah, it's a complete let down.
Still wanted the silly bint to die mind you.
Future Reflections
New member
we went to see this movie at the cinema and everyone that came out of it was like "wtf, that was cr*p".
only after my o/h buying it on dvd and us rewatching it have I come to appreciate it - it is pretty creepy!
the final scenes are the worst...ergh, makes me shudder even now!!!
only after my o/h buying it on dvd and us rewatching it have I come to appreciate it - it is pretty creepy!
the final scenes are the worst...ergh, makes me shudder even now!!!
K
<KING>
Guest
What happens at the end of this film?
I saw about 5 minutes of it when it was on Channel 4 but couldn't sit through a whole film of people screaming with snotty noses etc.
I saw about 5 minutes of it when it was on Channel 4 but couldn't sit through a whole film of people screaming with snotty noses etc.
iDrinkemAlDai
New member
You're best reading the plot from Wikipedia here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blair_witch#Plot - it's pretty accurate. The ending doesn't make sense unless you've read the bit about the legend.
That was one of the problems for me with Blair Witch. It often looked staged and produced, enough to make it clearly not "found" footage as claimed. That might not have mattered without the hype and pretence.
The second problem for me was that it mostly consists of American kiRAB bickering with each other. I don't need to watch that. Not enjoyable. And the inevitable stupidity, eg of throwing away the map.
The third problem is that, basically, it doesn't stand alone. In order to understand the film you have to visit the website and read up on the background of the witch and characters. Without that you just have a bunch of weird stuff happening. It's easy to make up weird stuff if it doesn't need to make sense or have an explanation.
The fourth reason is that I prefer SF to Horror anyway, so I'm antipathetic to the genre from the start. I like seeing the monster. BWP is full of dodgy camera-work that makes it hard to tell what's going on. I know other people enjoy that as "suspenseful" or whatever, but to me it's just a cop-out.
I did like the ending, and the whole thing became more interesting when I'd read up on the background.
The second problem for me was that it mostly consists of American kiRAB bickering with each other. I don't need to watch that. Not enjoyable. And the inevitable stupidity, eg of throwing away the map.
The third problem is that, basically, it doesn't stand alone. In order to understand the film you have to visit the website and read up on the background of the witch and characters. Without that you just have a bunch of weird stuff happening. It's easy to make up weird stuff if it doesn't need to make sense or have an explanation.
The fourth reason is that I prefer SF to Horror anyway, so I'm antipathetic to the genre from the start. I like seeing the monster. BWP is full of dodgy camera-work that makes it hard to tell what's going on. I know other people enjoy that as "suspenseful" or whatever, but to me it's just a cop-out.
I did like the ending, and the whole thing became more interesting when I'd read up on the background.
That's another problem I had with the film. On the one hand they are supposed to be getting chased through the wooRAB, so you might expect the camera work to be rough. But as you say it's so bad you don't know what's going on. On the other hand if you're getting chased through the wooRAB, are you really going to carry a heavy camera around and keep filming?
In terms of viewable camera work and realism it fails on both counts.
In terms of viewable camera work and realism it fails on both counts.
The Blair Witch Project is brilliant.... but not for the film itself. I think the film is awful, I really do.
It really just goes to show you how gullible millions of people can be. Good for the director and producers! They are all rolling in it now. I whole heartily congratulate them on what is probably the biggest well orchestrated con in the history of cinema.
I never believed anything regarding it from the get go, and never bothered to see it on the big-screen, I am surprised I got through the whole film on DVD. A film like Blair Witch would of tanked today, no question, the internet wasn't even half of what it is today back in 1998/99.
It really just goes to show you how gullible millions of people can be. Good for the director and producers! They are all rolling in it now. I whole heartily congratulate them on what is probably the biggest well orchestrated con in the history of cinema.
I never believed anything regarding it from the get go, and never bothered to see it on the big-screen, I am surprised I got through the whole film on DVD. A film like Blair Witch would of tanked today, no question, the internet wasn't even half of what it is today back in 1998/99.
xxforeverrxx
New member
You've missed the point of the film. It wasn't filmed or acted by professionals; they were film students. The actual film makers set up the whole thing, including all the mythology on the internet, and sent the students into the wooRAB with a camera, then deliberately freaked them out. The only piece of "direction" the students were given was that when they found the old house they were to go down to the basement and stand in the corner. That ending was really really scary IMO - one of the most frightening scenes in the history of horror films.
The "hype" was an integral piece of the project. Many people make the mistake of thinking that the Blair Witch Project is just the film.
I thought it was a great piece of work!
The "hype" was an integral piece of the project. Many people make the mistake of thinking that the Blair Witch Project is just the film.
I thought it was a great piece of work!
Funny because when I was filing out the cinema I heard any number of people saying they didn't get the ending, and just thought the guy in the corner was having a pee. OK, that could be put down to them missing or forgetting the legend told near the start of the film (although the number of people saying it suggests not), but even though I remembered the legend, I didn't find it remotely scary.
funky fresh man
New member
When i saw this film first time around i thought it was over-hyped and over-rated, and not scary at all (especially in comparison with the Japanese film "The Ring" which had scared the bejeezus out of me!)
However i saw it again last night and this time I thought it was surprisingly good, in fact I enjoyed watchng it. It wasn't scary as such, but the acting was surprisingly good and it was a little creepy. And the concept was certainly original.
As for the ending, well my interpretation was that some evil spirit had managed to possess them all. I thought that maybe was Josh was possessed first and that he then lured the others to the house where he attacked them. But I guess it was left deliberately vague...
However i saw it again last night and this time I thought it was surprisingly good, in fact I enjoyed watchng it. It wasn't scary as such, but the acting was surprisingly good and it was a little creepy. And the concept was certainly original.
As for the ending, well my interpretation was that some evil spirit had managed to possess them all. I thought that maybe was Josh was possessed first and that he then lured the others to the house where he attacked them. But I guess it was left deliberately vague...