Pretty Damn Scary. Nauseating, too.

Rating: 9/10 (20 July 1999)

There's no way that this film can live up to the hype it's gotten. When critics say it's "the scariest movie ever made," you're bound to be let down.
Still, I was prety damn scared. I had checked out the Web site beforehand and I had seen the Sci Fi Channel's special, "Curse of the Blair Witch," so I was pretty well versed on the background story.
The entire film consists of the footage (Hi 8 video, and B&W 16mm film) taken by three film students who entered the Black Hill woods in Maryland to find locations mentioned in the tales of the Blair Witch, a local legend blamed for many gruesome events over a period of 200 years.
The shakiness of the cameras can be unsettling, but once you get used to it, it is quite eerie.
***** SPOILER *****
Some people will see this movie thinking that it's for real. Let them believe it. The acting is so good that they'll be convinced.
The scares come from the inside, from the audience's empathy with three people who are being completely scared out of their minds by something or someone unknown and out of sight. You may not be as scared as you think you'll be, but if you're not pretty damn scared, then you need to work on your empathy.