Pure, sheer terror that shackles the spirit from daring to look.

Rating: 9/10 (31 May 2020)

What a concept. Instead of sitting there like the passive sponges most of us become when going to the movies we are actually expected be become involved. Take a leap of faith& belief and delve into this movie. With out the overpowering effects and music score most movies rely on to scare' you, if you still have an imagination left what is implied becomes a hundred times scarier than anything offered up by Hollywood in the last 30 years.
Filmed on video and 16mm black & white, this film is exactly what the horror genre needs in a time reminiscent of the early 1980s slasher onslaught. The Blair Witch Project has no knife wielding maniacs, no deoxyribonucleic acid altered monsters, and no real bloodshed onscreen. We see what the three film makers see as they make their way through the deep, dank woods in search of a legendary witch. A guaranteed cult classic, Blair Witch has Heather, Mike, and Josh heading off into the allegedly hexed woods of Maryland looking for the Blair Witch or whatever else may exist up in those hills. For most of the film, it is very unclear. The beginning excerpts ingeniously set up the three participants to believe they are experiencing the supernatural, being played like a fiddle by the suspicious townspeople, or just completely out of their minds.
If you are a seasoned veteran of the horror cinema, The Blair Witch Project may be less frightening than for someone who has not seen many scary movies. You will have to respect it's originality, and it's manipulation of our deepest fears. At times the film really makes you feel the sense of dread the film makers are experiencing.
Many have complained about the shaky camera, the cussing, how no scenes really happen, and that it's not scary. By and large, the camera is not that shaky, at least to the point where you can't understand why they are tromping through the woods and they are scared half to death. I must not get queasy very easily, as I had no problem with it. As for the cussing the lines were improvised, the actors are college age, and all three sound exactly like every American college student.
At a time when digital techniques can show us almost anything, "The Blair Witch Project" is a reminder that what really scares us is the stuff we can't see. The noise in the dark is almost always scarier than what makes the noise in the dark. Any kid can tell you that. Not that he believes it at the time.