Excellent

Rating: 9/10 (17 August 1999)

The filmmakers painted themselves into an intriguing but quite confining premise, having to abide by certain rules in order to succeed: The cast must be isolated and not allowed to escape, there must be a reason why these people would continue to record footage even after they've gone insane with fear, and there can't be any definitive resolution with regards to the antagonist. Despite having all these limitations to abide by, the film works.
The directors cover their bases with a few obligatory yet adequate explanations. No, it won't "scare the hell out of you" as some have claimed. The day scenes are basically "MTV's Real World Gets Lost in the Woods", as we watch our protagonists slowly start to dissolve into panic and then madness. The suspense arrives in the night scenes, where the danger is unknown and unseen. Watching (or often merely listening to) the events from the actor's POV makes for quite a powerful experience. The grainy, shaky footage adds an important element of mock authenticity. The performances are mostly solid all around, especially from Williams. Donohue does a good job of playing melodramatic during the so-called "documentary" sequences, making her "normal" performance seem that much more natural. Very effective.
Because this scenario is portrayed so realistically, a large segment of the audience seems to disallow the usual generosity normally given to a film's artistic license. Bruce Willis would never survive a fall from the top of an exploding skyscraper, of course, but we have to ignore that discrepancy in order to further the experience. It is a movie, after all. And even though BLAIR WITCH is supposed to be "real", we have to give it the same amount of latitude. Sure there are a few holes to contend with (why don't they just go to a stream and follow it?), and there's a little bit of overacting from Donohue towards the end. But the bottom line is that, aside from a few minor flaws, the limited concept could not have been executed any better.