"I Want To Really Avoid Any Cheeeze!"...

Rating: 7/10 (7 September 2018)

After many years, it was time to re-watch THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. First, for the two or three people who don't already know, THE STORY: Three college students- Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael Williams, take a trip into the deep woods of Maryland in search of the titular legend. Horror ensues. THE EXECUTION: The preliminary / introductory footage is actually pretty good, including the interviews w/ the locals. Heather's narration is dramatic, but effective enough. Like all "found footage" films, the dilemma is how to make it appear realistic, and not like a phony documentary. To make it look as though the dialogue and the actions taken are NOT contrived. Once the group settles into their journey through the woods, the interaction between the trio feels more "natural". They start finding various signs, symbols, etc., as agitation w/ each other and their situation sets in. When they decide to stop filming due to strange events, they have difficulty getting back out of the forest, and things grow more frenetic. Not surprisingly, the scary stuff is reserved for nighttime, when the viewer's imagination can fill in any blanks. As they get more desperate, the question becomes, as w/ all similar movies, "Why are they still filming?". In a life or death struggle for survival, who the hell keeps the camera rolling? EXAMPLE: Heather screaming her head off while filming her yelling comrades. When more weird symbols are discovered, the group spends a terrifying night in and out of their tent. In utter chaos, running and screaming wildly, Heather, for reasons beyond all human understanding, films it all! Of course, this is explained by Heather's dedication to the project. Back in 1999 this was crazy talk. Today, w/ everyone glued to their smartphones, turning life itself into a video, it actually seems more believable. THE FINALE: As the tension increases, and someone disappears, Heather keeps making her movie. Her big moment of screen-time terror comes into play, and the last roundup occurs. THE VERDICT: TBWP is a simple, enjoyable, supernatural yarn. When it was originally released, it was a victim of its own insane hype. Watching it now, having long forgotten most of the initial ads and "audience reaction shots", it's just a fairly frightening, low-budget horror movie. Not a total dud, but certainly not anything extraordinary...