Brilliant

Rating: Null/10 (1 January 2001)

I saw this film a year after it came out, I have lost the love for modern horror movies, since the actual emphasis nowadays is on gruesome deaths and limbs flying all over the place. I've heard all the hype, and came to the assumption that this was another hyped up cash-in. When I saw this going as an ex-rental in the local video store, I decided to give it a go.
That teaches you never to take advice from Internet Know-It-All's. With all the bad reviews, and hype, I ignored all the bad press and sat down to watch it as if it were a new, unknown film. Well well well, what a surprise. I really enjoyed it. Instead of OTT acting, this is what we would really see if we were in this position. Life-like acting. Very realistic. We see it from their point of view, from the camera. For once, I didn't see people getting slashed to bits, or have to watch a poor sex scene added for ratings. However, one criticism could be given, the amount of bad language. "F this", "F that", "F you you F-ing F-er. I'll F-ing F you up you F-ing F." However, this is exactly what X-Gen students are like, so it only adds to the realism.
The last film I saw which scared me was John Carpenters Prince Of Darkness, it scared me more then The Exorcist ever did (speaking of which, was a over-hyped piece of garbage). The Blair Witch Project brings back those childhood memories of haunting myths, and legends, to life thanks to three students with cameras, investigating into the uncovered legend of the Blair Witch. What they uncover is extraordinary - but believable. The amateur camerawork brings their tale to life. That is the fact which makes this so chilling. No super-imposed rubbish like in other supernatural movies. No monsters or unconvincing special effects. The horror is in the unseen, the unspeakable. In the last 45 minutes, what you witness will send your imagination wild. What exactly went on in the night? What is in the dark? Who is the Blair Witch?
Thanks to all the hype, which has shed light on the film, viewers are prevented from enjoying the full experience. The less you know, the better. Thankfully, the Internet Know-It-All's didn't spoil the fun for me. To those who criticise the film for being low-budget, please answer me one question: What exactly is your criteria for a film? It seems like any film boasting huge special effects and explosions is an instant hit - BWP goes beyond this by providing the viewer with a chill-fest, a film which stretches the imagination and proves that the real horror is all in the mind. Films like Scream are putting the horror film genre into a rut - it's such a breath of fresh air to see a film like this which doesn't rely on big stars who take the actual emphasis of the horror film away.
The Blair Witch Project is the best horror film I've seen, in five years. That might not seem like a long time, but in those years, I've seen hundreds of horror flicks. Nothing in that time scale comes close to what the Blair Witch Project stands for. Originality isn't a common thing these days, and with the film industry focusing on rolling in the money with big special effects and death-fests, there won't be many films like this. 5/5.