To be startled, see The Haunting. To be scared, see this.

Rating: Null/10 (7 August 1999)

Wow, I was really surprised to read that so many people felt that this wasn't a scary movie. Sure, we weren't startled out of our seats by loud, sudden noises or gory faces in huge close-up holding machetes. But is that what it takes to be scary to moviegoers now?
I don't know... maybe it's because I grew up in Maryland and used to go out to the woods with my high-school friends to shoot "documentaries" all the time. Maybe it's because I lived down the street from Montgomery College (where they supposedly attended school) and had been to an abandoned house at night with a hand-held videocamera. Maybe it's because our videos looked a lot like that before we edited them, and we were too scared to stay out overnight.
It's not what's thrown in your face that's truly scary, it's what you can't see. What you don't know for sure. The final scene of the movie was terrifying to me, but I heard that many people didn't get it. I don't want to put a spoiler here, so I won't say what confused people. But if you're looking to be told when, how, and by what you should be scared/startled, go see The Haunting. Lots of special effects and loud noises await you.
What scared me in Blair Witch is that I could actually relate to the situation. It wasn't like watching beautiful actors go through some scripted lines while screaming in their high heels and perfect hair. It was like seeing regular people and their fears getting out of control as they became more and more frantic. I loved it. I'm going to watch it again when it comes out on video. And I'm darn glad that I don't live in Maryland any more!