Good movie overwhelmed by hype

Rating: 7/10 (24 October 1999)

The Blair Witch Project was a good movie, but totally overwhelmed by the hype surrounding it.
I first became aware of Blair a while back when one of their promo trailers ran on a cable access channel here in Brooklyn. It left me questioning whether this was a true story or some put on. It was very well done and really psyched me for the acutal movie. However, all the hype became totally out of hand once the movie was released.
Now, to the movie itself. The plot line was very well developed at the beginning of the movie and was able to sustain itself for the initial foray of Heather, Mike and Josh in the woods. However, the mid section with everyone running around in the woods became extremely tedious and even annoying at time with their ineptitude. But, this was rectified with the truly spooky ending, the type that will always haunt you (if you got into the movie that is). I really appreciated a horror story built around the psychological elements of fear as opposed to a lot of overrated special effects.
My rating - 7.