It hit me where it hurts! (Warning: some possible spoilers)

Rating: Null/10 (2 August 1999)

It is difficult for me to give an objective review of this film. It is the most terrifying movie _I_ have ever seen, but my appraisal is, in this case, very subjective. I was raised in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, where Jersey Devil lore still runs rampant and where, as recently as five years ago, a city-slicker couple got lost only ten miles away from the nearest paved road and starved to death. I have always considered the woods to be sinister, and _Blair Witch_ might be the fulmination of all my unspoken fears. It's pompous to say that whether or not you think this film is effective is dependent on how much imagination you have. It is more accurate to say that your enjoyment of the movie is based on what sorts of fears you already have.
I am fairly certain that at some point, one of the filmmakers must have seen a low-budget 1984 movie called "The Wind That Walks," which used to air every Halloween on the NJ PBS station. Many elements of the movie seem borrowed from this short film about a scientist who mistakenly kills the Jersey Devil's offspring, including a reliance on sound effects to convey the unseen menace, jerky camera work, and even the same low-tech font in the credits. All of my childhood friends were scared to death of this film -- another reason why _Blair Witch_ got to me at such a visceral level.
One recommendation. As much as I liked this film, and as much as I want to see it succeed commercially, I must advise you to wait until it hits video stores. Seeing this film in a theater is a bad idea, not because you might need a dramamine to get you through the more jerky scenes, but because any shuffling or coughing around you seriously detracts from its intensity. You must play along with this movie: don't watch it guessing what horror cliche will show up next, but watch it as if you have uncovered some weird video that you are not supposed to see. Think of it as an illicit snuff film, and you will be terrified.