The Emperor Has No Clothes

Rating: 3/10 (26 November 1999)

Remember when--as well as pitching a good idea and creating a positive buzz--people were expected to make a good movie in order to succeed? The latest triumph of marketing over substance is THE BLAIR WITCH PRODUCT, the cinematic equivalent of a celebrity: famous for being famous, not for anything it does well. A nice success story for film students--UNKNOWNS MAKE FILM ON A SHOESTRING! USE THEIR LIMITED EQUIPMENT AS AN ADVANTAGE! BECOME FLAVOR OF THE MONTH! ARE GIVEN LOTS OF MONEY FOR NEXT MEDIOCRE FILM AND LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER!--but hey, why not just have everyone send them a check for $3 and save the 87 minutes it takes to be up on your latest pop fad?