A Successful Experiment!

Rating: 8/10 (1 August 1999)

_The Blair Witch Project_ is, indeed, a very frightening movie; more interestingly, it's a pretty successful experimental film, of a sort I can't recall having seen before. The directors performed an experiment in "method film-making" here, taking three actors, giving them cameras and basic instructions in their use, set them loose in the woods and (evidently) spent some time scaring the blue daylights out of them while they played with the cameras. The results are very effective, not least owing to the film's complete obstinacy in refusing to explain what it is you're seeing. This film is possibly better enjoyed if you've seen the "teaser" segment on the Sci-Fi channel: it provides some useful context in which to place the actual film.