Atmosphere isn't enough

Rating: 3/10 (9 August 1999)

Yes, this movie is extremely creepy. The atmosphere alone can give you nightmares. But atmosphere isn't enough to make a truly great film. The movie begins with a caption telling us that 3 filmmakers went into the woods to make a documentary about the Blair Witch and disappeared. Then the movie begins and then it ends and we've learned nothing more than what the opening caption told us. I knew they went into the woods and disappeared long before I saw the movie. I expected that seeing the film would enlighten me in some way about what actually happened to them and what was really out there in the Maryland woods, but the credits roll and I still know nothing. Actually, that's not true. I know some more of the story because I went to the Blair Witch website, which provides much more information than the actual film does. I figured we'd get to see the "discovered footage" framed by a "documentary" about the disappearances, with experts and friends speculating about what happened to the missing trio, but all "The Blair Witch Project" shows us is the missing footage. Period. That's it. With nothing to frame it, it tells us nothing. Three people went into the woods and disappeared. I knew that much from the commercials. Are they dead? Are they captive somewhere? Was it a witch who got them? A homicidal maniac? I still don't know. I can't help but feel that after shelling out $9 to see the movie, I should have more of a grasp on those answers than people who've only seen the trailer.