I Still Know What the Blair Witch Did to Me Last Summer...

Rating: 2/10 (6 August 1999)

Okay.
I've seen the hype. I've seen the documentary on the Sci-Fi Channel. I've seen the movie. I've seen the movies that "Blair Witch" is either based on or similar to. I've seen the reviews. I've bitched about how similar it was to "The Last Broadcast".
Now, the good things and a few more bitches.
"Blair Witch" was a creepy flick. Heather Donahue did an EXCELLENT job. The lack of music score keeps you from becoming detached, and the fact it's on video leads you to fool yourself into thinking it's real (i.e. - film is fake, television is real).
It was NOT an original movie, at least, not for an indie film or a public access project. I've seen similar shows done on public access. The producers of "Blair Witch" just used what they had to make a movie that would have required a MUCH larger budget otherwise.
As a film, "Blair Witch" is adequate. The only thing in this movie that made people queasy was motion sickness. The movie starts off promisingly, moves along ploddingly, then lurches to a halt just when it's getting interesting. The ending, which is supposed to show us a hint of the terror that awaits our intrepid filmmakers, instead betrays the buildup the producers worked so hard to craft. I understand that it relates to something said earlier in the film, and that the ending is SUPPOSED to leave the fates of the characters to our imagination, but there's TOO much left to our imagination. This film has no real conclusion, no real closure or satisfaction at the end. Creepy? Maybe, maybe not. I guess it depends on how easily frightened you are. I found it to be obvious and unsatisfying.
For those of you who say that the similarity between "Blair Witch" and "The Last Broadcast", a film nearly identical in it's story and motivation, is irrelevant and pointless...think again. Most of what the critics who love this film have to say about "Blair Witch" is with regards to it's originality. "Last Broadcast", whose tone is less eerie and more of a documentary, is superior in that it doesn't treat the viewer like a child. Small wonder that "Blair Witch" is so popular with the teen crowd. Take away the claim that "Blair Witch" is an original idea, and you have a moderately scary supernatural suspense film.
Check out "Cannibal Holocaust", "The Last Broadcast", and "Man Bites Dog" to see just how "original" this movie is.
Don't get me wrong; my last post notwithstanding, I thought that "Blair Witch" was just fine...but it was NOT original, it was NOT scary, and it was NOT worth the hour-and-a-half of my time, and the eight bucks I spent to see it. If not for the hype on the Sci-Fi Channel, it would have gone straight to video.