A film of True Horror

Rating: 10/10 (30 July 1999)

This is an absolutely terrifying film that will stick with you long after the lights come up. Here we have 3 people, lost in the woods, and pursued at night by a terror they can't see or act against. The Blair Witch Project takes the high ground, and succeeds in delivering its scares the old-fashioned way. Things that go bump in the night, the plaintive cry of a lost child in the dead of night, the ghostly screams of a friend lost deep in the woods... all are more effective than any "Freddy" or "Jason" movie where *nothing* is left to the viewer's imagination. I applaud the filmmakers' to step back and scare by psychological means, as opposed to brute shock. The movie's still sending chills up my spine. My only worry is that as it gains wider release, it will fall upon an American movie-going public too jaded by special effects and too reliant on blood-n-guts, severed heads and cheap thrills to fully appreciate what an incredibly terrifying film this is. Maybe they should spend a bit of time camped out in the woods, where unseen entities do indeed go bump in the night.
And to those who are perplexed by the finale, you really need to pay *close* attention to the events leading up to it. Do so, and what happens makes perfect sense, and adds to the terror.