Depends on the person's prefrence

Rating: Null/10 (10 June 2001)

(Warning spoiler zone ahead)
Before you even enter the Blair Witch Project attempted (and succeeded) in drawing in audiences about a "legendary" witch who was banished from her town because she was a witch.
The movie starts out with what the movies premise is supposed to be a documentary. Showing the 3 student film makers walk around Burketsville, Maryland interviewing subjects about this witch who most people in the town seem to be even afraid to discover for themselves. This was designed to make you believe that the Blair Witch was a real person and supposedly her ghost is still in the woods doing evil things.
Apparently showing their best dialogue is about a hundred curse words used over and over when they aren't interviewing people. Now I am very desensitized to cursing myself (and violence too) and do it on long occasions, but when it incorporates into most of the script for basically no reason at all (like when they are trying to rest in a motel) I get a little annoyed too.
BWP continues into the woods when they start to look for the legend themselves. While this happens they start to walk around in circles, I hear many people saying this was due to some type of magical interference from the witch. But they probably don't know what it's like to walk around in the woods without a map (as we see Heather lose it).
And then there are the obligatory "scary" parts of the film meant to build the movie watcher up during the walk in the woods, where the 3 students hear things like the rustling of branches and the sudden appearance of rocks in a supposed ritual formation around the site. If this wasn't a horror movie, and something about real life you would most likely be the person thinking there are animals in the woods (wow, really?!) and that you wouldn't really notice some rocks unless you tripped over one.
Now the end is supposed to be the best part, but possibly for you and me it may be a little different. For you it gets scary when one of the filmmakers disappears and they reach the house. Well they walk slowly through the house building tension in the moviegoer and in the basement showing their friend dead, hanging from a noose. Then suddenly with the only jump scare in the film where a hit from behind knocks down heather and expectantly though not shown, she dies. For most of you this was the part that most likely made you scared and come back for a second time. For me it made me happy that they finally killed those three and that they ended the film.

I only watch BWP now with a showing on a cable movie station if there is nothing else that I think is better to watch. Several things bother me though with this film which makes me dislike it most of all. First off is the "witch" issue, apparently telling the audience the usual stereotype that witches are evil and kill people for no reason. If you look at certain books (not Christian ones), web sites, and talk to people who know about it (including me) witchcraft is a real religion and the people who practice it are most often peaceful (as in every religion can't speak for all the followers). Second problem is the fact that there wasn't really anything scary in this movie for me. I mean getting tension from heather running from some unknown adversary or mike or josh commenting about rocks around their camping area that were not previously there really isn't scary for me. I could see how people could be anticipating what happens, but after watching it for myself I just couldn't see or feel what was so scary about this film.
I give this film a 5 out of 10 stars, it would have gotten much more if it had actually been something worth watching for me and others like me and if it wasn't so stereotypical about witches. But it would have gotten less if it hadn't attracted so many people and got that much money from idiots (including me!) who would rather see the full movie in theathers (for us who aren't rich and don't have HDTV monitors and 5.1 dolby digital speakers in their house yet). Just make sure you watch this with a open mind, otherwise you will think it was extremely great or extremely horrible (though the latter ones aren't that far from the truth!).