Left me physically ill, but not scared witless

Rating: Null/10 (6 September 1999)

My husband and I waited a few weeks for the "hoopla" to die down before seeing this. Most everyone I had spoken to said it was quite good. I must admit it was very freakish at times, enough to cause hair to stand on end (which doesn't happen too often to me). But it was only so long before the jerky filming made me sick to my stomach. We left the theater feeling dazed, disoriented and physically sick, not from terror but from motion sickness. From total darkness to a sudden bright light, then a sideways shot and running...I literally don't know how much longer I could have sat there. The film was fairly good, interesting concept; I felt connected to the characters. But it didn't leave me frightened to death as I was led to believe it would. Creeped out, yes. (I believe one really would have to view it in a darkened theater to get the motion sickness effect, when one's eyes are forced to focus solely on the screen). At the end of the film, people were asking, "Is that it?", disgusted moans were heard; there seemed to be an overall disappointment. Yes, it was fairly good, and different; No, it was not stellar. My only hope is that we aren't subjected to a tidal wave of copycat "Blair Witch" films, ready to exploit this "new concept"--once was enough.