too hyped up?

Rating: 5/10 (31 December 2005)

The Blair Witch Project (BWP) can be seen as a 'love it or hate it' movie. One of the things that made this film quite exciting was the Internet marketing before its release. The information given on Internet websites told viewers about an allegedly 'true' story about the legend that is the Blair Witch. The great marketing provoked anxiety and a craving to know more about this documentary that went terribly wrong. Even to today, there are many people who know about the Blair Witch legend, and still have not seen it. However, I believed this to be one of the film's downfalls. As with many other audiences, I had high expectations of what was suppose to be one of the greatest horror films ever. It in fact was quite uneventful and the ending left me baffled.
Basically, the film is about three students (Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael Williams) who go to make a documentary about the Blair Witch. There are interviews with random people who are in fact not actors in which creates a realistic investigation. The students then go out into the woods and eventually get lost and it goes pair shape from then onwards. Weird things start to happen to them which include Josh getting kidnapped and the findings of severed flesh being delivered to them which a pile of twigs- very scary right? No, it was a bit icky but not that scary. Anyway, Heather and Michael find a crumbled house whilst searching for Josh and eventually they get killed while we thoroughly try to get a glimpse of the witch. The film ends with quite a disappointing tone.
On the other hand, it must be said that the use of camcorders in this film does create a personal and interesting experience. Not only do we get to watch the interesting parts, we get to see them doing normal activities which helps the audience to get closer to the characters. The use of only three actors in the whole film reinforces the idea of isolation but it can also become quite boring from time to time. I admire the use of suggested violence and the presence of the witch that certainly segregates this film amongst many other typical horror films.
The main problem with this film has to be the ending; it is disappointing and left me confused. In addition, watching a bunch of students wonder around the woods for ninety minutes did not satisfy my expectations. I appreciate the new ideas produced here to the horror genre but perhaps they should not have used propaganda to such an extent.
Have to applaud the film for doing so well with such a low budget however, I would not recommend this film as you may feel quite annoyed at the end.