differences from 1999 - 2005

Rating: 7/10 (18 July 2005)

I'll admit that when I first watched this film, I couldn't sleep that night ... the more I thought about it, the more it freaked me out! It was more of a psychological fear rather than a visual one. I went out to a local independent theater (The Bridge in San Francisco) to see it on the second night of its release. Months later, it was released into mainstream theaters like AMC and CENTURY theaters. By then, however, its marketing strategy of the "missing" students was used up and we all knew it was a big ol' hoax! (although, in my heart of hearts, I knew they couldn't possibly release a film with actual footage of people being killed for our viewing pleasure)
If you read the reviews on this film, there's a huge difference of opinion from its reviews as a fresh new "indie" film up 'til now.
I would have to say that this was never meant to be a film to last through the ages. It had its 15 minutes of fame and it's all done with by now. I didn't quite enjoy watching it. It made me dizzy, but the mental horror it gave me was great in the end.
The Blair Witch Project is historical for its ability to bring audiences in through sheer curiosity and great marketing. After I saw it, I looked it up online and they had a whole site dedicated to the hoax with "evidence", "interviews", photographs, and more. I totally bought it! Marketing to an internet audience was never done like this before in 1999. Keep in mind that, back then, the internet almost seemed like it wouldn't lie to you. I had used it more for information rather than entertainment.
A lot of people complain about the lousy acting, editing, sound, lack of plot, but, come on! It was meant to be a shitty looking film. It allowed a lot of us to just take in what little we knew of the story and create it in our own heads. It was more real than a lot of people give the actors credit for. They really did feel like crap out there without much else to do, but keep improvising and moving along in the woods. If it was meant to have good acting, the movie would have failed. Don't knock a film that was meant to look as crappy as it did.
All in all, I don't think the movie itself was great (once I found out it was all fake!), but I think, for its time, its still a cult landmark.
Also, visit http://www.blairwitch.com to see why the internet buzz was so hot back then!