Get ready for the jitters

Rating: 8/10 (3 May 1999)

The Blair Witch Project is a landmark in horror filmmaking and should become a sleeper hit upon its release in July. While not a perfect film, this sure is a damn scary one--scary enough that I had to have my eyes closed quite a number of times during it (in fact, I'm predicting future anxiety attacks among some audience members). The movie is about three college students who go into the woods to film a documentary on the so-called Blair Witch, and never return. Their footage, of course, is found one year later, and thus the film itself is seen through the eyes (rather through the camera) of the students themselves.
There is not a single cheap scare in the whole film, and that's what makes it so frightening: we are constantly waiting to see something. Indeed, I often had my eyes closed when the screen was totally blank (as it often is, giving way to one of the most significant sound tracks in recent years). It knows how to prop the generic conventions as well--whenever the sun goes down, the monsters come up.
The movie builds an incredible sense of realism (the acting is pitch-perfect), however it disobeys the laws by making the characters ballsier that they ever should be. It's hard to believe the story when we are saying "No one would ever do that!" (ex. turning on all your lights at night when you hear bloody-murder noises) Yet the film is destined to be a (cult at least) classic. Matriarchal (witch/mom references) and political ("You can't get lost in America") undertones are sure to stir up a argumentative following about what it all means. But most of all, it is a thrill ride like no other. See it if you want to be more consistently scared from beginning to end than perhaps any modern horror film ever made. *** (out of 4)