Intensely frightening and disturbing....

Rating: Null/10 (26 August 1999)

[Editor's note: this comment contains a minor SPOILER]
I've seen a lot of comments on this site about this movie saying it wasn't scary, or that there was no plot, or that the dialogue was dumb because it was made up. I guess it's easy to understand how some people would say that, with the way horror films are run and made and promoted now. I'm an avid horror fan myself, I love the flicks. And any that really ever scared me, the few that have, I always rationalized and got rid of my fear. Like saying to myself, "Ah, those guys live in Indiana, that can't happen here," or, "Well, no big deal, they killed the thing, it can't get me now." The only movie that still terrifies me that I can't put the fear out of is The Exorcist. Why? No way to say it couldn't happen. The reality is that that particular film shows you a real case of something that you have no defense over. If you believe in the Devil, then that movie is a terror simply because it says that no matter where you are, hey, you could be taken over by this thing. That's scary, man. Blair Witch is very similar. It doesn't really scare you, in the way that it constantly makes you jump or hits you in the face with some terrifying thing, or monster. Instead, it erodes at your security and your disbelief. When the movie starts, you think they'll go off, and see some scary thing, and blah blah blah. But much like real life, it's never that simple. The greatest power that Blair Witch uses on you is that you can actually believe in what is happening. No huge monster is ever shown, no real proof of what is going on is presented. And there lies the strength. You believe what you want to, and no matter what you decide, you can defend that opinion. The improvised dialogue only strengthens the realism of the film. Would you really buy into the premise of a movie claiming it was real if the actors were spouting tired lines like, "These woods are quiet...too quiet." Instead, you have people saying what people in real life say when they are put in a situation they can't get out of and are placed in danger. We all revert back to scared animals when the situation is right, or wrong in this case, and that's what happens: These three people devolve into irrational behavior and let overriding fear determine what they do. This film is unique in how it defies any common genre label; to call it a horror film is a slant because you imply it fits in with the classic definition of a horror film. Calling it a thriller, thought, takes away some of its credit. It's simply a movie that will leave you disturbed, thinking of what it would be like to be in that situation. If you liked it, you'll look at the woods around you, just the night itself, in a new way. If you hate it, you usually think how you'd have reacted differently in that scenario. Either way, the movie makes you take a new look around you and at how you think. That alone gives it a large amount of worth that few movies made today can match.