A Precursor To "Paranormal Activity" (But Probably Even Better At What It Does)

Rating: 6/10 (4 March 2017)

Just recently, I read Stephen King's horror treatise "Danse Macabre". In that book, he discusses "The Blair Witch Project" as one of the most frightening movies he has ever seen. I decided to watch it on that recommendation, and I came away fascinated by the experience.
For a basic plot summary, "Blair Witch" focuses on a group of three friends trying to produce an independent documentary about the so-called Blair Witch that haunts the woods surrounding a rural town. At first, the documentary seems to be going quite while, but when the trio gets lost in the woods and strange things start happening, things take a turn for the worse.
Sadly, history will probably only remember this film for the controversy that surrounded it at the theater (people thinking that the documentary was actually a real thing). While it isn't an all-time classic, to be sure, it does produce some genuine emotion by touching on some very deep themes.
Basically, this movie preys on those all-too-human emotions in which the "monster behind the door" (as King himself describes it) is much more scary when it is unseen. SPOILER ALERT HERE: During the entire entire, viewers never even catch so much as a glimpse of whatever/whoever is causing the strange happenings. It's the ultimate "devil you don't know" story.
Yet, "Blair Witch" also works on a more human-drama level. Much like the later "Cloverfield", it is filmed entirely in the shaky-cam style, trying to be as close to human reality as possible. As the three hikers slowly begin to realize just how hopelessly lost they have become, parts of the film become a sort of character study in panic and emotion. Viewers begin to wonder "would I react the same way in a similar situation?"
Overall, I was more intrigued by "Blair Witch" than anything. It is amazing to me how a movie so stark and completely devoid of any conjured drama (no soundtrack, no "jump scenes", etc.) can still be a bit unsettling to watch. I have also seen the first "Paranormal Activity" movie, and I don't understand why that is viewed with such reverence while "Blair Witch" has to fight for every inch, so to speak. They are the same type of movie, but this effort actually shows the descent into panic/madness better than "Paranormal" ever did.