Hype surrounds "The Blair Witch Project," but the payoff is a rip-off!

Rating: 6/10 (4 September 2008)

First, "Star Wars: Episode One: The Phantom Menace" qualified as a good sci-fi thriller but a galactic letdown as a prequel to the original "Star Wars." First-rate special effects engulfed a predictable, pretentious plot with characters whose charisma rating never scored as highly as the originals. "Star War: Episode One" wasn't the only movie with too much hype. The second movie that generated almost as much hype in an even shorter space of time was "The Blair Witch Project." Independently produced on a broomstick budget for $22-thousand dollars, "Blair Witch" aroused all sorts of curiosity. Was it based on fact or fiction? Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, who co-produced, wrote, and directed this phenomenally successful horror melodrama, have changed the way that Hollywood publicizes movies. Moreover, they may have touched off a trend that will revolutionize movies as well as movie-making. In the short time that "Blair Witch" has haunted movie houses, this game little thriller has generated over $240 million dollars! "The Blair Witch Project" concerns three student filmmakers who vanished into the stick near Burkitsville, Maryland, in October 1994. A year after their mysterious disappearance, their film and video footage was discovered, and "Blair Witch" reveals what happened to this ill-fated trio. The concept and the production of "Blair Witch" should inspire anybody with a video or film camera that has movie-making ambitions. Myrick and Sanchez didn't let a paltry budget or the lack of major studio support encumber their efforts. Anybody who studies cinema can see the resemblance between this little movie and the Italian Neo-realism movement in the late 1940s after World War II. Like the Neo-realists, Myrick and Sanchez filmed "Blair Witch" on authentic locations with no-name performers so that they film boasts more than a shred of authenticity. The lack of a budget transforms "Blair Witch" and makes it such a promising premise. If Myrick and Sanchez haven't been compared with famous Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo, who helmed the 1965 masterpiece "The Battle of Algiers," they should be. The controversy raging over both movies is the superb way that the filmmakers give their subject matter an added boost by making it look like a documentary.
Sadly, all comparisons between Italian Neo-realism and Pontecorvo end when the lame storyline and the imbecilic characters in "The Blair Witch Project" are considered in retrospect. Media theorists will have a heyday writing about the symbolic implications of this movie for years, but dyed-in-the-wool horror fans will find "Blair Witch" less than satisfying. First, the storyline is predictable, lame, and improvised. Myrick and Sanchez get off to a bad start. "Blair Witch" takes too long, even for an 80-minute movie, to get itself cranked up. Of course, enthusiasts will argue that the filmmakers are setting up the characters and the situations.
Boo! These characters are as half-baked as their project. They plunge into the woods in their search for a spirited demon without any logistical support or back-up plan. Second, the characters themselves spend more time arguing than witch hunting. They aim their cameras at themselves more than at what they are searching for in the backwoods. They get themselves lost in the middle of nowhere and don't have enough sense to figure a way out. I'd have started a fire. These characters are every bit as stupid as the characters in major Hollywood epics, such as the "Friday the 13th" and "Halloween" franchises.
Sure, "The Blair Witch Project" stirs up considerable atmosphere, but the payoff is a rip-off. The witch is only hinted at through symbolic settings and off-camera hysterics. The constantly shaking cameras may induce motion sickness for some, but there is nothing in this movie that would scare anybody over age four. Indeed, "The Blair Witch Project" has subtlety working for it, but subtlety will only get a horror movie so far before you want to scream: Show me the Evil! The acting is not an issue, any more than the funky looking, pseudo-16mm format that gives "Blair Witch" a novel appearance. Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez have produced an interesting but deeply flawed movie that will be talked about for years. Hopefully, "The Blair Witch Project" will inspire a new generation of low-budget, independent filmmakers. Presumably, next time Myrick and Sanchez will contrive a story that matches their cinematic gifts.