Scary even before you see it.

Rating: 9/10 (11 August 1999)

The Blair Witch Project scared me, even before I saw it. The marketing strategy was brilliant to the point where even now, people are still debating whether or not it really happened.
What impressed me the most was the total breakdown of the relationships in the group as the situation just got worse and worse. "Breakdown of Unit Cohesion" is what the military calls it, I believe. The infighting, the head games, the acts of rebellion all struck me as very real and very disturbing. You just know the minute the guys start questioning Heather (and the minute Heather starts lying to them about whether they are lost) that the group is doomed. I liked the way each character changed as they reacted to the stress of the situation. It seemed rather surprising that Mike, who starts out as a total jerk, seems to be the only one with any kind of strength left right up until the ending.
Not only a scary movie, but an interesting study in the psychology of groups under stress.