The first internet event movie

Rating: 8/10 (2 February 2010)

The Blair Witch Project was an internet phenomenon back in 1999. It was in fact probably the first movie to show that the World Wide Web could be a powerful tool to promote a film. Moreover, the BWP also showed that you could achieve huge financial cinematic success on an absolutely minimal budget. Love it or loathe it, The Blair Witch Project was truly a unique cinematic happening.
The film was marketed on the internet, via cyber-rumours, as a possibly-maybe real life documentary. This not only heightened expectations but also built a myth around the film similar to the fictional Blair Witch legend in the film itself. But this expectation also led many people to be somewhat underwhelmed by the Spartan nature of the final product. Many thought it was a non-movie and were annoyed to have been suckered in. While others conversely appreciated the original feeling of unease that the ultra-low budget documentary-style approach brought. These highly contrasting reactions have made The Blair Witch Project perhaps the ultimate Marmite movie. It's unusual to be truly indifferent about this film.
It has to be said that I am one of the latter group who actually liked the BWP. I think that the gonzo-style film-making approach does actually add to the fright-factor. At times it's easy to put yourself in the position of these people and feel the tension and fear. The night-time scenes especially are frightening affairs, with the weird cackling and children's laughter very disturbing indeed. The fact that we can barely hear these sounds because of the muffled sound on the amateur equipment only adds to the authentic feel and, therefore, the discomfort. All of the terror in the woods in set up quite nicely with some talking head interviews at the outset of the movie where some aspects of the witch and her legacy are discussed. The information is as fragmented, contradictory and ambiguous as old legends tend to be but sometimes, as in the case of the story about the direct encounter with the witch, it's eerie and disturbing; it nicely sets the scene for the journey into the woods.
If I had criticisms of the film I guess one would be that it does seem ridiculous that none of the participants think to follow the river downstream, I mean surely that's gonna be better than randomly trekking through the woods? And secondly, I feel that maybe showing just a little more would not have harmed the film at all. Perhaps the briefest flash of the witch at the end in the house? Also, even though I realize this is seriously low-budget, I would've thought they could have come up with something a little better than small piles of rocks as the portent of an evil presence.
But all in all, I mostly appreciate this flick. Its unique brand of horror was a welcome alternative for the genre. It admittedly was not the first film to use a pseudo-documentary approach but it nevertheless still has the feel of something quite unlike anything that had gone before.