Did you love or hate this film?

Rating: Null/10 (2 January 2001)

Did you love this one-of-a-kind dark horse Multiplex entry in the Summer of 1999, or were you shocked that a "poorly shot home video" went as far as it did. I'm in the middle. While other shoestring budgeted film-makers try to make their productions look as slick as possible, the makers of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT purposely went for an unpolished rough look. That means this a gimmick film (Like THE THIEF- 1952, a spy thriller with no dialog or 1973's WICKED-WICKED where the whole film was split screen.) The star of the film was the medium. The documenting of three student filmmakers lost in the woods, and possibly at the mercy of an unseen witch gets very tiresome. If human star- Heather Donahue meant to play an irratating character, she did a fantastic job. The logic of the film leaves little to be desired. If you are lost in the woods, follow a river (they lead to bigger water bodies and civilization) or follow the sun. I did love the last section, where Heather makes her on screen apology. (That's the shot where we see only her nostril and nostril hairs on multiplex screens.) The film turns from being a documentary of a witch hunt to a last will and goodbye left on video. I actually got a bit chocked up. The finale in the spooky house left haunting images (The many handprints on the wall, Mike in the corner, waiting to be executed) but lacked logic (Would you lug about a video camera while running for your life?) The summer of 1999 gave us two successful horror films that pulled the genre out of the Freddie/Jason/bikini gal in peril rut (The other being THE SIXTH SENSE) Final summary: Poorly planned film with genius marketing and a few good scenes.