A Frightful and Dread-filled film

Rating: Null/10 (29 May 2002)

Despite many people's criticisms of The Blair Witch Project that things don't happen within the film, I still enjoyed the film entirely. Things may not happen on screen, there may be no jump out of your seat moments or no moments featuring blood and guts, which are normally associated with the modern-day horror film but Blair Witch did, in my opinion, fill the viewer with a sense of discomfort and dread in much the same ways as the equally chilling Japanese films Ring and Audition did. It may have taken many of its stylistic inventions from such films like The Last Broadcast and Cannibal Holocaust (both great films in their own right) but it doesn't distract from the fact that the film engulfs the viewer with a sense of horror and dread and a uncontrollable fear for the viewer is not in control when watching the film for they have no idea what is going to happen next. In our times when the silver screen is filled with teen-slasher movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer and Urban Legend it is good to see that independent films can make a load of money and be critically successful at the same time. The Blair Witch Project is still one of the most talked about films in recent years and one of the most innovative as can be seen when you compare it to its glamourised and Hollywoodised very poor follow-up Blair Witch 2.