Original but slightly repetitive

Rating: Null/10 (14 November 1999)

I must admit I was quite curious about BWP. In my country (Malta) the film received mixed reviews; some critics found it fascinating while others downright loathed it.
The Blair Witch Project came as a bit of a surprise. I expected to see some form of introduction, perhaps a couple of detectives going showing the video of the documentary to the families of the three students who disappeared into thin air. Instead a couple of sentences informed me that three students had been lost in Maryland while shooting a documentary video on the Blair Witch. A year later, video footage was found, and that is what the film is going to be about.
Getting used to the picture size was the hardest part of all. It took me all of fifteen minutes to focus properly and get into the story.
The strongest point of the film is that it is so 'natural'. And after reading what the actors had to go through (they were woken up in the middle of the night, were made to walk on hungry stomachs and other not-so nice ordeals) I can understand why this is so. The scene where Heather talks into the camera and apologizes to the boys' families is really touching - he tears are real, her fear almost tangible. It is as if she was really there, lost, afraid, feeling responsible for all this; for it was HER idea after all.
Unfortunately this was all that there was to the film. The filming itself was very crude; and although it is innovative it starts to get to you after a while. I also found the locations very samely and sometimes the film got a bit too repetitive for my liking (i.e. the three students walk during the day and camp during the night, with not much going on except for the tension building up slowly between them).
That said, I quite liked the climax at the end. It really took me by surprise and made me understand the movie for what it is.. However, the great ending still did not wipe from my mind the idea that the film looks like nothing more than an amateur documentary - in spite of the rave reviews it has received in the US.