A Very Scary Flick

Rating: 8/10 (19 December 1999)

I saw this movie on the weekend, and read the reviews. I agree, and disagree, with many of them.
UNLIKE some, I was impressed with the way this flick was handled, the story was intriguing. The three students Josh, Heather and Mike were excellent, I actually sympathized with them and felt their fear at being alone and lost in the forest for 4 nights with unseen evil forces stalking them until... (And I don't normally sympathize with characters in movies!)
The concept of relying on your imagination to fill in what nasty surprises the 3 students encountered was great! (For example: the stick figures) This is what real fear is, and that concept is what I enjoyed!! This was by far the BEST and most realistic horror movie I have seen.
The comparing of this with stuff like Scream 2, was unfair. The BLAIR WITCH PROJECT is much better than SCREAM 2! It was a great change from seeing the usual blood-splashed horror flicks, loaded with one cliche after another.

HOWEVER there was a downside, and that was the annoying, jiggling filming. It would've looked better if it were 'professionally' filmed, rather than done in this style. It can still look grainy like the film WAS found a year later without looking like it had been filmed by 3 year olds... (sorry!) It didn't really add authenticity even though it tried to... We had a lot of scenes which were unnecessary. It was very frustrating sitting there while the students were running around panicking, camera pointing at ground, tree, sky, ground, etc etc etc
CONCLUSION: Ah, ha! So that's what car sickness feels like!!! This movie is very scary psychological-wise, so if you can stand the screen jumping crazily without being sick, this is for you!! Those who want blood and gore, and a story handed to them on a platter, should avoid at all costs.