Not as frightening as all the hype would have it, this is a fun and clever film nonetheless.

Rating: 9/10 (4 August 1999)

"The Blair Witch Project" uses its shoestring budget to great advantage: without relying on expensive special effects, it forces the audience to use its imagination in confronting, along with the three filmmakers, the terrors of the unknown. Hollywood today feels compelled to SHOW everything onscreen, to go for the cheap & easy shock. This film relies on a well-honed script, very convincing acting (the actors seem "real"), and taut direction that causes the audience to genuinely feel for, and empathize with, the woebegone filmmakers. We've all been afraid of the dark, and this film builds its suspense on this premise. The only downside for me about the film is that it could have left the mystery more ambiguous; i.e., I thought it emphasized too much that the mystery was genuinely supernatural, rather than manufactured (a prank by outsiders that got out of hand). Other than that, I thought it was quite a good film. Bravo!