A thriller for some, a thinker for others.

Rating: 8/10 (1 August 1999)

I went to see this film with two other people. Going into it, I expected to be frightened beyond belief, which in hindsight, might have affected my opinion of the film. The general opinion of the film critics and other people who saw the film seemed to be that it was unbelievably thrilling , and gripping, and worthy of comparison too horror classics like The Exorcist. After seeing The Blair Witch Project, I can say that I do not agree with these people. I am not making any attempt to trash this movie as I was generally impressed by it in several ways. First of all, the first person perspective from which the viewer sees the film is very creative and adds a lot to the thrilling aspect of the film by making the viewer feel like they are actually there. Also, the way the characters are portrayed adds to the realistic feel of it. It feels less like acting and more like the natural behavior of three people in a difficult situation. For me, what was on the less appealing side was the lack of closure in many parts of the film. (You will be able to understand this statement after viewing the film.) While this feature also adds to the unique feel of the film by making us realize our own fear of the unknown, it also gives people the option to fill in blanks on their own. The problem with this is that you never know what is really happened. This nagging feeling of uncertainty was enough to turn some people off. I talked to several people after seeing the film, and the general feeling was that it left too much to think about for the viewers. These days, people go to movies to be told a story, whether it be funny, scary, dramatic or whatever, they want the story to be told to them, they don't want to have to create pieces of it themselves. Although it is intellectually stimulating, it is not expected from movies. For this reason, I would say that The Blair Witch Project is more of a psychological thriller than a straight horror movie. If you like thinking about what could have, or what really happened, then this is probably your type of movie, otherwise you might be a little disappointed unless you are very easily scared.