A unique study in terror that requires a little something from the viewer.

Rating: 7/10 (18 September 2006)

I really wanted to love "The Blair Witch Project" when I went to see it at the cinemas. I'd read the Internet hype after it came out in the U.S. back when not everyone realized it was fake. The reviews called it "the scariest movie since the Exorcist!" and stories of people screaming and crying in the cinemas really brought my expectations up to an unattainable height. I'd talked it up to myself as well as to friends and colleagues, telling them all that they had to go see it when it came out. But by the time it actually hit our shores (I'm an Aussie), everyone had been made aware that it was fake and all the magic of early reports had been replaced by negativity and mocking. But I lined up, paid my cash and went in to find out what it was all about.
I must admit, that first sitting was the epitome of disappointment. The camera jumped all over the place and made me feel frustrated and a tad ill. The constant fighting of the characters got on my nerves more than a reality TV show. But the worst part of it was that I didn't find it at all to be scary. Here was this so-called holy grail of scary movies and people were actually laughing in the cinema rather than screaming. I walked out feeling completely let down after months of looking forward to the event.
A couple of years later I decided to watch the movie on DVD. I picked a cold, dark night, turned all the lights out, took the phone off the hook and sat down on the couch. I'd made the decision that I was going to watch "The Blair Witch Project" the way the first viewers had seen it. Forgetting everything I'd ever heard about it, I would delve into it with a clean slate. I'm really glad I did! While I didn't completely freak out and lose my lunch in fear, I certainly found a new appreciation for it. In fact, if the viewer simply allows themselves to become involved in the situation on screen, it can become quite psychologically jarring. I really believe one of the reasons that so many hated the film, myself included, was due to both expectations and an inability to actually put themselves in the place of the actors. To actually experience the movie! It certainly didn't help that the audience I saw it with was laughing. If you can take that step, then "The Blair Witch Project" is a very effective and clever film. So the question is, is it OK to ask the audience to commit so much of themselves to a film for them to be able to have an emotional reaction (other than boredom). The more I think about it, the more I think the answer is yes. The problem has been created over an extended period of time, with more and more blockbuster movies that require nothing of the audience whatsoever. No thought, no belief, no experienceÂ…nothing! That being the case, when a movie such as this one comes around, it's understandable that people may just find it boring as they have lost the ability to actually "experience" it or in some cases, simply choose not to let themselves.
No, I haven't done a complete turn around and gone from a Blair Witch basher to a Blair Witch lover. It's not a perfect film by any stretch of the imagination. The epileptic camera movements still make it hard to watch, the inability to hear what's going on in the forest and some of the bickering still gets on my nerves. But I must admit it all makes it far more realistic and it's all very intentional to get the desired effect. The acting is actually pretty damn good. The fact is that in all likeliness, normal people would fight and cry and scream and carry on exactly the same way these guys do. There are moments of absolute terror in their voices and sheer emotion on their faces which is a credit to the actors. I can't say there's anything I could suggest they should have done differently that would make it any more realistic than it is and for that reason alone I consider the movie to be a success. It is a movie to be experienced alone in the dark though. Nothing else would do it justice.