Holds up well

Rating: 7/10 (25 August 2015)

Compelling and eerie found footage movie about a trio of amateur filmmakers who disappear after hiking into the Maryland woods to shoot a documentary about the legend of the Blair Witch. A modern classic that helped usher in that particular subgenre of horror we have today. Most found footage movies are absolutely terrible and can't hold a candle to this one. It's probably the only movie of its type that ever seemed remotely authentic to me, even though I knew it was all fiction. At the time, people debated whether or not this was actually real. That seems silly, of course, but I knew several people back then who believed what they saw on the screen really happened. A lot of the credit for that should go to the actors, particularly Heather Donahue, for doing such a great job of making it seem believable. I just saw it for the first time in probably a decade or more and, while it doesn't hold the same impact as it did initially, it's still a remarkably well-done low-budget psychological horror movie.
Yes the movie was heavily hyped but it was deserved, in my opinion. This was a huge box office success built largely on word of mouth which is a testament to its quality. Sadly, because of its popularity, a lot of people bashed the film (and still do, judging by some of these reviews). If by some chance you have never seen this movie, please ignore the haters and give it a fair shot. I know that, after so many found footage horror movies since it was released, it won't seem as fresh. But I think if you drown out the background noise of the whiners and allow yourself to become immersed in the story, you'll find this movie is one of the best of its kind and worthy of praise.