The Real Witchbusters

Rating: 8/10 (3 April 2013)

The coolest thing about seeing The Blair Witch Project back in 1999, probably two weeks following its release, was that people still believed one of the biggest movie hoaxes and most cleverest marketing ideas in cinema history. (This was marketed as a documentary on "true life" footage found when three young adults died from an apparent witch attack.) I even remember seeing the TV (later to be confirmed as a Mockumentary) special recapping what "actually" happened during the incidents of three film students that went into the witch'fested woods and never returned.
Now, I don't believe in ghosts, "real" witches, spooks, etc, so I never bought it. And my disbelief runs so deep, that the movie never once frightened me, despite my appreciation for what the film was. (AT THE TIME, that isand I'll get into that later.)
I do want to clarify, and I'm getting ahead of myself, something from that last paragraph: while I was not spooked, there was a moment, not 10 seconds from the end credits that was very creepy and thought was the most effective shot in the movie. Again – not scary, but absolutely eerie.
Much like what Star Wars (Episode IV: A New Hope) was to that time period, was The Blair Witch Project to the late nineties. It was the found footage newborn. Sure, there were many, manyhorrifyingly too many rip-offs and more found footage films to come, and yeah, there were just a minute number before this, but this was the nice, original and refreshing in 1999. Again, I did not believe this was a true story, but they sure as hell made you at very least believe it was. And they did all that with almost absolutely nothing. I truly admire this movie.
The story was jokingly simple and that's not a bad thing when it comes to horror; think about: the masterpiece Halloween's thin script. As an amateur documentary project, two film student friends and a third newly recruited film student venture off into the woods where supposedly (to them) a witch killed many, including a lot of children decades past. Beforehand, in a fairly brilliant scene, they interview the just-outside-the-woods townsfolk for their take on the legend of the infamous Blair Witch.
Once inside the woods they're armed with their camping gear, expensive, yet "borrowed" cameras, a device known to us to be the pre-GPS: "a map," and tons of batteries to "run a small third world county." That last one, I loved for, they actually explain why they can continuous film miles from an electrical socket and yet, for the countless – and unnecessary found footage films to follow, they seemed to have forgotten that simple plot explanation and make us believe their devices will basically run for weeks without a recharge. My phone dies in probably 4 hours without a charge.
But, I digress. Basically, the two males of the triangle of terrors are lead by the bitch (yeah, she was) Heather who claims to "know where they're going" deep inside the woods. As this does NOT turn out to be the case, tensions rise, and the typical motions of getting lost and feeling hopeless emerge. Oh, and lest we forget, there might be a witch out there hunting the witch hunters?
While I had admitted I wasn't frightened in this movie, this type of movie or pretty much any ghost stories, such as the weak "found footage series of the next generation" Paranormal Activity franchise, I found the built up tension, comradery between the cast of three, the comedy, cinematography, music and dialogue real enough. They actually convinced me – and this is a rarity, for me – that if I had believed in ghosts, etc, I would absolutely have fallen for the ruse the marketing team came up with. And perhaps, it would've been even more fun to watch it. But, then again, I'm really too smart for that.
Sadly, since, again, there has been countless, and mostly insipid found footage films since, if one were to watch this today, for the first time, they might be jaded and dislike it. I can dig that; but for those who pretty much started here, I'm sure there are more people that enjoyed this. For, I did love this movie and still today do.
Side Note: It helps I had/have a major crush on the actor and character "Mike." Now, I wouldn't have rated the movie higher just because of my attraction, but it sure as hell helped while watching this. Further, and again not a star up or down in my rating, I would've preferred in a movie that basically only featured THREE actors, that Mike would have been shown more. It seems like the percentage of on screen time: (the bitch) Heather: 40%, Josh: 35% and Mike: 25%. Oh, well; that's why they made pause.