This is the future.

Rating: 10/10 (28 August 2003)

While many deride this film as empty, or less than entertaining, the fact remains, like it or not: This is the future of filmmaking. Period.
If you hate or loathe this film, all I can say is: do it yourself, do better. Like it or not, the makers of BWP have pointed the way. Anyone with access to a digital camera, computer and a simple editing program has the capacity to make a film.
This particular piece, so roundly trashed by many, does have its own, odd, quirky points, moments that stand out and are now part of the horror iconography.
While the detractors moan and groan, a simple tale from my own experience explains why I love this odd little thing.
One of my supervisors overheard me enthusing about BWP. He chided me, as I am sure so many others will, about how "bad" the film was, how "stupid" and simply not scary. He went on in detail, and I responded simply "to each their own," or some such. A few seconds afterwards, though, he pulled me aside and asked:
"It wasn't ... REAL... was it?"
See, one of the greatest things about BWP is its simplicity.

Once upon a time, two boys and a girl went into the dark forest, and were never heard from again.
The stuff whispered around campfires, or cautionary tales told by grandmothers to correct the unruly child... the power is in the simplicity.
Would that Hollywood could see the point... but I fear they are blinded to it... I have hope, though, because, as mentioned above, this is the future, I have the technology, and I can do it myself, should I so choose... I would invite anyone that hates this film to see if they can do better, not so much as a throw down challenge, but rather as a simple desire to see what others can do with such limited resources.