You either love it or hate it; it either scares you or you laugh about it...

Rating: 8/10 (25 August 2004)

"The Blair Witch Project" was original on it's time, that is the late 90's. It's not the first time that a concept like this was used as "Cannibal Holocaust" (1978) has the exact same premise. The 19780's movie was too graphic (extreme gore) unlike the 1999 movie that attacks the audience with psychological terror (everything's in the imagination).
"The Blair Witch Project" shines because it exercises the audience's capacity to create terror and feel it on their own way.
*** If you feel frightened or scared it's because you have a HIGH capacity to create terror in your mind. Depending on how much you get scared, the more pleasant the experience of the movie will be. If you get very scared then you've seen too many horror movies and you have a big capacity to create horror. That means you can feel horror. This is the best thing about "Blair Witch". ***
I can't say if it's whether or not a good movie, I see it more as an experiment to rate your capacity to be scared. Psychological terror is the most effective way to experience a horror movie. Texas Chainsaw Massacre succeeded in that field but it got aid from the graphical violence and the frightening characters. "Blair Witch" talks about a witch and spirits. How do you imagine witches and evil spirits? That depends on you. Now when the movie attacks you with the lead characters' P.O.V. you feel the uncertainty of not knowing what's going on and that's when your mind plays it's part by creating a whole different story in your mind. Also, the producers created a brilliant publicity campaign by saying that these are real life events. Before watching the movie that raises the scare factor and it's up to you if you believe or not the premise. The producers tried so hard in making a truly frightening movie and it worked for a big auditory. The movie has also many detractors and it's completely normal because "Blair Witch" can't awake everybody's capacity to create terror. I liked this movie very much mainly because I'm a die hard fan of horror movies and supernatural things.
The movie is OVERRATED because the critics and members of the "Scream" generation made it commercial. It's an independent film with minimal expectations that was viewed as an MTV type of movie and that's what affected the movie. Watch it as a part of horror movies history, it totally deserves the watch. "The Blair Witch Project" is as effective as "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" in the aspect that you have the chance to create horror in your mind.
Good effort! Better than today's horror movies... 8/10.