"Eeriest" rather than "scariest" movie ever made

Rating: 8/10 (1 August 1999)

Has there ever been so much hype for such a low-budget film? This film may have gotten a bigger push than any other low-budget movie in cinematic history, and in the end I believe it was hurt by this.
Not only was it being billed as "the scariest movie ever" but there were also rumors that these events actually occurred, and the film had been pieced together from actual footage (which is not true, of course). Whether or not the legend is real, I don't know, but it seemed real enough, where one might believe it actually happened. I felt the three actors involved were practically flawless, giving some of the most realistic performances I have ever seen; the fact that they ad-libbed all their lines must have helped them in this respect, but nonetheless they were excellent.
The problem I had with the film is that it isn't scary enough; there were more scenes where I found myself laughing than feeling scared, which was not the intent of the directors. It WAS eerie, I have no qualms about that, but it had the potential to be terrifying without wandering into the realm of "campiness," and with a little more substance than innuendo it would have truly been a masterpiece (perhaps if they heard chanting at night instead of the all encompassing wood-snapping sound it would have been more effective at conveying the intense fear the characters must have felt which, judging by people's comments around me after it was over, was not accomplished). What is meant to be inferred or imagined is almost always more frightening than anything that can be portrayed on screen, but even the subtleties were TOO subtle, and they should have been a bit more graphic.
The conclusion of the film was terrifying and it wasn't until then that I felt truly frightened. There is something intrinsically creepy about the woods, but I think the film-makers relied to much upon that assumption.