That was really scary. We live in an affluent society full of technology and wealth where all the basic mechanisms to life have been obscured in the Ford-esque division of labour. That correlates to being able to simply point a finger of blame at the closest bitch. That was what made the movie so scary. These weren't portrayals of heroes.
Cinema is rife with the formulaic.
And this movie was no different. Love stories, 50's musicals, westerns, and slasher flicks are all part of one big family of movie archetypes. Blair Witch Project pushed the envelope in the horror movie genre by pitting the trashy Alanissette lead woman against Poltergeist. The couple of impotent males thrown in allowed her staunch and fickle demeanour to truly shine as only the bitchy brass can. It is almost poetic justice.