Blair Witch (film)

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* Keith Calder
* Roy Lee
* Steven Schneider
* Jessica Wu
* James Allen McCune
* Callie Hernandez
* Brandon Scott
* Valorie Curry
* Corbin Reid
* Wes Robinson
* Room 101
* Snoot Entertainment
* Vertigo Entertainment
* September 11, 2016 (2016-09-11) (TIFF)
* September 16, 2016 (2016-09-16) (United States)
 Running time This template is from Wikipedia

***Blair Witch*** is a 2016 American found footage supernatural horror film directed by Adam Wingard and written by Simon Barrett. It is the third film in the *Blair Witch* series and a direct sequel to the 1999 film *The Blair Witch Project*, ignoring the events of its 2002 follow-up film *Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2*. *Blair Witch* stars James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez, Brandon Scott, Corbin Reid, Wes Robinson, and Valorie Curry. The film, shot in a found footage style, follows a group of college students and their local guides who venture into the Black Hills Forest in Maryland to uncover the mysteries surrounding the disappearance years ago of Heather Donahue, the sister of one of the characters. Initially, the film's connection to the *Blair Witch* franchise was kept secret, with the film having been shot under the fake title, *The Woods*.

The film was screened at San Diego Comic-Con on July 22, 2016 and premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, before being theatrically released in the United States on September 16 by Lionsgate. Despite grossing $45 million on a budget of $5 million, the film was considered a box office disappointment, and received generally mixed reviews.

## Plot

In 2014, James Donahue finds a video containing a supposed image of his sister Heather who disappeared in 1994 near Burkittsville while investigating the legend of the Blair Witch. Believing she is still alive, he heads into the woods, accompanied by friends Peter Jones, Ashley Bennett, and film student Lisa Arlington, who wants to film the search for a documentary. Locals Talia and Lane join them.

Upon setting up camp for the night, Lane and Talia discuss the disappearance of Heather's film crew, and other mysterious occurrences, which they ascribe to the Blair Witch. After hearing noises during the night, the group awakens to find strange stick figures hanging from the trees. Unnerved, they elect to leave. Lisa notices twine in Lane's backpack and both he and Talia are banished after admitting to creating the figures. After hours of walking, the four arrive back at their original campsite, having gone in circles. Lisa pilots a drone to obtain their location, but it malfunctions. Ashley becomes sick due to a wound on her foot, forcing the group to camp again. Peter is chased by an unknown entity, gets wounded, and disappears.

During the night, Lane and Talia emerge, claiming they have been wandering around the forest for five days without a sunrise. Believing that he is hallucinating, Lane runs off. The next morning, James and Lisa are stunned to find that it is still dark outside and discover larger stick figures. Talia sees clumps of her hair tied to one of the figures. Ashley accuses Talia of crafting them and snaps the figure in half; Talia is then snapped in half. An unseen force lifts their tent and the ensuing panic separates the group. Ashley finds the drone and climbs a tree to recover it but falls and is pulled off-screen by an unseen force.

A rainstorm ensues as Lisa and James stumble across Rustin Parr's cabin. James seemingly spots his sister upstairs, enters the house and sees Peter standing in the corner. He soon realizes that something is chasing him and barricades himself. Lisa spots a ghoul and runs into the basement. She finds an aged and hostile Lane who traps her in an underground tunnel. Lisa escapes and is forced to stab and kill Lane when he attacks her. Chased by the entity, Lisa runs up to the attic with Lane's camcorder creating the paradox that lured them all to the woods. She reunites with James and they try to barricade the door. James tells Lisa to face the corner of the room and desperately apologizes to her for their fate before the ghoul enters. James is tricked into turning around, believing that he hears Heather's voice, and is attacked out of sight. Lisa uses Lane's camcorder to view what is behind her and begins walking backwards. However, hearing James' apology again, she turns and is attacked.

## Cast

* James Allen McCune as James Donahue
* Callie Hernandez as Lisa Arlington
* Brandon Scott as Peter Jones
* Corbin Reid as Ashley Bennett
* Wes Robinson as Lane
* Valorie Curry as Talia

## Production

Wingard first ran into the original *Blair Witch Project* filmmakers, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, while promoting *V/H/S/2* at the Sundance Film Festival, and asked them why there were not any more *Blair Witch* films. Although nothing came of the meeting at the time, looking back on it, writer Simon Barrett had opined that the conversation led to them being asked by Lionsgate to produce the sequel. Barrett recalled that, in the initial pitch meeting, Lionsgate had already crafted a synopsis for the film, and simply asked if he would be interested in making it, and the "only thing I really pitched was the other characters; they’d originally conceived the film as more similar to the first film, following its narrative fairly closely, with only three or four characters, I think, but I wanted more characters to give us more scare sequences. I also wanted a unique dynamic within the group from the start, so I pitched the idea of introducing some Burkittsville locals to the group."

Barrett would later note that the team found that the found footage genre more challenging, as they have only previously worked with it on the *V/H/S* anthology movies. Barrett noted that with the *V/H/S* series, there was an inherent entertainment value, where the segments "were never meant to feel entirely real", an element that did not work for the *Blair Witch* series. Speaking on the issue to Bloody Disgusting, Barrett stated "even if our scares didn’t work in *V/H/S*, hopefully people would still be entertained, and if they weren’t, well, another short would start in a few minutes"; he added that if a scare did not work in *Blair Witch*, "we’d have nothing to fall back on, we’d just have failed completely, and publicly." To prevent this from happening, Barrett and Winger extensively went over each "scare" to discover why it was scary and how the audience would react to it. For some sequences, multiple approaches were tried differently, "to give us options in the editing room."

Prior to the film's premiere at the 2016 Comic-Con, the fact that that the film was a *Blair Witch* sequel remained a closely guarded secret, as the film was shot under the title *The Woods*. According to the film's writer, Barrett, the film's secrecy was done to prevent backlash among Internet commenters, who the filmmakers felt would react negatively to news of a reboot. Prior to the official premiere, Lionsgate went as far as to release a trailer for the film incorporating actual footage, while still keeping the film's lineage a secret. The film was still publicly known as *The Woods* even at Comic-Con, prior to its first screening, with io9 reporting that the initial theater for the screening was filled with posters for the fake film. After the screening (during which audiences realized that the film was a sequel), all the promotional material in the theater was changed to reflect the film's actual title.

## Release

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2016 and was theatrically released on September 16, 2016.

## Reception

### Box office

*Blair Witch* grossed $20.8 million in North America and $24.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $45.2 million, against a production budget of $5 million.

In the United States and Canada, the film was released on September 16, 2016, and was initially projected to gross at least $20 million with a chance to get as high as $26 million in its opening weekend, from 3,121 theaters. Lionsgate's expectations were more conservative, however, with a projected $15–18 million opening, although rival studios were predicting significantly higher numbers, noting how horror films saw solid performances throughout 2016, including *Lights Out*, *The Conjuring 2*, *The Purge: Election Year*, *The Shallows* and *Don't Breathe*. However, after grossing $765,000 from its Thursday previews and $4.1 million on its first day, opening projections were lowered to $10 million. It ended up grossing $9.7 million in its opening weekend, below expectations and the lowest opening weekend of the series. The film was considered a box office disappointment by analysts.

The film received a day-and-date release in many countries in conjunction with its North American debut.

The film cost $5 million to produce, with an additional $20 million spent on promotion, advertising and marketing costs.

### Critical response

*Blair Witch* received generally mixed reviews from critics. Critics praised the acting, plot, directing and improvement on *Book of Shadows* while criticizing dialogue, special effects and breaking with tradition by showing a shot of the witch. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 36%, based on 177 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "*Blair Witch* doles out a handful of effective scares, but aside from a few new twists, it mainly offers a belated rehash of the original – and far more memorable – first film." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 47 out of 100, based on 41 critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "D+" on an A+ to F scale. According to *Entertainment Weekly*'s Joey Nolfi, while *Blair Witch* is generally regarded as an improvement over *Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2*, "moviegoers and film journalists essentially told [*Blair Witch*] to stand in the corner...critical reviews and audience exit polling...are still some of the worst of any 2016 release thus far."

Michael Roffman of *Consequence of Sound* wrote that "Nothing [about the film] is scary, nothing is remotely disturbing, and there’s this boring familiarity to the proceedings, namely because it’s more or less a beat-by-beat remake of the original." *The Hollywood Reporter'*s Leslie Felperin criticized the film, commenting that it is "a dull retread rather than a full-on reinvention," enlarging the cast numbers this time but sticking to the same basic beats. Scott Tobias of *GQ* felt that the makers of *Blair Witch* made a poor decision by making the film less subtle than the original. Thomas Simpson of the *Rock River Times* said that the film "lacks any real scares" and that, after watching it, "you shouldn’t have any issues turning the light off at night." The *New York Post*'s Kyle Smith condemned the film by saying that "the take-away from *Blair Witch* is not terror, but sorrow," and gave it 1.5 stars out of 4.

Josh Kurp of Uproxx gave the film a mixed review, saying "*Blair Witch* is scary, but it lacks surprise, and without surprise, you’re left with a bunch of kind-of annoying people shakily filming themselves wandering the woods and reacting to loud noises." Mark Kermode gave the film three out of five stars in a review for *The Guardian*, calling it "efficient if unadventurous." *Vanity Fair*'s Jordan Hoffman felt that the film was inferior to *You're Next*, a previous film by Wingard and writer Simon Barrett, and said *Blair Witch*'s "jump-scares [will] make for a fun night at the movies, but it’s like chomping on White Castle hamburgers—when this creative team has previously served us a prime rib."

Conversely, IGN reviewer Chris Tilly declared that *Blair Witch* is "so good it'll make you forget that *Book of Shadows* ever happened." Mark Eccleston of *Glamour* wrote that the film has "genuine, jarring scares...and an unsettling late surprise that makes it well worth popping to you nearest multiplex to have the holy crap scared out of you." Bloody Disgusting's Brad Miska writes, "*Blair Witch* is that game-changer horror fans desperately have been waiting for." Miska gave the film a 4.5 out of 5 rating, and included it in his list of the "Best Horror Films of 2016".

## Soundtrack

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The soundtrack was released on September 16, 2016 via Lakeshore Records, concurrent with Lionsgate’s release of the movie. The score is a collaboration of Adam Wingard with electronic music producer Robert Rich.

1. "Hakmarrja" – N.K.V.D
2. "Pagan Dance Move" – Arnaud Rebotini
3. "Rien à Paris" – Liz & László

## References

1. ↑ "*BLAIR WITCH* (15)". *British Board of Film Classification*. August 17, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
2. ↑ Doty, Meriah. "Will 'Blair Witch' Beat 'Bridget Jones's Baby' in Box Office Battle of Long-Delayed Sequels?". *TheWrap*. Retrieved September 13, 2016. Italic or bold markup not allowed in: `|website=` (help)
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Blair Witch (2016)". *Box Office Mojo*. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
4. ↑ Nordine, Michael (May 10, 2016). "*The Woods* Trailer: Adam Wingard Takes Us Camping in New Found-Footage Horror Flick". *Indiewire*. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
5. ↑ "Adam Wingard's *The Woods* is actually a sequel to *The Blair Witch Project*". July 23, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
6. ↑ Smith, Michelle (May 10, 2016). "*The Woods* Trailer Doesn't Reveal Much, But Is Sure To Give You Massive Goosebumps". *MoviePilot*. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
7. ↑ Anthony D'Alessandro (September 14, 2016). "'Sully' Squares Off With 'Blair Witch' At Weekend Box Office". Deadline. Retrieved January 7, 2017.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Gleiberman, Owen (September 18, 2016). "As 'Blair Witch' Flops, Is the Found-Footage Horror Film Over?". Retrieved October 1, 2016.
9. ↑ "Why Blair Witch Bombed At The Box Office - CINEMABLEND". Retrieved October 1, 2016.
10. ↑ May 12, 2014 (May 12, 2014). "The Absence of Closure by Lisa Arlington". *Kickstarter.com*. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
11. ↑ "The Absence of Closure". *Absenceofclosure.tumblr.com*. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "[Interview] The Story Behind the 'Blair Witch' Revival". *Bloody Disgusting*. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 "[Interview] 'Blair Witch' Was Just as Scary to Make, Explains Writer Simon Barrett". *Bloody Disgusting*. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Calvario, Liz. "*Blair Witch*: How Filmmakers Were Able to Keep the Sequel Under Wraps for Three Years". *Indiewire*. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lussler, Germain. "Why the New *Blair Witch* Movie Had to Be Kept Secret". *io9*. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
16. ↑ Pond, Steve (September 9, 2016). "Toronto Film Festival Adds Movies by Leonardo DiCaprio, Werner Herzog, Marlon Brando". *The Wrap*. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
17. ↑ Busch, Anita (May 10, 2016). "Lionsgate Moves YA Title *Nerve* Into Summer, Schedules *The Woods*". *Deadline.com*. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Dave McNarry (September 13, 2016). "Box Office: 'Blair Witch' Looks to Scare Off 'Sully,' 'Bridget Jones's Baby'". *Variety*. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
19. ↑ "Weekend Forecast: 'Blair Witch,' 'Bridget Jones's Baby,' 'Hillsong – Let Hope Rise' & 'Snowden'". *pro.boxoffice.com*. September 14, 2016.
20. ↑ "'Sully' Burns 'Blair Witch', 'Bridget Jones' & 'Snowden' At The Box Office Stake – Friday Evening Update". *Deadline.com*.
21. ↑ Anita Busch and Anthony D'Alessandro (September 12, 2016). "'Sully' Lands At $35M, 'Bough' Breaks With $14.2M – Monday B.O. Final". *Deadline.com*. Retrieved September 13, 2016. Italic or bold markup not allowed in: `|work=` (help)
22. ↑ Anthony D'Alessandro (September 14, 2016). "Can 'Sully' Crucify 'Blair Witch' At The Weekend B.O.? – Preview". *Deadline.com*. Retrieved September 14, 2016. Italic or bold markup not allowed in: `|work=` (help)
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Nolfi, Joey (September 19, 2016). "Blair Witch 2 director defends his movie after new sequel stumbles". *Entertainment Weekly*. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
24. ↑ Orr, Christopher (September 16, 2016). "Blair Witch Gets Lost in the Woods (Again)". *The Atlantic*. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Simpson, Thomas (September 20, 2016). "Blair Witch lacks any real scares". *Rock River Times*. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
26. ↑ "Blair Witch (2016)". *Rotten Tomatoes*. Fandago. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
27. ↑ "Blair Witch reviews". *Metacritic*. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
28. ↑ "CinemaScore". *cinemascore.com*.[*permanent dead link*]
29. ↑ Roffman, Michael (September 14, 2016). "Film Review: Blair Witch". *Consequence of Sound*. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
30. ↑ Felperin, Leslie (September 11, 2016). "'Blair Witch': Film Review TIFF 2016". *The Hollywood Reporter*. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
31. ↑ Tobias, Scott (September 13, 2016). "Blair Witch Review: It's No Blair Witch Project". *GQ*. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
32. ↑ Smith, Kyle (September 15, 2016). "Poor Blair Witch — she deserves a better movie". *New York Post*. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
33. ↑ "'Blair Witch' Is Too Afraid To Do Anything New". *Uproxx*.
34. ↑ Kermode, Mark (September 18, 2016). "Blair Witch review – efficient horror sequel". *The Guardian*. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
35. ↑ Hoffman, Jordan (September 12, 2016). "Blair Witch Has Scares, but It Never Quite Gets Out of the Woods". *Vanity Fair*. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
36. ↑ Tilly, Chris (September 12, 2016). "Blair Witch Review". *IGN*. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
37. ↑ Eccleston, Mark (September 16, 2016). "FILM REVIEW: Just how scary is the new Blair Witch?". *Glamour*. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
38. ↑ Miska, Brad (July 22, 2016). "[Review] 'Blair Witch'". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
39. ↑ Miska, Brad (December 26, 2016). "Mr. Disgusting Picks the Best Horror Films of 2016!". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
40. ↑ Calvario, Liz (September 17, 2016). "'Blair Witch' Soundtrack: Listen to Director Adam Wingard's Creepy Ambient Music". indiewire.com. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 "Blair Witch (2016): Soundtrack and Complete List of Songs". WhatSong. September 16, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 [1][*dead link*]

## External links

* Official website
* *Blair Witch* on IMDb
* *Blair Witch* at Rotten Tomatoes
* *Blair Witch* at Box Office Mojo
* *Blair Witch* at Metacritic
* *Blair Witch* at Wattpad

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