Tuesday, October 07, 2014

The Blair Witch Project

(1999) ****1/2

Three young adults set out to shoot a documentary on the legendary Blair Witch.  A number of mysterious disappearances and deaths have taken place in or near Burkittsville, MD. In the deep woods following the trail of the legend, the filmmakers disappear, leaving behind only the footage they shot.

I had seen this in the theater when it came out, but not since.  At the time I found it very scary and avoided our then-basement for a good month or two, leaving it to Mr. AC to do the laundry during that period. Now, with so many horror movies under my belt, I figured it probably wouldn't be any different than any other found footage film. So last night, Mr. AC is working late. I turn off all the lights, scoop up my cat in my arms, and settle onto the couch to start watching. Well, it turns out it's still plenty effective, all these years later. In fact at one point when things started getting particularly scary on screen, my cat started acting very bizarre, sitting up straight in my arms, eyes dilated, looking all around the house and responding to noises that weren't there. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, and all of a sudden, I wasn't so comfortable not being able to see what was going on behind me. I had to temporarily turn the lights on and pause the movie before going back and finishing it up before Mr. AC got home. I may have to watch it again soon to assess it more objectively, because honestly my cat's behavior freaked me out enough that I couldn't watch it straight through, which bumped up the scary but also detracted from the momentum and intensity.  Waddya say, Mr. AC? Blair Witch date this weekend?

7 comments:

Trevor said...

I have mixed feelings about this one. Yes, I remember being very afraid seeing it in the theater, and it staying with me for a long time. At the same time, I remember being furious at the anti-climactic ending. Glad the cat was there to watch it with you.

Landshark said...

What a great review, and I totally agree about this movie. It seems to divide opinion greatly amongst horror fans, but I'm with you. I've probably mentioned before how the wife and I went camping the night after seeing this one. Not a well thought out itinerary.

Catfreeek said...

I watched this at home and the wind was whipping outside. The scariest part for was thinking how awful those parents must have felt watching what their kids went through. It freaked me out at the time too AC, especially the ending. Still get uncomfortable watching it.

JPX said...

I share Trevor's take on this film. I remember calling JSP right after I left the theater outraged by the non-ending. It might be worth re-visiting since there have been so many knock-off since...

DKC said...

I have this in my queue since I have never seen it. I remember Octo talking about the shaky-cam action and decided to skip it. But I have been thinking of watching it and I think this has convinced me!

Johnny Sweatpants said...

I thought it was like a breath of fresh air when it came out after a decade of self referential wink wink Scream crap. I believe I've only seen it once. Oddly I've seen Blair Witch 2 several times.

Mr. AC said...

You're on AC! As long as we can lock the cat up first.

Malevolent

 2018  ***1/2 It's 1986 for some reason, and a team of paranormal investigators are making a big name for themselves all over Scotland. ...