Made on a shoestring budget, “The Blair Witch Project” is truly an innovative movie in its own right, and while it didn’t invent the mock documentary format, it sure does a great job telling a spooky story with it. In Eduardo Sanchez’s hit indie horror film, we follow three film students who decide to make a documentary called “The Legend of Blair Witch,” based on a mythical witch who haunted the woods in the early 1900’s. Upon their filming and learning about the local lore, they venture into a deserted forest to seek a mythical graveyard of the Blair Witch victims, and soon find they are lost within the large area of trees and grass.
Soon, as they try to work their way back to the road, they realize something supernatural is keeping them trapped within the trees. Eventually the race for civilization becomes a rush for safety as they discover that they themselves are being hunted by a mysterious supernatural force. The entire movie is composed of footage as seen from the eyes of the characters camcorder’s as they meet, greet, and venture on their own and it’s a fun format for telling this tale. There’s good editing and very good chemistry between the characters that makes their eventual terror compelling. Inevitably, the mood changes and shifts completely into this isolated wooded area where once friendly creeks and bridges transform in to an endless slew of tall and terrifying trees that bend in to darkness.
The good thing about “The Blair Witch” is that we feel threatened throughout the movie, and so do the characters who are being hunted by an unseen force, but we never do see it. The filmmakers leave it up to us to decide what it is, and it works very well. The performances are great especially from newcomer Heather Donahue who perfectly hones in on her character’s varying emotional states and shifts with such tenacity. The dialogue always feels loosely improvised adding to the realism, and there are no long drawn out monologues. I loved “The Blair Witch Project” for its ingenuity, cutting edge style, and very tense situations. It’s a bonafide gem of 1999.