{"id":23790,"date":"2017-01-09T00:43:43","date_gmt":"2017-01-09T05:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=23790"},"modified":"2017-01-09T00:53:08","modified_gmt":"2017-01-09T05:53:08","slug":"blair-witch-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/09\/blair-witch-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Blair Witch (2016)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It\u2019s just such a travesty that Adam Wingard\u2019s shot at the \u201cBlair Witch\u201d mythology flopped and has been generally derided by fans alike. I, for one, completely loved \u201cBlair Witch,\u201d not only for being such a unique and terrifying experience, but for the respect Adam Wingard has for the mythology. Even if you never bothered to watch those documentaries about Burkittsville, director Wingard brings everything full circle, including nods to the documentaries, the much derided sequel, and the original film. It\u2019s a legacy sequel, but one that also acts as an impromptu book end to the whole series. After this I don\u2019t know when we\u2019ll ever see anything about the Blair Witch ever again, but it\u2019s a great consolation the series goes out on this note.<\/p>\n

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Wingard\u2019s found footage movie is much more polished and infinitely more menacing than the original film. While the original horror indie masterpiece relied on gritty footage and documentary-like camera work, while Wingard uses more technologically advanced camera work for the sake of plot devices. The characters wear small head cameras, and use a drone, both of which eventually become very essential to drawing horror from the audience. What\u2019s more is the drone also becomes the total word in the film\u2019s narrative on the fate of our characters. There\u2019s even a very teeth clenching tense moment involving a character climbing a tree to grab one of their lost drones. \u201cBlair Witch\u201d is set years after the original film where her brother James is now on the hunt for her and is convinced she\u2019s alive.<\/p>\n

Against his friends\u2019 better judgment, James, his girlfriend Lisa, and their two friends travel through the same woods Heather did in 1999. Along the way they also meet two Blair Witch fans, both of whom tag along to find Heather. \u201cBlair Witch\u201d seeks to explain a lot of the more inexplicable plot elements of the original movie, and even dabbles in the concepts explored in the sequel. There are peeks in to the loss of time, the way the woods take on lives of their own, and a deeper look in to the house Heather was last seen. And yes, director Wingard even gives us a glimpse at the Blair Witch, while also creating some new horrific supernatural elements that we only grab a brief glimpse of, that further add to the entire arc of the Blair Witch and her presence within the woods.<\/p>\n

Director Wingard approaches \u201cBlair Witch\u201d with great ambition, providing satisfying explanations, but also leaving some elements ambiguous for the sake of a follow up down the line. He\u2019s skilled in offering up some banner moments of horror, including Lisa\u2019s crawl through a hole, a grotesque scene involving a centipede, and the final scene which had me on wits end. \u201cBlair Witch\u201d is a fun, creepy, and stellar follow up to the original film that completes the circle, and brings new ideas to the table without straying from what made the original film so memorable.<\/p>\n