Blair Witch

Shhh.... Did you hear that?... Peter?... Peter?!... Peter!... Peeeter!!... Ashley!...Ashley?... Ashley!....ASHLEY!... Aaaashleeey!!... Aaashleeey!....James?... Jaaames!...Lisa!... Liiisaaaa!... Peter?... Peter!!!.... Lane?... Laaane?.... Talia?... Talia!.... Ashley?... James???... Lisa? ... Liiisaaaa!... HEY! All of you just shut the f**k up! It's over! OK? Take it down a notch. It's finally done. What started in 1999 with a unique low-budget, cleverly executed and promoted, and genuinely creepy little indie film, finally ended in 2016 with a ridiculous corporate big-budget hackneyed piece of shhhh...did you hear that?... Ashley?... Ashley?.... ASHLEY!

...that kickstarted the "found footage" subgenre. A college film student (Callie Hernandez) decides to do her class documentary project on her friend (James Allen McCune), or rather her friend's sister, Heather, another documentary filmmaker who went missing back in the late 1990's investigating a local legend about a witch's ghost that haunted the nearby woods. Hernandez and McCune, along with his friends (Brandon Scott & Corbin Reid) and a local couple (Wes Robinson & Valorie Curry) who supposedly know the woods, all head into the forest to see if they can find the abandoned house where Heather went missing.

I was a fan of the original but not the superfluous 2000 meta-sequel, so I went in with lowered expectations. I was interested in what director Adam Wingard would do with the material, as I was a big fan of two of his previous movies, You're Next and The Guest. This doesn't rate with either of those, but I did enjoy it almost as much as the original. It still uses the "found footage" gimmick, with all scenes supposedly filmed by camcorders, or, since this is more tech savvy, small GoPro style cameras worn by the cast, as well as a remote control camera drone. While the movie relies way too much on loud soundtrack-sting jump scares, I liked the decision to be more demonstrative as regards the witch's ghost, and there are some good creepy moments here and there.

Remember the first Blair witch movie? Yeah, then you don't need to see this. It's an updated version, but without the hype and sound design (oh, there are creepy sounds in this one too, so many in fact that they stop being creepy after a short while) that made the first one successful although not good, and slightly frightening. But sure, if you like to hear people scream names of people you don't really care about, and enjoy the tiresome jump-scares, and shaky cameras, and annoying frightened breathing noises, then you might enjoy this movie. I did not.

This rating feels really harsh as this was a genuinely good movie and an excellent homage to the original.However the issues here are two-fold:

1. If you've seen the original there's really no need to see this one. It's effectively a modern remake of the original film with some minor tweaks. As a result, there isn't really much need for its existence other than to make more money for the film studio.

2. Part of what made the original so genre-defining and so ruthlessly scary (at the time) was the fact that nothing had been seen like it before. Tie that in with all the paraphernalia that went with it – mockumentaries, interviews with relatives, the actors in hiding for months, and it meant people were genuinely terrified before they'd even set foot in the cinema. Without all that, and with people being so accustomed to 'hand-held horror films' now, this film doesn't really deliver anywhere near the terror or frights that its namesake did 17 years ago.

Despite the above however, Blair Witch does so much of what 'Project' did well. For a start, the characters make genuinely, believable choices (minus maybe the idea of going into the woods in the first place). When you find yourself thinking you'd definitely leave at that stage - the characters attempt to leave. When you think at that stage you'd set up camp for the night rather than wandering round in the dark – they set up camp for the night… So often in horror films we have to put up with idiotic characters making idiotic, wholly unrealistic decisions and suffering the consequences as a result. At least with the BW series, you can actually empathise with the characters as they act in a similar manner to that, any of us would in the same situation.

Then, somewhat in homage to the original, it brings in elements of new camera-work which add to the tension and genuinely seem to present some alternative ways of filming (GPS cameras connected to the ear, looking through the reverse screen of a video camera, drone cameras etc) and all are integrated into the story seamlessly rather than being thrown in for the sake of it.

Finally, although I personally found myself relatively unmoved by the whole thing, the cinema itself barely moved when the credits rolled. My partner and I watched the entirety of the credits and were still two of the first out. It was as if everyone was waiting for the lights to come on first, which would suggest maybe others were more unnerved. I've never seen anything like it! In summation, if you've seen the original, there's really no need to see 'Blair Witch'. It's not that you'll be disappointed as it does a lot well, but it does a lot well because it practically mirrors the first. Not a bad film by any stretch but doesn't offer enough new material to warrant its existence.

After I watched this movie the first time I rated it a 6 as I found it mildly entertaining. I recently watched it again and couldn't help but notice cheap jump scare after cheap jump scare. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, they used the same type of unfulfilling shock tactic 3 times in succession. THREE TIMES! I am of course discussing how it seems to be totally possible for someone to be able to walk up to another character, stepping on all those woodsy twigs and leaves and wotnot, and not be heard AT ALL until said someone is practically on top of the other person. Cheap and nasty thrills for the sake of nothing... NOTHING! I've since reevaluated my rating to a 5.