Blair Witch 2 : Le Livre des ombres

I loved the blair witch project and would have much rather they make a sequel that continued with the original story then made a sequel like this.

I liked this movie but it would have been a lot better had it been by itself and not part of the Blair Witch Project original movie. The plot was a bit hard to follow but I managed.

It was almost nothing like the original but I found it scary and a reasonable movie.

An interesting movie that played well with test audiences was then ruined by studio execs who bizarrely decided to change the movie based on a tiny minority of the same test audience. Any subtlety or nuance is ruined by cliché after cliché and completely misplaced gore, jump scares and the worst CGI you've ever seen. Out on the Internet, there exist some fan edits that get closer to the director's original cut. I suggest you seek one of those out... they all improve upon this mess.

Rewatched Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows last night for the first time in like 20 years. I remember liking it when I was a kid, but was kind of shocked at how much I enjoyed it.

I definitely think this is an unfairly maligned film and don't quite understand the hate or the 4.0 imdb user rating.

Don't get me wrong, it's far from a masterpiece, but at least Book of Shadows tried to do something different with the Blair Witch lore. A solid attempt was made to preserve and integrate all the faux "history" into the story. Yes, there are plot holes, and some ridiculous scenes, but overall the cast and acting are above average for a horror film, and I thought it did adequately carry a fair bit of suspense throughout.

Having seen both recently, I think Book of Shadows is a far superior film to 2016's "Blair Witch", which I thought was a pretty shallow rehash of the original with no original ideas or even the most minimal attempt to expand upon the given mythology.

Joe Berlinger set out to make a film with a different feel than what the studio twisted Book of Shadows into, but the end result is nothing to throw in the trash bin. I would love to experience a true Director's Cut and wonder if it would have been as memorable, because Book of Shadows, as it is, is a fun little flick that deserves better than some of the ratings it's garnered by those wanting more Blair Witch Project.

After Blair Witch how would it be possible to continue to suggest the possibility of real footage and lost documentary videos falling into the hands of a movie studio? Viewers have now latched onto found footage as a style, but at the time following the release of the first film the idea was simply seen as a gimmick to get people to pay to watch a movie with zero budget.

Book of Shadows is a great horror film, not quite as ambitious as the director set out to convey in his final cut, but tons of fun for horror fans. Turn off the lights, turn off your phone, enjoy the show.

The first Blair Witch was both a phenomenon commercially and creatively. Book of Shadows had the same potential, but was ultimately was let down by its high aspirations. The director could not decide if he wanted to make a straight documentary or a straight movie. In my eyes, the combination of the two cost this movie. The choppy editing had a huge factor in this as well. If only the first hour had been as carefully assembled as the last half hour, this would have been a true masterpiece. All in all this is not a super bad movie and is worth a viewing - just not multiple times. Bottom line: Good story, poor execution. My score: 4/10!