{"id":303,"date":"2013-01-23T12:03:18","date_gmt":"2013-01-23T17:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smugfilm.com\/?p=303"},"modified":"2013-03-01T21:35:47","modified_gmt":"2013-03-02T02:35:47","slug":"blair-witch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smugfilm.com\/oldsite\/blair-witch\/","title":{"rendered":"The Blair Witch Project: Stop Not Liking It"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"blairwitch\"
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\nThe Blair Witch Project (1999)<\/strong>
\nWritten and Directed by Daniel Myrick & Eduardo S\u00e1nchez
\n81 min.<\/p>\n

Warning: This review contains spoilers.\u00a0 Please have seen this movie before reading.<\/i><\/p>\n

The Blair Witch Project may be the most effective movie ever made.\u00a0 It\u2019s certainly one of the best.\u00a0 I say \u2018effective\u2019 because its goal\u2014to scare the shit out of you\u2014is so cleverly achieved that it boggles the mind.<\/p>\n

This movie is effective for the same reason any movie is effective: it\u2019s a clear, soundly constructed story, told creatively by way of great performances, well-crafted shots, and brilliant exposition.\u00a0 Exposition in particular is such a difficult thing, and is so often mishandled, generally leading to the complete and utter unwinding of a movie.
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\nThe interview sequence in The Blair Witch Project<\/i> is perhaps the best expository sequence of all time.\u00a0 Some of the people being interviewed are actors and some are real townsfolk.\u00a0 It all just seems like part of a documentary\u2014natural and fluid. Exactly how it’s supposed to feel. \u00a0 Since it\u2019s all hearsay about supernatural nonsense, we don\u2019t really key into one bit of information in particular, and so the guy talking about the killer making you stand and face the wall doesn\u2019t stand out.\u00a0 But that piece of information is crucial\u2014it sneakily telegraphs the ending, making then ending one of the most effective endings of all time.<\/p>\n

The crazy townswoman in this sequence is also important.\u00a0 The main characters\u2019 reaction to this woman harkens back to the golden age of slasher movies when a crazy old coot would warn of impending danger.\u00a0 This dumbs down the subject matter and makes the whole idea of a Blair Witch seem trivial and silly, so that we let our guard down for the horror to come\u2014and the scariest shot in movie history.<\/p>\n

See, unlike most movies, during the climax of The Blair Witch Project, we aren\u2019t thinking about what we\u2019ve been set up for.\u00a0 We\u2019re invested solely in the plight of our characters.\u00a0 We\u2019re looking for Josh, and we\u2019re scared.\u00a0 However, when Mike is found facing the wall, we\u2019re immediately reminded of those townspeople who all seemed so light-hearted and nonchalant.\u00a0 We now know ‘it’ is real, and whatever ‘it’ is, it has the power to make a grown man stand and face a wall.<\/p>\n

And then the movie ends.\u00a0 No special effects.\u00a0 No big action set pieces.\u00a0 None were needed.\u00a0 It was just three people getting lost in the woods and dealing with it, and it all felt real.\u00a0 The performances seemed real, their improv\u2019d dialog seemed real, and their fear seemed real.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tragedy that the actors and filmmakers behind this have dwindled into obscurity.\u00a0 And that endless parodies, or copycats (like the Paranormal Activity<\/em> franchise) have come along and swept it into undeserving oblivion, to be mocked along with whatever else is currently unfairly deemed pass\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Daniel Myrick and Eduardo S\u00e1nchez made a great fucking movie.\u00a0 Stop not liking it.<\/p>\n

1 out of 1 stars.<\/i><\/p>\n