Blair Witch (2016) Movie Review
It has been 17 years since The Blair Witch Project was released in theaters. The movie proved to filmmakers everywhere that found footage horror films can truly be more terrifying than traditional horror. The film sprouted interest and inspired films like Paranormal Activity and V/H/S. The shaky filming techniques were new, bold, and vomit-inducing. The film is still universally acclaimed by critics and set a milestone in horror.
The sequel, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 was released the next year. Most agree it was the change in format to traditional filming that caused its failure. I imagine this is why director, Adam Wingard (You’re Next, V/H/S, The ABCs of Death), made this Blair Witch sequel in the same vein as the original.
Blair Witch follows James, the brother of the main character Heather from the original film. James and his friends, Lisa, Peter, and Ashley, travel to Burkittsville, Maryland. The goal is to search for Heather after James sees a video found in the woods posted online. Peter and his girlfriend tag along as support, while filmmaker Lisa hopes to get footage for her documentary. They meet with the locals, Talia and Lane, who say they posted the video after finding it on a camping trip in the woods. After some contention, the group agree to let the locals join their search group.
Fans of the original film will remember the legends Talia and Lane tell the group. These include stories of murderer Rustin Parr and Elly Kedward, the alleged Blair Witch. Some fan service is given here by mentioning Coffin Rock and other landmarks from the first film. It’s here that we discover the search group to find Heather in the 90s included James, and his close friend, Peter.
The film returns to its roots with its fantastic jump scares. The best thing about The Blair Witch Project is the lack of danger to the characters at first. Strange noises, suspicious sights, and a ghostly apparition that the audience never really sees adds to the suspense and causes each character to lose their stability. Though the cameras in this film are far more high-tech (a drone!) than the original, the confusion and shaky movements still cause you to feel nervous just before they throw something spooky in your face.
The plot drops midway through the film, which is disappointing. The film did well by giving some context about why this particular group of people travels to Burkittsville, but, after the first night, the plot disappears. On multiple occasions during the screening, I questioned whether Heather was the Heather from the original or another, new Heather, who happened to go missing in these woods as well. They seem to ignore Heather’s reasons for being in the woods and only casually mention the search party for the missing students in Peter’s backstory. Even the locals underreact to James’ connection with Heather and her crew.
The film continues the story, as a sequel should, and revisits the aspects that made the original great. Since the first film, the horror genre has developed into a more dimensional landscape thanks to found footage filming. But it misses the mark by not going beyond its original. Sure, the scares were better, more exciting and more unsettling. This sequel even added more gore and blood to its list of fun. But in comparison with horror today, less exposition and more anticipation that we’ve come to expect from “great” horror would probably have improved its watchability. Overall, it is good horror, but just not great.
Blair Witch is set for release nationwide on September 16, 2016.
