Year:
1999
Studio:
Artisan Entertainment/
Haxan Entertainment
Movie:
2/5
DVD:
3/5
Teaser
Three film students -- Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael
Williams -- head into the woods to investigate rumors of a Blair Witch.
They are never heard from again. One year later, their belongings,
including video and film that they shot, are found. Suitably edited,
this is their story.
Movie
If you think of it as a very low budget independent film, it's a fairly
good horror movie. Though you never see the monster, there is something
definitely out there and the mounting suspense is quite gripping. The
movie is from the point of view of whomever was shooting with the
camcorder and the film camera -- usually being Heather and Josh,
respectively.
But there are many things to hate about the movie. For one, it's very
long and slow moving. For another the kids weren't using steady cams or
anything like that so the film can be nauseating for people like me.
After an hour I couldn't watch it and just listened to most of the rest
of the movie.
|
Actors
The three actors did a great considering they spent eight days out in
the woods filming pretty much by themselves. Listening to the
commentary and you find out that this was basically a long Live Action
Role Playing exercise, with the production crew going around and
settings things up and staging events for the actors, who had
guidelines but were supposed to just be natural.
DVD
The commentary is great. Enthusiastic people talking about the whole
process, which is quite fascinating. There are a couple of deleted
scenes I think, but they don't add to the movie. There is a 45-minute
"Curse of the Blair Witch" documentary. Theatrical trailer and some
miscellaneous things I don't remember round out the package.
Recommendations
It's a unique movie that will either bore you or be utterly cool, with
the added bonus of inducing vomiting. I can't recommend it unless you
are an aspiring film maker, in which case the commentary is gold. |