The Blair Witch Project: A Film that Changed Horror

Originally this was going to be a very different article. With the start of spring and people talking about camping I thought of a movie to review. Then I started to discuss that movie with friends and this article evolved. Because sometimes movies are that deep. Sometimes the way they are made is worth having a discussion about. 

The Blair Witch Project was released in 1999 with genius marketing. While not the first film to be a “true story” of “found footage” this film had technological opportunities that films did not. The internet gave credence to the ploy with the website. Full of information on the myth of the Blair Witch, pictures, reports and found footage it made the whole thing seem legitimate. The trailers hinted to the missing documentary makers and there were fake missing posters. The cast and crew not being big name actors meant that there were plenty of people who had never seen them. This added to discussions about the film as viewers could not say one way or another if the film was real. It was a great way to promote a found footage project.

While people debated the fate of the cast, they flocked to the theater. Little did they know the unconventional method that brought what they were watching to life, or how that would affect movies to come. 

The Blair Witch Project was also shot in an odd manner for the late nineties and it’s love of a blockbuster. The cast shot the footage themselves, adding to the found footage feel. They had a detailed outline instead of a real script. This made the actors improvise for the time they were out in the woods. Meanwhile the directors provided scares that the cast did not know would happen themselves. Some horror fans think this went too far. The cast knew they would be improvising in the woods, that there would be an outline to stick to, and the cast never being in real danger or a ghost witch, but the tricks went beyond what should happen during filming. Shooting in this immersive style, alone in the woods, while not knowing all the plot points led to reactions of very real fear from the cast. 

Some fans also felt outrage upon learning that the film was fake. They really believed the marketing ploys. The phony documents and interviews about the witch. The posters. They felt that the marketing had, also, gone too far. 

All of this led to a film that changed the horror genre. Since then there have been other found footage movies made similarly, with a small cast and crew filming with an outline instead of a script. However, The Blair Witch Project continues to scare new viewers even without the marketing it had upon its release. Fans continue to find new parts of the film to analyze. Somehow they even find new theories over 20 years later. 

However you feel about the ethics behind it, this film is a classic within the world of horror. It has stopped people from camping. It has led to deep dives on a witch that is never even seen. It has inspired many film makers to embrace practical effects, small budgets, and the use of empty space in film. It made people afraid of what they couldn’t see. 

In a time where effects are being argued and evolved it is wonderful to have a film that stands as an example of what you don’t need to scare an audience. 

So go ahead. Join Heather, Josh and Michael as they set out to film a documentary in the woods. Maybe you’ll see something no one else has before. Maybe something you shouldn’t see at all. 

ALWAYS KEEP SPARKLING!!!