Halfway to Halloween: A Look at the “Blair Witch” Movies
- Matt Palmer
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
It’s Halfway to Halloween, which means that one of my favorite holidays will be here before you know it and I can't wait to come up with a Halloween review slate down the road! So, since it's halfway to Halloween, I wanted to check out a small series of movies that I have never seen before that have gotten some mixed reactions from audiences over the years - the “Blair Witch” series.
In 1999's “The Blair Witch Project,” found video footage tells the tale of three film students who’ve traveled to a small town to collect documentary footage about the Blair Witch, a local legend. Over the course of several days, the students interview townspeople and gather clues to support the tale’s veracity.
But the project takes a frightening turn when the students lose their way in the woods and begin hearing horrific noises.
While it became a cultural phenomenon, viewers were deeply divided between those who found it to be a terrifying experience and those who felt it was completely over-hyped. And, even though the 1999 movie really isn’t the scariest movie out there, it can be a decent watch.
The movie does have the ability to create horror through a dark atmosphere rather than having visible monsters. The feeling of being “lost” and the degradation of the characters’ sanity can actually be very unsettling at times. Another thing I really liked about “The Blair Witch Project” is that it never shows the witch, forcing us to imagine the horror, which is actually more frightening and makes the movie more suspenseful.
The 1999 feature does have quite a few moments that can be unsettling, such as the infamous close up of Heather apologizing to the camera, and the trio of film students in their tent at night terrified by screams, footsteps, and the unseen force shaking their tent. There’s also the constant finding of rock piles and twig figures around their camp each morning, signaling they’re being watched or taunted.
In the 2000 sequel “Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2”, the movie journeys into a dark and dangerous place where the line between truth and fiction blurs and perhaps vanishes altogether. Individual perception grows increasingly untrustworthy as the protagonists find themselves caught in a vortex of unspeakable evil, the origins of which - human or supernatural - remain chillingly uncertain.
While the first movie definitely featured quite a few good thrills, this 2000 sequel is a huge let down. The sequel abandons the original’s then-groundbreaking found footage style for a traditional horror format and a meta-narrative that feels disconnected from the original’s subtle, psychological horror.
Even though the sequel’s story involves five people obsessed with the movie, taking a
tour of the woods where they encounter supernatural forces, experience memory loss and madness is a very compelling plot, “Book of Shadows” is just really bland. This movie fails to build any suspense whatsoever, which results in a boring series of scenes with really nothing to offer. Even the performances from the lead actors are really bland, which makes all the “scares” and even the final twist truly forgettable.
In the 2016 movie “Blair Witch,” a young man and his friends venture into the Black Hills Forest to uncover the mystery surrounding his missing sister. Many believe her disappearance years ago is connected to the Blair Witch legend.
At first the group is hopeful, especially when two locals act as guides through the dark and winding woods. As the night wears on, a visit from a menacing presence soon makes them realize that the legend is all too real, and more sinister than they could’ve ever imagined.
While this forgotten third movie in the series does have a few decent scares scattered throughout, it’s pretty much a formulaic retread that relies too much on typical jump scares rather than the original’s atmospheric terror. Even though it can be a bit intense here and there, the finale actually uses too much CGI which can really take you out of the movie. The finale gives us a glimpse of the Blair Witch creature (hence the too much CGI) and it really undermines the mystery.
The original “The Blair Witch Project” is widely regarded as a revolutionary, high-profit cultural phenomenon that pioneered “found footage” horror, generating intense fear through suspense, though it polarized some audiences with its shaky cam. The subsequent sequels were generally less received, often criticized for relying on jump scares rather than psychological thrills and scares.
You can currently stream all three movies on HBO Max.
The directors kept in touch with actors Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Joshua Leonard via walkie-talkies, to ensure the three would not become lost during their trek. Reportedly, they got lost at least three times.
Heather Donahue's mother received sympathy cards from people who believed that her daughter was actually dead or missing.
This film was in the Guinness Book of World Records for "Top Budget: Box Office Ratio" (for a mainstream feature film). The film cost $60,000 to make and made back $248 million, a ratio of $1 spent for every $10,931 made.
The three leads believed the Blair Witch was a real legend during filming, though, of course, they knew the film was going to be fake. Only after the film's release did they discover that the entire mythology was made up by the film's creators.
Numerous fans were so convinced of the Blair Witch's existence that they flocked to Maryland in hopes of discovering the legend. They apparently did not read the closing credits of the film.
The first cut of the movie to be screened was 2.5 hours, nearly twice the final cut length.
Unhappy with Joe Berlinger's version of the film, Artisan opted to re-shoot certain scenes to add more "traditional" horror movie elements and re-cut the movie to make it more commercial. Berlinger repeatedly states on the DVD commentary that he doesn't like the changes that were made and that they ruin the ambiguous tone of the plot.
Artisan Entertainment, who distributed the original movie, was keen to produce a sequel quickly, to take advantage of its predecessor's popularity. However, Haxan Films, the producers of the first film (which included original directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez), weren't comfortable working on a sequel so quickly, and preferred to wait until the hype had diminished a bit. Artisan (who had the rights) then decided to produce the sequel without Haxan Films. Myrick and Sanchez were given an executive producers credit, but both men later stated that they had very little creative input, and disliked the final film.
Although the film was poorly received, it was a box office success and has a large cult following.
In order to make this sequel as surprising as possible, filming was done in complete secrecy in Vancouver, as opposed to Patapsco State Park where the original was shot. The film was originally promoted under the faux-title "The Woods". The first trailer was then shown at the 2016 San Diego Comic Con, revealing it as the third "Blair Witch" film, a mere two months prior to the premiere.
Burkittsville officials took down most of the "Welcome to Burkittsville" signs before the film premiered, as many were stolen following the release of the first and second movies.
Unlike The Blair Witch Project (1999), this movie was completely scripted.
The film does not reference any of the events depicted in Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000).
Director Adam Wingard stated that while the first film is about being lost in the woods, this film is about being chased.
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