NO BODY PUTS MOVIE IN A CORNER
By
Darin Skaggs
Many
say that Jaws started off the
summer Blockbuster. Others say X-Men brought
fourth this wave of superhero films and it is clear that The
Blair Witch Project is
responsible for the pile up of the “found footage” genre.
Fortunately, this film is not like most from the genre. This film is
scary, effective and actually believable.
The film, as said, is told as a
found footage movie following Heather, Josh and Mike; three inspiring
filmmakers that are making a documentary with their home bought, hand
held camera about the legend of the Blair Witch. The whole film
being shot with an actual hand held. The film starts with interviews
from towns people and some scenes of the three just goofing around
which makes you feel it is grounded in reality. They then set out
into the woods to find whatever they can to prove the Blair Witch is
more than just an old wise tale.
The film is told like a ghost
story you would hear around a camp fire. It starts in the woods, not
much happens, then boom, the end comes and hits you like a ton of
bricks. This is a film that takes its time with the fear. It could
be viewed as boring or too slow. When the gang is in the woods it
takes a while for anything to happen. That is not a compliant, the
film builds the tension so well, even when nothing is happening, you
feel scared for them and a large sense of dread of what is to come.
Actually, we see nothing happen pretty much the whole film. The most
terrifying moments happen with the sounds coming from the distant or
outside of the tent, mostly happening at night. The most chilling
visuals come from a set up in the woods of organized sticks that may
or may not be of the Blair Witch and a log the group can not seem to
escape. There is no jump scare nor is the witch finally revealed.
It is all left up to the imagination which makes it even more scary.
It is not just what we hear and
imagine that makes the film terrifying, the performances of the
freighted filmmakers affects the sense of terror. Heather Donahue,
who is mostly behind the camera in the film, has to act with her
voice. The voice acting all around is great as it builds to
frustrated talking to helpless screams for help. Heather, along with
her costars Josh Leonard and Mike Williams, get the point across to
make it feel like they are all friends even by the end when they are
sick of each other.
The ending for this film is
brilliant. At this point, Josh has disappeared but we still hear his
screams in the distant. Heather and Mike are desperately looking for
him and eventually come across a house. Heather is crying making the
scene more and more tense. Mike vanishes as well, so Heather heads
downstairs. For a brief second we see Mike standing in the corner,
the camera drops and the movie ends. The brilliance of the film is
we don’t see anything, at all. There is no conclusion or closure
at all. Like any good ghost story, the supernatural force wins, the
victims all die and the fable is unanswered. It is a film that,
again like Jaws but with water, begs you not to go in the
woods. The film started an overload of found footage films but you
can't blame it for that. This one is truly scary and is one of the
best horror films of all time.
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