The formula is basic enough; Take an simple idea, put it in an interesting context, and then present it in an original way. It’s not quite as easy as it sounds, of course, but most successful Horror films will follow this formula to some extent. What takes a film beyond simple success and makes it more is a matter of timing. Of tapping into a cultural shift as it happens, not just commenting on it from behind. In 1999 directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez brought just such a film to the Sundance film festival. It made such a splash that the film was immediately purchased and put into theaters that July. The film was THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, and if its release caused a stir, its marketing campaign was a phenomenon.
THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT was the first wide-release film to be almost entirely marketed on the internet. The marketing campaign didn’t just blur the line between fiction and reality, it actively encouraged the assumption that it was, in fact, a true story. It helped that the filmmaking was smartly executed. The events depicted in the film are organic - never veering into the overtly supernatural. The acting is also naturalistic - the actors becoming increasingly gritty and real as the danger becomes clearer. And of course, mention must be made of the film’s use of handheld cameras to create the ‘documentary’ feel. By putting the characters behind the camera as well as in front, we completely buy into the idea that they are out there by themselves. That we are seeing only what they see, and feeling what they feel. While not the first film to use the 'found footage' idea to tell a story, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT was the first one to do it well - and it laid the groundwork for films like "Cloverfield" and "Paranormal Activity".
Another great aspect to this film is the legend of the Blair Witch herself. Myrick and Sanchez constructed a fully fleshed-out mythology behind the film. While little of the mythos is presented overtly, it informs the film so completely that the events take on another level of fear. And let’s face it, the basic premise of the film is inherently spooky, too. Lost in the woods is scary, lost in the woods with someone stalking you is scarier, but lost in the woods with someone or something stalking you? Now THAT'S scary! THE BLAIR WITH PROJECT taps into our most primal human fear - the fear that we are, in fact, nothing more than prey to something we can’t see. The final shot of the film is also amongst the most haunting Horror fans had seen in some time.
The backlash against this movie was fierce and oh-so-fashionable. The haters of this movie are some of the most passionate you will find. It seems, however, that most of the haters are generally movie buffs who are indifferent to Horror films, and that’s fine. This movie wasn’t made for them, and even the film’s most ardent detractors would be hard-pressed to deny the originality and groundbreaking approach of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.
THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT fun fact - The actors believed that the story of the Blair Witch was, in fact, a genuine local legend (though they knew the movie itself was fiction). They only found out that the legend was wholly made up by the directors after the film’s release.
Heather - “I don't know what's out there. We are going to die out here. I am so scared…”
Joshua - “It's not the same on film is it? I mean, you know it's real, but it's like looking through the lens gives you some sort of protection from what's on the other side.”
Michael - “I found some cigarettes. I found them all the way in the bottom of my pack. We're still alive 'cause we're smoking.”