A film review by Gio Corsi Copyright © 1999 Gio Corsi

I have never been in a theatre that boo'ed at the end of a film, but that's exactly what happened when I saw THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, the credits rolled and people began to boo. And out of the nine people who I went to see the film with, only one person enjoyed it... I was not that one person.

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT is a unique film in the sense that it is filmed like a documentary. The story has three film students gearing up to do a film on the legendary Blair Witch of Maryland. So Heather (the Director), Josh (the Cameraman) and Mike (the Sound guy) trudge off into the woods for a two day shoot always keeping the cameras rolling and filming everything. Sure enough, they hear weird noises at night, find odd wooden objects, mysterious rock piles and generally begin to get creeped out. Eventually, they get severely lost, run out of food and start to go a little bonkers with fear and frustration. It's at this point that things at night get a little worse and the true terror unfolds. A year later, all this film footage is found and that is what you are watching on screen.

Now I know by saying this, I may get lynched by some of you but it has to be said, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT is not scary, I repeat, it is not scary. I nearly shit my pants when I saw JACOB'S LADDER, I nearly fell asleep when I saw THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. Not once did I hold my breathe, grab my armrest, cover or avert my eyes, I do admit that I was getting ready to be freaked out when they found that house but there was no payoff! And that's the second flaw of the film, there is no payoff, you never get to see "the old man behind the curtain who controls the great and powerful Oz". THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT is the ultimate tease, it strings you along, building up the pressure and then WHAMMO, it ends. What? But I didn't see anything! What the hell happened? Where's the payoff? Oh well, maybe we'll find out in the sequel.

Another downpoint is the script, or lack thereof. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT is just one long improvised script from start to finish. The filmmakers (as they like to be called) give the actors some gear, some general plot points and let them run wild. Now personally, I found the first half of the film awesome. These three film students, loading up gear, planning shots, getting ready for a two-day camping shoot and drinking after a long day's work, was all great, it was a good believable start. But then almost all of the last half is a shaky black & white camera running through the woods, while Heather screams in fear. Ofcourse you never see what Heather is screaming at, in fact you rarely see Heather cause she's running in front of a super shaky black & white camera at night. Oh yeah, that's a scary film... for me to poop on!

Yet another thing is that they spent $40,000 on this film. Ohh!!! Ahh!!! Wow!!! Well enough of the blah blah!! What the hell did they spend $40,000 on? There's no stars, no lights, no effects, one dinky video camera and one old 16mm camera... huh? THAT cost $40,000? EL MARIACHI cost $7,000 and it had guns, explosions, effects and car chases. Now I know they are two totally different genres of film but do you see the point I'm trying to make?

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT does however give the viewer a good sense of being lost in the woods, you really feel like you are lost with those kids, But it isn't a "horror" experience, it's a "psychological" experience. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT should never have been billed as a horror movie, you want to see a horror movie? Then go see THE EXORCIST, the original NIGHTMARE ON ELM ST. or THE SHINING, I mean how horrible can THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT be if it's rated 14 Years? The film is definitely a psychological thriller, it plays on your fears of being lost with having no way out while knowing something is out there, watching and hunting you. Unfortunately, they max out on this feeling and never take it to the next level.

Fueled by two spooky trailers, a well designed & intriguing Web Page and positive word of mouth, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT does not live up to it's own hype. A lack of solid script, no real horrific elements and no spooky payoff keep it from being truly great. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT is said to "re-invent the Horror Genre", well it has done no such thing, it has only shown that the Horror Genre needs a lot more work before it can truly scare us to death again.

	Running Time: 87 Min | Rated R | US Release: July 30th | More >>

Related 'Blair Witch Project' Links:

• Official Site
• A&e's TBWP Fanatic's guide
• Daniel Myrick's Personal Site
• Eduardo Sánchez' Personal Site
• Upcomingmovies.com: Blair Witch Project