Blair Witch Project - Lisa's Review

This is a movie I actually managed to get my hands on before it hit the cinemas in the UK.  It was a Japanese import.  I think because I saw the movie before the hype (an American friend who had seen it and liked it sent me a copy) and knew pretty much nothing about it, it enabled me to enjoy it more than folks who went in with expectations of being scared shitless.

I'm going to assume that anyone reading a movie blog will be aware of this movie and will know the rough detail.  In short, Blair Witch is a 'found footage' movie.  One of the best known earlier ones before the craze took off.  Of course there were others, but this movie really rocketed the genre through the roof.  It is shot in black and white in a documentary format on a shaky camera.  We follow Heather (of the famous snotty nosed movie poster), Joshua and Michael who travel to Burkittsville to film the urban legend that is the Blair Witch.

The use of black and white is genius as this was rarely done in the early 90's.  For me it added to the authentic documentary style of the movie.  Obviously I knew it wasn't real, but when you want to suspend reality for a couple of hours, you want the movie to feel as authentic as possible.  We see the friends interview local residents, who, while they aren't going to be intellectually challenging, add another layer to the story.

We are made aware right from the start that the three film makers disappeared and were never seen again.  Their video camera was found with all the footage they had taken.

I have to say I enjoyed the movie.  I liked the idea, I thought the performances were good, although mostly that credit has to go to Heather.  I did jump in places and there was 1 genuinely freaky moment.  It showed how easy it is to create something disturbing on a small budget.

I definately think it's something worth seeing.  It went down a storm in the cinema and it spawned books, a video game and even an absolutely crap sequel.  It is amusing that the 2 actors thought it would maybe he shown on TV of they were lucky.  Thanks to a massive media campaign, including using the internet to have people believe the movie was actually real, Blair Witch raked it in.  I always wonder if the film makers were p*ssed off that they signed a contract for so little money.

While I know this isn't high-brow and it isn't very cool to like this movie... I do and I heartilly stick a 'recommended' on it's bum!