Blair Witch (2016)

[starri]

It was first announced as The Woods and its actual title, and thus connection to the original Blair Witch Project were only revealed back at SDCC.  It's a more proper sequel than Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2.

Found Footage is such a hard genre to do well.  About the only ones that I think really nailed it were the original film and the first (and I would also say third) Paranormal Activity.  So, I'm excited, but cautious.

[WendyCR72]

Wow, it really must be the 1990s again: Crystal Pepsi made a (limited-time) comeback and now a Blair Witch film is back in theaters!

[starri]

I'll see that and raise you this:  I heard "Jump" by Kriss Kross being played without irony in Starbucks the other day.

[Bruinsfan]

They lost me with one of those Paranormal Activity-style clips of someone being suddenly yanked across the screen in the trailer. No thanks.

[Hanahope]

The thing that made the original Blair Witch good (besides being the first of this type), was that a lot was actually done 'off-screen', but  we heard things and saw the actors' reactions on-screen, and "didn't see" some things, so at first you're not entirely sure if its just someone messing around or its really as creepy as shown.

[calliope1975]

13 minutes ago, Hanahope said:

The thing that made the original Blair Witch good (besides being the first of this type), was that a lot was actually done 'off-screen', but  we heard things and saw the actors' reactions on-screen, and "didn't see" some things, so at first you're not entirely sure if its just someone messing around or its really as creepy as shown.

Honestly, for me, the original was kind of boring, but it managed to build a low key tension throughout the film so that by the end, all it took was a guy standing in the corner to be terrifying. I am interested in the new one though, but it seems like a more traditional horror flick. 

[DoctorAtomic]

Well, guess what I found on Hulu!

I was around for the original movie when it came out, and I thought it was a brilliant concept, and still get freaked out about the ending apparently to this day, when they showed it in the beginning of this movie. Not that I was scared, but it was a thrilling 'whoa!' kind of movie, and after being able to read up on how it was made, I've always been fascinated by it. 

When it came out, really right before the internet took off, the SciFi channel did a mockumentary on how they found the footage, and the 'sheriff' talked about the legend of the Blair Witch. I recorded in on my VCR. Obviously, I knew it was fake, but it was shot so real; I think the first of its kind in the genre. I really like the entire legend of the Blair Witch. I thought it was original and really creepy. I didn't know why they were showing it until I saw the trailer on tv. I really enjoyed reading up on how the movie was made (back when EW contained actual journalism).

Maybe it resonates with me more because I was there for it, in the moment. 

Which was great because when I went to see the actual movie, I knew the backstory; for example, about the victim being in the corner or the different places they were at. So when that final scene came on with the guy in the corner, I was all 'oh no!' and then BANG. End. 

I'm a little surprised in 2016 no one was carrying a gun going into the haunted woods though. I don't know why you'd cross river in bare feet either. I've hiked river crossings in my boots. They dry out. 

I liked the movie, but it also fell flat because it ended the same way. The characters had the prior knowledge, but they didn't adjust. 

This should have been better. They only really relied on one part of the lore. 

[Bastet]

On 6/8/2024 at 8:36 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

I liked the movie, but it also fell flat because it ended the same way. The characters had the prior knowledge, but they didn't adjust. 

I love the original, but never even knew this film existed until it popped up as a recommendation recently (I know there's another, earlier sequel, but I've never seen that, either; it looks stupid).  I watched it Sunday night and found it ridiculous because of that very thing, and not just the ending -- throughout, the same things they know happened to the original three keep happening to them, and they make all the same stupid decisions.  So of course it ends the same way.  That's dull.

And, seriously, in 2016 people were still making horror movies in which the Black guy is the first to die?