Creeptober Night 25: The Blair Witch Project (1999)
“I’m afraid to close my eyes, I’m afraid to open them.”
During this, the final weekend of Creeptober, I wanted to watch a couple of found-footage movies. First up is the movie that kicked off the found footage craze that is still going strong today. Tonight we watch The Blair Witch Project.
Reacting to The Blair Witch Project
I was a teenager when The Blair Witch Project was first released. Being a teen who was very into movies at that time, I feel like I have a pretty clear view of a movie that has a reputation which started crossing over into legend over the past two and a half decades. I think The Blair Witch Project is a fantastic movie, and the way it was marketed is part of its genius. However, I do challenge the idea that I see talked about a lot online, that most people were fooled into thinking the movie was real.
The first time I remember encountering The Blair Witch Project was in a small independent theater. I don’t remember what movie I was going to see that night, but in the lobby there were flyers printed as “Missing” posters featuring images of Heather, Josh, and Mike from The Blair Witch Project. I thought it was a great way to advertise a movie, and that’s all. I did not think it was an actual missing person poster.
Later I started seeing all of the other viral marketing being done for the film. The web site was awesome. The pseudo-documentary that aired on the Sci-Fi Channel just prior to the movie’s wide release was great. But again, I never thought it was real, and neither did my family nor any of my friends that I know of. I mean, the documentary aired on the Sci-Fi Channel, not as part of a genuine news program.
Now, I’m not faulting anyone for thinking that it was all real. The marking was effective. And maybe I’ve always just had too skeptical of a personality, but I honestly don’t remember anyone at the time, outside of the marketing, talk about The Blair Witch Project as if it were real. I understand that my story is just one anecdote and doesn’t actually prove anything, but anyone claiming that audiences at large thought the movie was real are also just sharing anecdotes.
It really does feel like a War of the Worlds 1938 radio broadcast situation, where the legend says everyone believed it and panicked, but the reality is that the panic was relatively minor and limited to smaller groups of people than what is widely believed. In the grand scheme of things I suppose it doesn’t matter much. What does matter is the legacy of The Blair Witch Project as a seminal film in the history of cinema.
I’ve always loved The Blair Witch Project. I saw it twice in theaters when it was released in 1999, and I own it on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray (which is to say, I’ve upgraded it each time it’s been released on a new major format).
To me, The Blair Witch Project does everything right when it comes to the found footage format. Nothing was done to manipulate the footage caught by the actors. I don’t just mean the lack of special effects, I also mean that the actors weren’t instructed to perfectly frame the spookier moments. There’s a scene when Heather is running through the woods at night and sees something in the darkness. We hear her scream about seeing something, but we never see it.
In many modern found footage movies, and even in the Blair Witch sequel from 2016, the camera is often set up in position to perfectly capture whatever scary moment is supposed to take place. The greatness of The Blair Witch Project comes from many of the things that we don’t see. Because in a real situation with people terrified, important moments would be missed. That makes it feel more real, and being “real” is the entire point of the found footage format. If you want everything perfectly framed, just watch a traditionally shot film.
Some editing was done with the sound to heighten the effectiveness of certain pivotal moments, but the additions and alterations are minimal and easy to miss. I notice it most at the very end when there is a low hum or rumble that stays the same even when switching from Mike’s camera to Heather’s. But it’s minimal, and it’s not like music or obvious sound cues were added. The Blair Witch Project really does feel like footage that was found and then cut together to make a documentary. Too many found footage movies try to be cinematic, but being cinematic misses the entire point of the format.
I don’t think The Blair Witch Project is perfect. A few of the scenes go a bit too far into an almost melodramatic feeling. Like Mike rocking back and forth and muttering to himself alone in the woods. Or Heather’s “it’s all I have left” remark when Josh is pressing her about filming everything all the time. Stuff like that teeters awfully close to the edge of being cheesy. But then there’s the dramatic confession scene with Heather which is pitch-perfect. In the overall balance, I think the acting is phenomenal, especially given the fact that Heather, Josh, and Mike were actually out there enduring the elements for days and coming up with their dialogue and reactions in real time.
One thing that has always inspired me about The Blair Witch Project is how it was made. It’s not just method acting, it’s method producing. The directors gave the actors instructions about plot points and character motivations mostly through notes left in drops that also contained food and camera equipment. They would occasionally approach them directly for important moments, but that was kept to a minimum. Most of the time the crew stayed away and let the actors ad-lib their way through the entire movie. The dialogue is their own, and the camerawork is their own.
This write-up has been a bit rambling, I know, but these are the thoughts that run through my head every time I watch The Blair Witch Project. I suppose the point is, I think this movie is probably the most pure form of the found footage and pseudo-documentary format. There have been lots of great movies in the genre, but The Blair Witch Project is as influential as it is for good reason. It’s not the hype surrounding its release, and it’s not the hyperbolic legend that rose from that hype. It’s because The Blair Witch Project is an amazing film that executes its chosen story and format with near-perfection.
