The Blair Witch Project
Before you get into the article, I thought you'd be interested in what someone involved with this film had to say:
Hello Arachnia's Den:
Came across your review of "The Blair Witch Project." Thank you for the
nice words about the picture's visual design...it was not easy...
Sincerely,
Neal L. Fredericks
Director of Photography
Credits & Production Stills. http://www.reelmind.com/camopdp
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It's been called "the scariest film since The Exorcist", and although I personally don't think that's quite true, it's a damn good fright nonetheless. I immediately took immense pleasure in sitting back and reveling in the completely unique atmosphere this film created. The way the movie was shot gives the impression you're watching actual home video type footage, which at first I thought was kind of annoying (nothing like the camera's motion making you want to puke). However, after I got used to the difference, I really found it quite effective. At this point, the movie definitely had bonus points simply because it wasn't just another regurgitation of the whole Scream fiasco. Despite my kudos to the filmmakers for making The Blair Witch Project a unique experience, I definitely wasn't cool on the marketing techniques they used to get asses |
| in the seats. For those of you who visited the official web site, you probably got the impression that this truly was based on true events. The quaint picture galleries of the "victims" as little tots in their Halloween costumes, placed there for the unknowing public to gawk at and in turn feel so sorry for this poor troop of film students who met their demise in the woods. Of course, pretty much everyone knows now that this wasn't a true story (at least the part about the students was fake). Think we definitely figured this out after seeing several cast members appearing on talk shows ;). It's totally understandable why we were duped. Movies are always that much more frightening when the events are supposedly true. For example, The Amityville Horror virtually |
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all of its momentum and effectiveness as a terrifying Horror
film after the "true story" the film was supposed to have been based on were
exposed as being false. A partnership between a greedy lawyer and the new owners of a
house with a bloody past concocted a truly frightening tale about the evil spirits they
believed to be haunting the house in Amityville, Mass. Regardless of the fact that there absolutely was no such girl as Heather Donohue who went searching in the woods for answers to a mythical question, and regardless of the fact that there isn't and never was a 'Blair witch', this was a terrific movie. I loved it from beginning to end because, as I mentioned already, I liked the feel of this movie. The filmmakers must have sensed that the |
| general public was, quite frankly, sick and bloody tired of overbudgeted,
overestimated, overdone Horror films with only 1 mission: to make money like white on
rice. The Blair Witch Project takes the viewer back down a somewhat
reminiscent alleyway, paying due homage to the Horror film of old. The suspense was what
killed you, and the climax left you begging for more. Goremongers, beware! Although this movie is amazing in every sense of the word, you won't see too much of the red oozey stuff. It's scary as Hell, but alas, it's not a gore film. You get a brief look at 'the goods', but you won't be puking into your popcorn or anything like that. You don't even really get a glimpse of anything supernatural, really. Basically, you view the movie through the eyes of it's main characters. The idea of what you can't see being more frightening than what you can is such an underrated strategy. I'm glad it's not going completely unused and unnoticed. Above anything else, it's the acting that makes this movie great. The chemistry that exists between the actors is absolutely unreal. One really does get the feeling they've known each other all their lives. Why don't they make movies like this anymore??!! |
THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT IMAGE GALLERY
| Buy THE BLAIR WITCH
PROJECT from:
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Buy THE BLAIR WITCH
PROJECT poster from:
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