The 1999 indie film The Blair Witch Project turned into a surprise box office hit while also delivering an important horror entry and unleashing the found-footage format on the mainstream movie industry.
What Is It?
This found-footage movie follows three student filmmakers who go missing while they are working on a documentary covering the Blair Witch legend well known in the Maryland town of Burkittsville (formerly Blair). The footage that they shot in the days prior to their disappearance is discovered and compiled to provide clues about what might have happened to them. First, we see them interviewing people in the town of Burkittsville, asking what they know and believe about the Blair Witch legend. Then they go backpacking into the woods surrounding the town, where they get lost and find themselves harassed by one or more unseen antagonists. With the cameras they brought along for the documentary, they film their descent into terror and despair as they unintentionally head deeper into the woods and further into danger.
Cast: Heather Donahue, Michael Williams, Joshua Leonard
Crew: Daniel Myrick (Writer/Director), Eduardo Sánchez (Writer/Director), Tony Cora (Music)
Original Release: July 14, 1999
Legacy:
The Blair Witch Project delivered an important horror film that touched on primal fears while also proving that indie films could become major commercial successes and skyrocketing the popularity of the found-footage format.
A Closer Look:
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
These days, 1999’s The Blair Witch Project has essentially become an afterthought for many people. They often pass it off as the film that made the “found footage” format trendy (much to the dismay of many) and say it was put together for a few bucks and made its creators a gozillion dollars after it became all the rage in theaters just before the end of the millennium. But it was just a gimmick film, they say, that lucked its way to box office gold and does not count as a significant horror film.
But don’t believe the naysayers. The Blair Witch Project is an important genre entry and quite an excellent one as well.
While this movie may have brought the found footage genre into the mainstream and spawned many imitators in the years after it debuted, it was not the first to rely on the technique. 1980’s lurid Cannibal Holocaust is often pointed to as the progenitor of the format, but you can even see traces of it as far back as the 1972 documentary (mockumentary?) The Legend of Boggy Creek. Blair Witch managed to tap into the full potential of the “gimmick” of its format, though, and create a product that had broad appeal.
The movie was “written” and “directed” by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, but in truth they were less writers and more the guiding force behind the project. The film did not have an actual script, as the actors were given general direction on what to do, and they ad-libbed most of their lines. And when they went into the forest, they received some vague instructions on where to go and some of the actions expected of them, but were not given the specifics, especially during the scenes at night when they had “encounters” with the mysterious antagonists. Thus their actions and reactions were more genuine and at times unanticipated, as they did not know what to expect throughout each of the scenes.
That helps elevate the tension and urgency in the film, but what really makes this such a successful horror movie is the menace of the unknown. You never find out what it is that is terrorizing the three main characters throughout the movie. Is it really the spirit of the Blair Witch seeking vengeance? Is it some backwoods degenerates protecting their territory? Or is it some other threat even more terrible?
In movies like Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and even the more recent Scream and Saw franchises, you know who the antagonist is, even if you don’t necessarily understand their motivations. In The Blair Witch Project, you don’t even catch a glimpse of what is pursuing the three students. You hear strange sounds, see some cryptic clues, and even feel it breathing down your neck at times, but you just don’t know what this threat truly is. And the film never bows to the Hollywood conventions that would demand that the big reveal should come before the ending credits. Myrick and Sánchez kept the audience in the dark, and that proved much more effective than actually showing the threat on screen. They also steered past all of the typical horror movie clichés—picking people off one at a time, the horny couple getting killed, the “bounce-back” scene—as they stayed the course of their minimalist approach.
There was some complaint about the acting when the film first came out, but at the time audiences had not yet had as much exposure to reality programming on television and weren’t quite prepared for the unpolished performances of the actors. What we see, especially once the students find themselves lost deep in the woods, are the more genuine responses to their situations, which contrasted significantly with the more deliberate directing of actors that audiences had grown to expect. Those raw reactions we saw on screen actually heighten the terror and intensity and contribute to the movie’s underlying dread.
When The Blair Witch Project unexpectedly stormed into theaters (propelled by a then-unique internet viral campaign), it offered a welcome respite from the many years of calculated blockbusters that had dominated the box office up to that point. It became an instant pop-culture phenomenon, but then found itself almost as quickly dismissed as a one-trick pony, in part because of the horrid sequel that would come out the following year (more on that below) as well as the many uninspired imitations it would spawn. But the fact is that this movie delivered a horror film that was truly scary and also quite original. Give this one credit for what it accomplished and know that it deserves its place as one of the top horror films of all time.
The Story Continues:
The Blair Witch Project was a huge success in theaters, pulling in nearly $250 million worldwide against a budget of less than $60K. Artisan Entertainment had picked the film up for wide distribution, and after it delivered them a huge success, they demanded a sequel. That arrived only sixteen months later, even though the original filmmakers wanted to wait and let the hype from the first movie die down some. Artisan moved forward anyway, bringing on a new director and not involving the Blair Witch creators too much with the project, leading to a very different film. Director Joe Berlinger originally approached it as a meta-commentary about how the original film had become a cultural obsession and how media can blur fantasy and reality. But the studio reportedly became concerned that audiences wouldn’t understand the film, and the final edited version mostly dropped the found-footage format and instead offered a more conventionally shot psychological horror film with many of the tropes of the genre. Berlinger claimed that what was released did not reflect the movie he intended to make, and it ultimately performed well below expectations at the box office while also receiving very low marks from critics.
The franchise stalled at that point, but Lionsgate acquired the property and V/H/S creators Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett came on board to tackle the next entry, which would hit theaters in 2016. That returned to the found-footage format, but it was only slightly better received by critics and audiences than Book of Shadows. It did pull in $45 million on a budget of $5 million, so it counted as a success and more is expected from the franchise (see next section).
A special titled Curse of the Blair Witch aired on the Sci Fi Channel on July 11, 1999, and acted as a promotional lead-up to the wide release of the original film. That was a mockumentary that set up some of the lore of the film and teased audiences about what they would see in the movie, treating it as if it were real. That one actually offered a more satisfying addition to the franchise than the first sequel, and it is worth seeking out. You can watch it for free (with ads) on Tubi.
Should It Be Rebooted?
No. The original film is perfect as it is, warts and all, and should be allowed to stand on its merits as the horror cult classic it is. But as you would expect, Hollywood can’t stand to let the name recognition of a well-known property go stagnant, and a reboot is planned. The good news, though, is that Blumhouse is involved, and they know how to do good horror films. The original creators are also being brought back on board, and the plan is not to do a ground-up reboot but to tell a new story set within the Blair Witch mythology like the 2016 movie did. New-generation horror filmmaker Dylan Clark (Portrait of God and other horror shorts) will be directing, and work has begun on this with a target premiere date of September 2027. If they are going to revisit the property, this is probably the best way to approach it, but there are plenty of other horror stories out there ripe for adaptation (Lovecraft’s work is now completely in the public domain) that might make more sense than retreading—and possibly diminishing—an existing franchise.
Interesting Facts:
Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez came up with the idea for The Blair Witch Project while students at the University of Central Florida, finding documentaries on paranormal phenomena more frightening than many conventional horror films. When the movie premiered at Sundance, it turned into a hit and spurred a viral internet campaign, something that was rare at that time. Artisan Entertainment bought the distribution rights for $1.1 million, pushing it into wide release where it enjoyed worldwide success. It was often thought that the original filmmakers made a mint from the production, and they were well compensated, but not to the extent that many believed. The movie launched the careers of Myrick and Sánchez and earned them industry recognition, but they had sold the film’s distribution rights before it turned into the phenomenon it did and thus did not make as much from the global ticket sales. The actors received even less compensation and have had very few roles of note since the success of the film, with only Joshua Leonard showing up regularly in films and TV shows still to this day.
After Artisan Entertainment bought the distribution rights, they wanted to change the ending of the film because test audiences found it confusing. Four alternate endings were filmed, one of which delivered a bloodier resolution, but ultimately they stuck with the original, more ambiguous close to the film. The only addition that resulted from this was a new interview in the first section that helped better set up the ending.
Where Can You Watch It?
This film has been released on Blu-ray and DVD, and you can purchase it VOD. It is currently available for streaming on HBO Max.
Further Reading
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