The Blair Witch Project
| The Blair Witch Project | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Daniel Myrick Eduardo Sánchez |
| Written by | Daniel Myrick Eduardo Sánchez |
| Starring | Heather Donahue Joshua Leonard Michael C. Williams |
| Distributed by | Artisan Entertainment |
Release dates | July 30, 1999 (USA wide) |
Running time | 86 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$25,000 |
| Box office | $248 million est. (as of July 26, 2004) |
The Blair Witch Project is a 1999 independent horror film, financed and distributed by Artisan Entertainment. The narrative is presented as a documentary pieced together from amateur footage. The film was produced by the Haxan Films production company. The film features Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams all as themselves.
It tells the story of three young student filmmakers who get lost in the woods while filming a documentary about the eponymous local legend. After being terrorized by an unseen presence for several days, they mysteriously disappear. Neither the students nor their bodies are ever found, although their video and sound equipment (along with most of the footage they shot) is eventually recovered, several feet under a building foundation that was laid at least a century earlier.
The release of the film on July 16, 1999 came after months of publicity, including a ground-breaking campaign by the studio to use the Internet and suggest that the film was a real event. It was very positively received and went on to gross over US$248 million worldwide.[1]
Plot
In October, 1994, student filmmakers Heather Donahue, Michael Williams and Joshua Leonard travel to Burkittsville, Maryland to film a documentary about a local legend known as the Blair Witch. According to legend, a woman named Elly Kedward was accused of witchcraft in 1785 in the Blair Township (currently known as Burkittsville). After her death, residents experienced signs of supernatural phenomena, notably the disappearance of many local children. Years later in the early 1940s, the deaths of more local children were attributed to a serial killer named Rustin Parr who would kidnap two children at a time. He would then take them to his basement, force one to face the corner and kill the other. Parr, a hermit who lived in a house in the woods, claimed he was forced to kill by "an old woman ghost".
The filmmakers visit Burkittsville, where they interview local citizens who relate further details of the Blair Witch legend. They then hike deep within the woods, where unusual events begin to unfold. Mysterious sounds from the woods awaken the filmmakers, who find that three piles of stones have been placed outside their tent. They become lost in the woods, and after several hours of hiking, realize they have returned to their starting point.
Believing the group's map to be useless, Michael tosses it into the river, causing anger and frustration among the group. As the group grows increasingly paranoid, Josh disappears one night. Shortly afterwards, a bloody cloth that appears to be from the missing Josh's shirt is found, with teeth and chunks of flesh wrapped in it. Heather and Mike grow increasingly cold, worried and hungry, and in what may be the film's best-known sequence, Heather records an apology to the trio's parents, claiming responsibility for the hardships they have endured.
One night, frightening sounds become unbearable, so Heather and Mike flee into the woods. After running blindly, they discover an abandoned, dilapidated house. The duo enters the home after hearing voices and search for people, but are soon overwhelmed by the sounds of screams. Mike runs downstairs to the basement. Heather flees to the basement in search of Mike, only to find him standing in the room, facing the corner. The camera falls; Heather's screams are heard before being cut short; the film ends.
Release and reaction
The teaser poster and other advertisements for the film were designed to reinforce the 'documentary' concept, leading many people to think the film was an actual documentary, and that the three protagonists really had disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland.[2] To reinforce this idea, the Sci-Fi Channel aired a fake documentary, Curse of the Blair Witch, that claimed to investigate the legend surrounding the movie right before the film's release[3]. The program contained "interviews" with friends and relatives of the missing students, paranormal experts, and local historians. This was done so extensively that the three main actors were listed for a time as "missing, presumed dead" on IMDb.[4]
Cinematic and literary allusions
In the film, the Blair Witch is, according to legend, the ghost of Elly Kedward, a woman executed for witchcraft in 1785 in the Blair Township (present-day Burkittsville). The directors incorporated that part of the legend, along with allusions to the Salem Witch Trials and The Crucible to play upon the themes of injustice done on those who were called witches.[5] The directors were also influenced by The Shining, Alien, The Omen and Jaws for the technique of showing the antagonist as little as possible to create a compelling psychological drama.[2]
The film has strikingly similar elements as that of the 1980 Italian exploitation film Cannibal Holocaust. In the first part of this film, a rescue team ventures into the jungles of South America to search for a missing group of filmmakers that previously traveled there to film a documentary about cannibalistic tribes. Their footage is eventually found and viewed, which makes up the second half of the film.[6]
DVD release
The DVD was generally well received, though by the nature of the film it does not exploit the full quality of the DVD format in either video or audio; the extras, however, were thought to be extensive.[7]
Computer games
In 2000, Gathering of Developers released a trilogy of computer games based on the Blair Witch movie, which greatly expanded on the myths first suggested in the film. The graphics engine and characters were all derived from the producer's earlier game, Nocturne.[8] The trilogy was not particularly well received by critics. The first game, Rustin Parr, was criticized for being very linear but praised for its relentlessly creepy atmosphere, including audio that was faithful to the movie.[9]
In popular culture
The Blair Witch Project's success led to many spoofs and references in other media. For example, a film was produced solely based on the film's title, entitled The Blair Witch Rejects[10] and the The Tony Blair Witch Project[11]. Also, Cartoon Network released a parody of the film entitled The Scooby-Doo Project, the film was also referenced in an episode of The Simpsons, in which Bart and Lisa become hopelessly lost, and Bart asks Lisa if she had "ever seen the Blair Witch Project?".
One particularly frequently referenced moment from The Blair Witch Project is the scene in which Heather points the camera directly up at her face with the camera's light shining in her eyes as she apologizes and claims how frightened she is. Numerous television shows and movies have lampooned this popular scene.
Curse of the Blair Witch
Curse of the Blair Witch was a mockumentary produced for the Sci-Fi channel in 1999. Set just after the events of the original movie, the program incorporated mock interviews with the townspeople, scientists and the students' teachers, as well as mock news clips regarding the search effort for the filmmakers. Historical "evidence", including the legend of The Bell Witch, are used as background material.
References
- ^ "The Blair Witch Project". Box Office Mojo.com. 2006-01-01. Retrieved 2007-04-14.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Klein, Joshua (1999-07-22). "Interview - The Blair Witch Project". avclub.com. Retrieved 2006-07-30.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "The Curse of the Blair Witch". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ Mannes, Brett (1999-07-13). "Something wicked". Salon.com. Retrieved 2006-07-29.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Aloi, Peg (1999-07-11). "Blair Witch Project - an Interview with the Directors". Witchvox.com. Retrieved 2006-07-29.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Knipfel, Jim (2005-07-22). "Cannibal Holocaust". nypress.com. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Blair Witch Project, The". IGN.com. 1999-12-16. Retrieved 2006-07-30.
{{cite web}}:|first=missing|last=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Blair Witch Project Interview". IGN.com. 2000-04-14. Retrieved 2006-07-30.
{{cite web}}:|first=missing|last=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Lopez, Vincent. "Blair Witch Volume 1: Rustin Parr". IGN. September 21, 2000. Retrieved January 11, 2007.
- ^ "Blair Witch Rejects Official Site".
- ^ "The Tony Blair Witch Project at EOFFTV".