With the horror sub-genre of found-footage being shoved into the limelight, an inevitable surge of half-hearted horror flicks have been dumped onto our cinema screens. Their lack of funding, care and attention have slowly turned this sub-genre into a joke, worthy of countless numbers of spoofs. When this is the case, one would ask, 'Then why do companies produce these film's' for which my answer would be: 1- The cost of production is so low, it's worth the risk, a profit will almost definitely be made and 2- They are essentially attempting to recreate the success of the highly acclaimed 'Blair Witch Project', from where found-footage became a phenomenon. Capitalising on the common, yet usually effective, convention of bringing an urban myth 'to life', The Blair Witch Project is a fine example of found-footage done right.
'The 'Blair Witch', a daunting yet seemingly invisible enemy that claims the lives (and sanity) of anyone that dares to enter her wooded domain. A totally original, highly terrifying and utterly convincing concept, created by the hands of two independent filmmakers. So convincing in fact, that at the time of release, audience's and critics alike, were unsure of it's legitimacy. This prominent thirst for originality is where the film truly excels. Initially presented as a 'mockumentory' in the form of a student-project, this linear story-line is essential to this films success. Knowing that this film's strength lies in the clever terror of the deceiving forest, the characters intelligently procrastinate in the safety of the village, gathering reported sightings from the all too realistic villagers, substantially increasing the tension as they enter the desolate forest. With our knowledge limited to the confines of the characters discoveries, we as the audience find ourselves in an all too relate able situation to the one on screen. We know just as much as they do about this paranormal witch, the terrain is just as disorientating to them as it is to us, and we want to escape this haunting 'nightmare' too.
Subsequently these character's become all too realistic. The concept of being faced with such a situation, deeply disturbs even the most psychologically secured audience member's and therefore creates the mindset in order to heavily support these characters as they desperately search for escape. This total devotion to the characters involved, is mainly due to the fact that all three actors are completely unknown. Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael Williams each provide fantastic performances that allow the audience to become fully enthralled within their character. This feat of realism wouldn't be the same without these three actors.
Despite the lack of funding, the total amount of effort that has been inserted into producing this film is undeniably outstanding. From the most obvious of directorial feats, to the tiny 'tit-bits' of filming, these two directors did as much as they could in order to produce an impeccable final product. To inject even more realism into the film, actors were given a simple script from which they were told to improvise, efforts go from actions as important as that, to almost trivia-type clever facts, like the use of the actual names of the actors for the characters within the film.Perhaps the only major problem I have with this film materialises at it's climax. The characters had been following a seemingly never ending trailer, haunted by the witch at night, causing paranoia to seep in. Just as we become completely engulfed within the film and we're on the edge of our seats frantically scrambling our brain for apossible outcome, the credits roll. Ah. Concluded among some as 'one of the best endings of all time', I couldn't help but feel left wanting more. It was disappointing to see the tension in the film increasing to an unbearable stage, for it to just vanish in an anti-climactic lazy ending. The ending just about suffices , making sense and providing a fairly clever outcome that revisits knowledge gained previously in the film. However it is very abrupt and sudden, unable to provide a visible outcome to the characters. Usually such an ending would be brilliant, piecing together the story for yourself, however to allow for such an ending an adequate amount of information must be given beforehand, this lack of information coincidentally leaves you underwhelmed.
The Blair Witch Project has totally transformed the way found-footage film's are perceived , it's clever, terrifying, original and relate-able, it's just unfortunate that no subsequent found-footage film's has been able to replicate such an achievement.
80%- Ripping up the conventions of horror and painting on a fresh canvas with the colours of originality, very intelligent and very scary.
Calum Russell
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