I love horror films, although (or perhaps because) they often don’t work very well on me. At least when it comes to scaring me with elaborate productions. But there is a cheaper exception: Found Footage-Title.
No, I did not fall for the Blair Witch Project campaign that tried to sell the spooky footage as authentic. I didn’t even have to do that to officially pee my pants during the film. Today, 25 years after the premiere on 14 July 1999the trousers still get quite wet.
Blair Witch Project after 25 years: The witch who could compete with Neo
Blair Witch Project shows the video footage of a three-person documentary crew that heads into the forest to on the trail of an old witch legend to change. Panic gradually sets in as they get lost and have more and more scary experiences night after night without ever coming into direct contact with a monster. Horror fans with a different mindset often cannot understand this crux of the matter, but it is precisely the fact that Bibi Blocksberg’s nasty companion and her subordinates are not shown that makes the whole thing so nerve-wracking.
Arthouse
Blair Witch Project
Filmmakers Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez left the cast more or less to themselves, while the trio improvised the extremely authentic dialogues and were terrorized by the crew’s pranks and noises during their odyssey through the forest. It was made quite cheaply with an original budget of just 35 to 60 million US dollars and ended up being in the top 10 of the financially most successful films of 1999 (via The Numbers ).
No wonder, then, that film series like Paranormal Activity wanted a piece of the horror pie without bringing the same esprit. led to a rapid devaluation of the overused sub-genre that still has a dubious reputation today, even though there are still fantastic examples of it. And just for the record: the 2016 reboot Blair Witch is not one of them – and Blair Witch 2 is not even part of the discussion.
The real horror, however, lies in the fact that Rei Hance (formerly known as Heather Donahue), Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams now have to fight for recognition as stars and co-makers of one of the most successful horror films of all time.
Found to Stay: The Terrifying Found Footage Legacy of the Blair Witch
Blair Witch Project was not the first found footage horror film – this honor is usually given to Cannibal Holocaust. However, the film popularized the horror genre and paved the way for international productions such as [REC]As Above So Below or Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum. All of varying quality and nastiness.
Two of my personal favorites belong to the category of Asian folk horror. In fact, they are so similar that 2022’s Incantation almost seems like the Taiwanese remake of the Japanese film Noroi – The Curse. In both cases, they are about almost forgotten religious communities in the countryside whose urban visitors bring home a curse. In both cases, the way in which the constant video footage is justified is particularly creative.
Netflix
Incantation
But found footage doesn’t stop there. This year’s Late Night with the Devil also technically belongs to the genre, although it is not shabby amateur footage. At the same time, it is doubtful that there would have been similar-looking films without the groundbreaking Blair Witch. Horror experiments like the equally leisurely and scary Skinamarink would have been.
Where can I watch Blair Witch Project in celebration of its 25th anniversary?
Unfortunately, Blair Witch Project is only available to rent on Sky and Rakuten TV on its birthday. If you prefer to watch found footage on a flat rate, you can find the above-mentioned film Incantation on Netflix.