Review: The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Title: The Blair Witch Project
Year: 1999
Starring: Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, Michael Williams
Genres: Suspense, Horror, Mystery, Mockumentary
MPAA: R for language
Kids-In-Mind.com: 1.3.10
My Rating: 8.3
Up or Down: Thumb Up
IMDb Rating: 6.2

Synopsis: Three aspiring young adults, Heather (Donahue), Josh (Leonard), and Mike (Williams) go into the woods in Maryland to create a documentary about the legendary Blair Witch. Originally planning to stay for just two days, they get lost and are forced to stay in the woods longer. Strange things happen around their tent and Josh eventually goes missing. Heather and Mike look for him; the movie ends with an ending I'm not going to spoil.

My Take: I was moved to watch this film by the popularity of the new show "Paranormal Activity", the making of which was very similar to "Blair Witch". The way this film was made was awesome. It was marketed as if these three had disappeared in the woods and this was the film they'd taken during their stay in the woods and that the film had been found a year later. The movie was shot by the actors themselves. The thing that made this movie a little bit lower in my book was something that was actually completely necessary for its genre: fluff. They had to sell the reality of this footage by putting in shots that weren't remotely related to anything, including Heather and Mike picking up Josh before leaving for the woods. It made the movie better but simultaneously detracted from it. Still a great show worth watching. I have no idea how it got to be a 6.2 on IMDb; this was a great watch.

Concerning the rating: The 8.3 puts "The Blair Witch Project" in a tie for 33rd with thirteen other movies of 160 watched.

Have a film you'd like me to see and review? E-mail me at movienightreviews@gmail.com.