8 years ago

@roth There's also a petition going around to push Lionsgate to release an extended version of the original _The Blair Witch Project_ (1999) over at foundfootagecritic's website.

8 years ago

@roth I'm the type to go camping; I had camped up in the White Mountains a few times this summer to relax and enjoy the wilderness. You'd think the characters in this movie would know what to do once they become lost in the woods. They know well enough what to bring, and what not to bring to camp. My friends and I watched the original and the documentary to refresh our memories just before seeing the new one. It has not aged well, but something about the dated look of the original film gives it a sense of authenticity (full frame, grain, unprofessional handling of the camera, believable characters), whereas this new Blair Witch sort of lost quite a bit of that. I'm not saying that you should do a movie that purposely does shaky camera movements, but perhaps let someone (a cast member) who has no camera experience take camera for some parts of the film. I think that's what made the original The Blair Witch Project outstanding, because of accidental shots like the infamous shot of Heather's "ugly reality" face which was intended to be her full face but accidentally zoomed in to her nostrils and eyes. We didn't see much of that sympathy in Blair Witch, where the character would cry hopelessly in to the camera and say who they are and leave their information on film, like Heather did, in case someone else were to find the equipment. There just wasn't enough time for character development, or perhaps there were just too many characters to work with. The pacing seemed pretty good though, and gets more frantic towards the end. The glitchy electronic film effect must be the director's stylistic choice for transitions, but I think a simple fade-in/fade-out would've just been fine. Again those jump scares, they don't really work on me, probably for some other folks. They don't really add anything to the film here. Sound work on the cracking trees is nice, but loud, needed more distant-sounding ones to give it depth/atmosphere. A score is not needed in a film like this. I know the director Adam is also a composer, so he's trying to show off his skills. It's found footage style, come on, you think a spooky soundtrack would magically play in the air while crazy stuff is happening to you. The original did not have it, nor it needed one. <br /> Overall it's a nice worthy sequel; it just didn't feel as "authentic" as the original. Although I'm glad that this sequel exists and that Lionsgate tried to do something with the property. Maybe they should've done this a little sooner when the internet was up and arms about Slenderman and all the creepypasta stuff were a viral thing. I hope the series continue somehow, perhaps in the form of comic books that tells an origin story of the Blair Witch. <br /> <br />