AmateurMovieReviews.com

By Simon Woodhouse

I'm no mathematician, but I know it's better to spend a little money and make a lot, rather than spend a lot and make none. Sometimes, I get the impression people in Hollywood can't grasp this basic concept. Or if they do, there appears to be more kudos in being able to say your movie cost $200m to make, as opposed to $10m. There's also a hint of snobbery - if something only cost $10m it can't possibly be any good. Whereas $200m means it's going to be great. The same way of thinking rubs off on the audience as well. As a member of the cinema going public, I would love it if this ethos were true. But I've lost count of how many big budget films I've fallen asleep in.

Apart from huge production costs, big budget movies also shell out wads of cash on marketing. I read somewhere recently (I forget where) that the average movie marketing budget is a whopping $60m, a figure that's not included in the production cost. Despite what some actors and directors might say, making movies isn't about artistic expression or pushing the boundaries of storytelling - it's about cash. In light of this, I'll go back to my original point, surely it's better to spend a little and make a lot.

Everything about The Blair Witch Project (TBWP) is simple, and that includes the plot. In a nutshell, it's the story of three young film makers who head out into the woods of Maryland, with the notion to make a documentary about the Blair Witch. They're never seen again, but a year later they're footage is found and that's what you're watching in TBWP.

If like me, you find 'reality TV' almost too unbearable to watch, you can blame some of its inception on TBWP. Filmed in the style of an ultra-amateur documentary, the movie comes complete with shaky camera angles, very low production values, and a 'cast' whose emotional self-restraint is hair-trigger light. But having said all that, it's also really, really scary.

Like more conventional horror movies, TBWP starts off with the cast in a jovial mood. Filming the documentary seems like it'll be a fun way to spend a weekend, and even though they'll be camping in the woods, it'll still be a laugh. They arrive in the town of Burkittsville (formerly Blair), and interview a few of the locals, asking if they've heard of the Blair Witch. All this is just set up, but it works well, because it feels like they're interviewing real people and not actors (which some of them were). From all this, we learn that a guy called Rustin Parr murdered seven children in the woods outside Burkittsville during the 1940s. When asked why, he said an old woman he saw outside his cabin told him to do it.

The movie is full of clever little touches, the first being when the documentary makers interview a Burkittsville resident named Mary Brown. If there was ever a candidate for a witch, she is it. By using such a creepy looking character, the film places the image of a witch in the audience's mind, without actually showing one.

Now the back-story and the set up are out the way, the trio of documentary makers head out into the woods. In another clever little ploy, the characters in the film share the same names as the people playing them. Leader of the group is Heather Donahue, a rather bossy, big-mouthed girl. Michael Williams and Josh Leonard (sound technician and cameraman respectively), seem happy enough to just follow Heather around, and pretty much do anything she says. The hiking through the woods goes well enough to start with, and they make it to Coffin Rock, their first location, without too much hassle. It's not until the first night outdoors that things start to get a bit weird. Josh claims to have heard cackling, but doesn't seem too bothered about it, so neither are the other two.

From here on in things start to get more and more creepy. On day two Heather gets them lost, they find weird stick men hanging from the trees and something keeps coming round the tent at night. The jovial nature of the expedition goes out the window, and the three documentary makers start to bicker and fight. Like the worst sort of reality TV, this gets irritating at times. I don't think I've ever sympathized with characters in a film as much as I have with Michael and Josh - if I'd been lost in the woods with Heather, I'd have murdered her myself and saved the Blair Witch all the hassle.

Filmed with no script, very little direction and a massive amount of improvisation, it's probable that the actors weren't acting at all, instead just being themselves. So is what's on screen real arguments, and real footage of three people being driven to their wits end? No, but it does seem that way at times. Bearing this in mind, however, the end is surprisingly powerful. If you buy into the whole premise, you'll be drawn into the movie and the finale will work. If on the other hand that all seems like too much work, the end will just come as a blessed relief.

Devoid as it is of special effects, music, proper sets and a large cast, the film takes a bit of effort to appreciate. You have to use your imagination. If you can do this, and imprint your own idea of what's following the documentary makers through the woods, you'll be scared. If you can't, you won't - it's as simple as that. I could and I was, which for me makes TBWP one of the scariest films I've ever seen. This assessment, however, is subjective. But what can't be argued with is how much money the film made. Shot for around $35k, it went on to gross $248m worldwide, giving it the highest profit-to-cost ratio of any film ever made (and that's in the Guinness Book of Records). Prior to its release the movie makers came up with a dream marketing plan. They set up a website that suggested the events in the film were real, and even went as far as making a documentary (aired on the Sci-Fi Channel and called The Curse of the Blair Witch) that further reinforced the notion. Gullible teens bought into all the BS, with many people refusing to believe the film was anything but real.

Inevitably there was a sequel, which stunk to high heaven. TBWP's premise was so original it couldn't be repeated and made to work again. But as I mentioned at the beginning, it's impossible to watch the film and not think it isn't in someway responsible for today's glut of reality TV shows. If that's so, then I guess there really is a curse, and we're all victims of it.