Review: The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project is a mystery/horror movie that came out in 1999. It follows the story of three film students, Heather, Josh, and Mike, who venture out deep into the woods of Burkittsville, Maryland in order to make a documentary on the Blair Witch, a famous local legend within the town. They end up going missing, but their footage is found a year later. I don’t want to give too much away, as the ending has a plot twist that you don’t expect.

Creators Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez wrote a 35-page screenplay for the movie but planned for the dialogue to be improvised. Once they cast Heather, Josh, and Mike, production began out in the woods of Maryland and took around eight days. In order for the dialogue to be improvised while still remaining on the path that the directors wanted, the cast members were given individual instructions to steer them in the right direction. They couldn’t share this information with one another because it would ruin the genuine reactions. There ended up being twenty hours of footage, which was cut down to only eighty-two minutes.

The film successfully made its first premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, which is an annually held festival for independent films. The marketing team had promoted the movie through missing posters of the actors, making it appear as though it were a true story. Artisan Entertainment ended up buying the distribution rights to The Blair Witch Project, and the movie was released later that year. It had a budget of $60,000 and gained a gross revenue of $250 million, deeming it one of the most successful independent films of all time.

Despite its love it or hate it reputation, The Blair Witch Project went on to have two movie sequels, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 and Blair Witch, as well as novels, comic books and video games. It has inspired movies such as the Paranormal Activity series and Cloverfield.

In my opinion, The Blair Witch Project is one of the best horror movies I’ve ever seen. For an independent film, it’s extremely impressive. The acting is fantastic, and the fact that the dialogue was improvised only makes it more amazing. I’d definitely recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a good thriller!

Article by Riley Harris