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‘The Blair Witch Project’ Turns 20 in January, and I Still Hadn’t Seen It

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This January, The Blair Witch Project will be 20 years old. I remember my parents renting it when I was around ten, and being unnerved but not quite following what was going on.

It’s popped in and out of my mind several times, but I never got around to rewatching it. Until, that is, I found the DVD in the five dollar bin at Walmart. A few months shy of its 20th birthday, I would finally be watching the infamous Blair Witch Project.

The Blair Witch Project owes much of its success to its innovative marketing campaign. Found footage, though not new, was new to the vast majority of American audiences of the time.

The actors were believed by the public to be dead, with missing persons posters made up for the lead actors, and Heather’s Journals released on an official website for the “documentary”. IMDb listed them as missing, presumed dead for the first year after the movie debuted. There was even a mockumentary called The Curse of the Blair Witch, which debuted on the SciFi Network before the theatrical release of the film.

These strategies lead to much debate over the truth behind The Blair Witch Project. Was it another movie, or something real? Audiences had to see for themselves, leading to the film becoming one of the most high earning independent films of all time and establishing the found footage genre, leading the way for movies like Cloverfield and Paranormal Activity.

When the time came to finally sit down and watch the movie, I hit play with a surprising amount of trepidation. Even knowing the movie was fake, there was something unsettling about the found footage aspect of the film.

My empathy for the doomed trio waned thin within the first few minutes of the movie. Heather was obnoxious and I couldn’t tell the two men apart until eighteen minutes into the movie (yes, I counted).

I also found myself confused by the stories the locals were telling. Who is the villain here? They talk about a witch, banished in the 1700s for practicing witchcraft, while also going into detail about a hermit who kidnapped eight children in the 1940s. Legend says he would bring them into the basement in twos and have one stand in the corner while he murdered the other (if you don’t remember the ending of the movie, keep this in mind.) So who haunts the woods?

via IMDb

The movie is supposed to start getting scary about 26 minutes in, but I wasn’t feeling the tension. The group hears sounds all around them in the woods, but all the audience can hear is Heather screaming “Hello!?” into the dark. After daybreak, the group moves on.

The movie gets monotonous at this point; the day scenes contain zero scares, just a lot of people wasting time considering they’re in a hurry. In the night scenes, we hear the protagonists talk about the noises in the woods rather than being able to hear the noises for ourselves.

Forty minutes in, Mike reveals that he kicked the map into the river, because “he was frustrated and it wasn’t helping.” Right. Shorty after that, we meet the stick figure from the movie poster, which looks creepy but was never given any meaning.

Josh disappears, and the next night his screams can be heard throughout the woods. Mike and Heather wake up to a bundle of sticks at their door like an Amazon Prime package, which Heather looks at more closely to find it stuffed with Josh’s blood, hair, and other accoutrements.

Night falls and we’re treated to the famous selfie monologue. I experienced a bit of the Mandela Effect during this scene, because I always thought she said “I’m so scared”, but that phrase never comes up.

Image result for blair witch project

via AudiencesEverywhere

The movie then reaches its climax as they follow Josh’s screams to an abandoned house, where Mike runs to the basement. Heather follows, and the last thing we see is Mike standing in the corner before Heather is knocked over and the movie ends.

The Blair Witch Project asks us to be scared but doesn’t give us anything to be afraid of. It’s hard to feel the fear of the characters when you can’t hear what’s scaring them. We’re shown piles of rocks and hanging stick figures but never told what they signify. They seem to imply witchcraft, but the ending shows Mike in the corner, the hallmark of the murdering hermit, not the fabled Blair Witch.

While some of the imagery was creepy, there was nothing to fear from the plot. But in spite of its shortcomings, The Blair Witch Project did something important. It proved that found footage movies could succeed, and was the start of a sub-genre that is still turning out quality movies decades later. We owe it a rewatch for its 20th birthday.

 

For more on The Blair Witch Project, check out our article on the wild theory about the film’s REAL killers.

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News

Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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