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The REAL Killers in “The Blair Witch Project” Revealed

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I remember seeing The Blair Witch Project in theaters when it came out. While that makes me feel remarkably old, it was a fun experience (the experiences vary depending on if someone puked in the theater from the camera work). Let me explain for those of you too young to remember the PR campaign this movie went through.

When The Blair Witch Project was first coming out, the internet was just gaining momentum and popularity. Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez took advantage of the new technology. While the concept of found footage movies wasn’t new (check out this list of movies that came before The Blair Witch Project), it wasn’t truly mainstream.

via IMDb

These two took the concept marketed the footage as real. They created a website, plugged it online, showed interview clips and even created a mockumentary called Curse of the Blair Witch about the students Heather, Josh and Mike. The mockumentary went over their lives before the project, the history of the Blair Witch and even the discovery of the VHS tapes themselves.

Not only that, but on the website, Heather’s “journal” was released. That’s right. An entire journal was written and placed online to further make the audience believe that this is real. And since it was written by the two in charge of the film, it’s considered canon.

All of it together took the audiences by storm and a good majority believed it to be real. It went so far that the families of the actors were receiving condolence cards and calls. It seems silly now, but in a world where the internet wasn’t the information treasure trove it is now, it was like shooting fish in a barrel.

That being said, we’re here to talk about the movie itself. Thanks to MatPat from The Film Theorists (he also has a second YouTube channel called The Game Theorists) he brought a fan theory to life and it’s pretty compelling.

Image result for blair witch real killers

via YouTube

His theory: there was no Blair Witch but an elaborate murder plot designed by Josh and Mike to kill Heather. Whaaaaaaaa? I didn’t believe it at first, but the evidence is hard and hits pretty true. Let’s look at some main points.

The project itself had nothing to do with the guys.

If someone asked me to go out for a week to the woods for no pay, no benefit to me, and in the cold-ass weather, I would have given them a heartfelt “Hell no and we might not even be friends anymore.” These two guys not only agreed, but one had never even met Heather. I can’t even get my best guy friend to move a couch for me for pizza.

Image result for blair witch project

via Drafthouse

The guys didn’t know any navigation and yet they ran the entire hike.

But you’re thinking, “Heather had the map and she led them to the filming sites.” Yeah, that’s true, but after the last shoot, she lost any and all control about where she was headed through smart and not necessarily subtle manipulations.

Mike “it’s Greek to me” Williams was the one holding the compass and Josh “I’ll just be under this tree with the vine” Leonard demanded the map despite not understanding it. They constantly questioned Heather’s navigating and even stopped following her direction even when she was convinced she knew where they were going.

All the creepy shit happened at night.

Image result for blair witch project

via Cinemablend

Everything. Sounds, rock piles, bags of teeth. Everything happened while Heather was “sleeping like a fucking rock.” Piles of rocks are easy to make, sneaking out isn’t hard and making sounds in the woods seems difficult…unless your a sound technician like Mike was.

Here’s the full video if those reasons weren’t enough. And check out what MatPat explains happens during the final crescendo of the movie.

It may just be a fan theory but it IS pretty compelling and will change how you watch the movie from now on.

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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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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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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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