Well, it's Halloween time. And Halloween has long been one of my favorite holidays. As a kid, I loved dressing up, sometimes as a superhero, sometimes as a monster (the Wolfman, I believe), once as a pirate, once as the Scream killer, and plenty of times as things that I cannot even remember. Then I worked in a school, and it almost felt like a necessity to dress up for this holiday. I have gone as prominent movie characters at times as an adult, particularly Darth Vader and Indiana Jones. More recently, I loved taking my son trick or treating, and using that to dress up myself, as well.
However, my son has grown older, and so he is not going trick or treating anymore. And once again, Halloween is merely another holiday that other people get into. For me, since my son seems to have outgrown trick or treating, it has once again become a rather quiet holiday.
I can still remember all of the build up before the horror movie "The Blair Witch Project" was released. The marketing for this film was absolutely brilliant, and helped to make this movie a cultural phenomenon. The beauty of it was just how simple it was. The trailers were run with the idea that this movie was controversial right off the bat, showing family members who expressed their horror at the idea that the camera footage taken by their family members before their disappearance, and who were victims of a crime, should be used for entertainment purposes. At first glance, it almost looked real. Only after a little more digging did you find out that this was all part of the hype for the movie.
The makers of this film had a very small budget, so they made the story quite compelling. Borrowing from Jaws, they ran with the idea that the less of the witch, or the creature, or the psycho killer we actually see, the better.
All of this helped to make this movie an instant cult classic. The popularity it enjoyed was deserved, for it was a brilliantly executed movie and story. One of the things that comes to mind whenever I think of this movie was a camping trip in the autumn of 1999 that I took as a teacher's aide. There were a lot of people in those woods, of course. But it was one of those times when I saw teachers behind the façade that they often put on when behind the desk. They were sharing stories, joking around. I hated that job, admittedly. And I mean, I hated, hated, hated that job! It still stands, and easily, as the worst, most actively unpleasant job that I ever worked at. Yet that weekend in early November of 1999 was probably the one (and only) shining and almost exclusively pleasant highlight from my time at that particular job that I can remember. And one of the things that I enjoyed, and which underscored just how much of a cultural phenomenon the Blair Witch Project had become, was that some of the teachers (males, surely) had made several of those creepy wooden Blair Witch dolls, very similar to what was featured in the movie. It creeped out women, who screamed in shock and horror, and then screamed that this was not funny. But it was kind of funny nevertheless. Even after over twenty years, I still am laughing at the memory while writing this, even though almost all the rest of my memories of that job still cause some bitterness. So I associate the one and only really good, solid memory from my time at that job with this movie, with the Blair Witch Project. That's the kind of cultural power that this movie had, and still has, in fact.
So now, let's get to it. The actual movie described and reviewed. But first, here is my usual warning, because their will definitely be spoilers ahead.
***** Spoiler Alert *****
***** Spoiler Alert *****
***** Spoiler Alert *****
Okay, so if you are reading this, I have to imagine by now that you are familiar enough with this story/movie, one way or another, to keep reading. There will be spoilers from here on out, but again, you have been warned.
The movie starts off lightly enough, with the three young people setting up the weekend to come. We see them talking about the adventure in the woods over the weekend, then buying some food supplies and such for their adventure. Finally, we begin to see the first real ominous signs of what will be in store for them as they interview locals in the town near the haunted woods. We see that the town residents are divided, with some clearly believing the woods to be haunted, while others dismiss it, almost with disgust.
After that, the three hikers are in the woods. Again, it seems lighthearted and mostly fun initially, as they successfully find some of the key landmarks where horrific things have happened in the past. It appears that their documentary is going according to plans, at least.
Before long, however, things begin to go wrong. The hikers argue about the directions, and where they are according to the map There is a difference of opinions, but it is not clear that they are lost. At least not yet. Later, by which time strange, inexplicable, and very frightening things have begun happening to them, they do admit to being lost. The woods seem impossible to navigate, as illustrated by the fact that despite walking literally all day in the direction that the compass showed was south, they nevertheless wind up exactly where they had camped just the night before.
Things continue to deteriorate. The three argue and fight incessantly. It appears that they are all losing their minds, and certainly losing their cool, before long. The strange incidents keep getting worse and worse in severity. We hear the sounds of some kind of cackling at first, and later, the sounds of branches crackling from unseen footsteps all around the three campers at night. There is even an incident when their tents are seemingly attacked from the outside, forcing the three to flee. The sound of children's laughter is very unsettling by this point, as it seems so out of place so deep in the woods in the middle of the night. The three hikers, meanwhile, come up with theories as to what all of this could be, what it could mean, and who might be behind it. After a while, much like they admit to being lost, they also admit to having no clue what is going on.
All of the arguing is not static, or mere distraction. It is part of the frustration and desperation of their increasingly deteriorating situation. And it leads to things growing worse. They are in the woods in the winter, and slowly but surely, both their food and their other supplies begin to diminish. There is, both literally and figuratively, less and less protection from the rational world that they have always known. The cold of these woods, also literally and figuratively, reaches them, reaches their bones. They are exhausted and cold and desperate, and they start to make bad decisions. Also, they begin to be their own worst enemies, doing things like screaming and arguing relentlessly with each other, literally laughing at one another at other times, getting rid of the map that still could, feasibly, get them out of these woods.
Of course, their situation keeps growing worse. The encounters with....well, whatever it is, the Blair Witch, or the children who were the victims of the Blair Witch, or whatever else haunts these woods - grows worse and worse each time. Eventually, one of the three disappears with no trace while presumably supposed to be on night watch. The other two look and look, but nothing. Once again, night falls. We see the most iconic clip from the movie, when Heather (the only girl) makes a video apologizing to the mother of the two boys, as well as her own mother. By this point, they know that they are going to die, that they will meet the end in these woods. Shortly after that, they encounter the house, and it is the creepiest house you can imagine. Sound travels strangely, as the yells from their missing companion seems to be both close and far, coming from upstairs, then coming from downstairs. And then, of course, the also iconic, and rather mysterious ending, when Heather, after hearing Michael's frantic screams suddenly just stop, and pursuing him, finds him standing in and facing the corner of a room in the dark, his back to her. She screams to try and get his attention, but something strikes her, and the camera collapses.
What an ending!
Ultimately, this movie became an instant cult classic. The sheer genius of marketing this as if it really happened, complete with trailers that seemed to show family members of the three victims acting outraged that recovered video from their fateful venture in the haunted woods should become part of the entertainment industry, for example. The implication that their struggles and horrors and suffering should become a source of mere popular entertainment in our sick culture, that also is part of the genius. The people who made this film on a shoestring budget used their ingenuity, their creativity, and their writing abilities to create a movie that might have been short on money, but nevertheless stayed very entertaining and addictive and suspenseful and, ultimately, very frightening throughout. It became a horror classic by doing the exact opposite of what horror movies seem to do today, relying on expensive special effects and gore, often at the expense of telling an actual story. Here, the story of the suffering and gradual deterioration of the situation of these three hikers. fully tells then tale. And it has become a masterpiece of modern film as a result.
Very highly recommended!
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