THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT --***1/2 -- Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, Michael Williams; rated R (profanity, violence, gore, vulgarity); Carmike Ritz 15 Theaters; Century Theatres 16; Loews Cineplex Midvalley and South Towne Center Cinemas; Tower Theatre.
To get the obvious questions out of the way early, no, "The Blair Witch Project" isn't a "real" documentary, and no, it isn't the scariest movie ever made.Those things having been said, however, this horror movie is also ultra-low-budget filmmaking at its most effective. Perhaps never before have so many hackles and goose pimples been raised from so little in the way of onscreen action.
What's even more astonishing, the majority of scenes in "The Blair Witch Project" weren't even shot by the "filmmakers" themselves, but by the three most prominent cast members.
If those things weren't enough to cement the film's place in cinematic history, the tremendous amount of preparation that went into what seems to be a primitively made feature surely would. Looks can be deceiving, after all.
Evidently, this minimum-outlay-for-maximum-chills formula is working. The movie's astonishing early theatrical success (in a select number of theaters in major metropolitan areas) would seem to indicate that there are audiences with a taste for more cerebral, rather than visceral, horror, which is almost as much a cause for celebration as the film itself.
The movie purports to be the newly discovered 16mm and videotape footage, as well as audio records, of three student filmmakers who disappeared while preparing a documentary on the Blair Witch, a legendary Maryland ghost rumored to be haunting the Black Hills area.
At first, the project seems to be off to a good start, having obtained a series of interviews with residents of nearby Burkittsville, some of whom claim to have had encounters with the witch.
But things go wrong almost immediately after the three -- narrator Heather Donahue, cameraman Joshua Leonard and sound recorder Michael Williams -- head into the woods to check out some of the sites associated with the legend.
The three become disoriented and lost and are forced to camp out while they try to get their bearings. Even worse, a series of eerie cries and other disturbances seem to indicate they're not alone.
Saying any more would be unfair, although what's most impressive about the film is the way it relies on the audience to fill in the blanks. Much of it is open to interpretation, which makes it that much more horrifying.
Admittedly, there are a few slips in the carefully constructed facade, such as some camera work that is obviously beyond the skills of the cast members. But co-writers/co-directors Ed Sanchez and Dan Myrick have assembled the footage the actors shot in such a way that the tension continues to mount in a deceptively slow manner.
Also, unlike in most recent horror films, the deliberate pacing ensures that there's some characterization, even if the cast members are in essence playing themselves. (Though it sounds a little exploitative, they also use their own names, further blurring the line between fact and fiction.)
However, for amateurs, the cast is particularly good, especially Donahue, whose impassioned "apology" of sorts near the end seems genuine.
"The Blair Witch Project" is rated R for considerable profanity, violence (either overheard or implied), a glimpse of gore and vulgar flatulence humor.