Found footage films are amongst the cheapest to make.
Take unknown actors, shoot the story in documentary style with minimal effects
and a movie is born. Since the horror film ‘The Blair Witch Project’
blazed the trail in 1999, dozens of similar movies have sprung. Some have
been hits while many have been misses. Going back to where it all began,
‘Blair Witch’ is the third film in the series. As cheaply made but having
an abundance of genuine tension, this sequel should scare up more box office
dollars on a meagre budget.
James (James Allen McCune), Lisa (Callie Hernandez) and
Peter (Brandon Scott) are college students on a mission. Joined by local
residents Talia (Valorie Curry) and Lane (Wesley Robinson), they search the
Black Hills in search of James’ sister Heather. Missing for years, they
believe her disappearance is connected to the Blair Witch legend.
Travelling further into the deep, dark woods, they discover sinister secrets buried
within as evil stalks its prey with deadly precision.
Closely following the first movie in look and tone, ‘Blair
Witch’ is an acceptable spooky time-waster. Whilst only offering a
modicum of new twists, it makes much of its concept and lack of musical
soundtrack. Relying on Adam Wingard’s steady direction and foreboding
atmosphere, ‘Blair Witch’ succeeds in being scary. Although the thrills
aren’t non-stop with too many ‘jump scares’ it maintains a brisk pace to a
predictable but still engrossing finale.
The actors won’t win any Oscars for their performances but
they do an adequate job. They aren’t expected to do much except scream in
front of the shaky camera and run around the dark forest. They do that well
with some very effective sequences drawing on the eerie Blair Witch
mythology. It does re-hash what made the first film so popular but ‘Blair
Witch’ offers some fresh wrinkles for today’s jaded horror audience.
Despite being professionally edited and shot which goes
against the spirit of amateur found footage films, ‘Blair Witch’ is generally
enthralling. It hits the spot in terms of horrific tingles and will
undoubtedly spawn more films as long as there is money to be made for scary
movie executives.
Movie Review Rating out of 10: 6
Movie Review by Patrick Moore
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