Movie Review: The Blair Witch Project (1999)

I just watched this not an hour ago, and I already think it is one of the creepiest films ever made. I don't spook easily, but this will definitely have me thinking about things. It cost virtually nothing to make but does a great job conveying psychological terror without the use of violence, jump-scares, or CGI.

It was shot as a "student film" - hand-held camcorder and everything - a mockumentary if you will. Three college students in (Maryland, was it?) go out to hike in the nearby wooded hills one weekend to explore an old legend about the Blair Witch, who supposedly murdered several children in her magical rites. (If you dare watch, then pay attention to what the townspeople say: it comes back later in the movie.) The students, two men and a woman, soon become lost in the woods, unintentionally going in circles and unable to escape. Every morning they find something outside their tent - the sign of the Blair Witch, piles of rocks to mark children's graves, etc. It gets worse and worse for the students and they begin to lose their minds. I won't spoil the ending, but holy crap, is it morbid.

I loved this movie. It proves that one does not need a gory, porn-filled flick to be scared (and I don't consider those true horror anyway). It never shows very much, just subtle hints and mental suspense accompanied by an awesome score, which, while not quite musical - more just sounds - is still quite eerie. The characters seem very real, and indeed the filmmakers claimed it was real until the main lady was seen on a Steak 'n' Shake ad somewhere on a highway billboard. But real or no, this movie will stick with one for a while.

Final grade: A

09/11/11

"Today, we are all Americans." - A lady in France ten years ago (translated)

"United we stand, divided we fall." - Abraham Lincoln, I think?

"Nobody wins a war." - My friend in elementary school

"A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon." - Napoleon Bonaparte

"Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." - Yoda

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." - Albert Einstein

"Love is the flower you've got to let grow." - John Lennon

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Sorry about all the quotes; I was in a bit of a quoting mood. So ten years ago I was in first grade and the World Trade Center was bombed. I remember coming home and seeing the news, but I don't think I fully grasped what had happened at the time. Today I mentally weep for humanity, for as much as it is expanding, it is also eating itself up. While we might be the most intelligent race in terms of technological advancement, we seem to have the worst judgment. While there are certain types of fauna which take the lives of their own kind, we ought to know better. We knowingly torture, kill, lie, steal, rape, cheat, and so on. If there is a God, [He] must have lost control of us, or perhaps it is [His] plan to have us end the world. Perhaps the Big Crunch will be our mortician or janitor, to sweep away a barren world.

Osama Bin Laden, the man responsible for the bombings, was recently assassinated by our troops. I do not agree with what the man did. I don't miss him. And yet, does killing a killer reduce the number of corpses? Very unpatriotic. George Washington must be spitting from heaven. It's like if a child gets into trouble for fighting and the parent hits him to teach him violence is wrong. Or saying "Do not swear, dammit!" [see "Bad Words" - a recent post of mine]. This makes us no better than anyone else. If a police officer shoots a criminal who draws a gun first, that's one thing. But putting the criminal away and executing him or her? Murder is murder, no matter what clothes it wears.

This is one of many reasons I won't join the military. I am willing to defend who I love, but I don't go looking for trouble. It finds me. (And yes, I just quoted Harry Potter.) And to quote Ringo Starr:

Peace and love!!!!

- Lewis