WHAT DEFINES A successful modern day horror film?

Can The Blair Witch Project lay claim to this prestige or does the myth that surrounds it cloud our perception?

One things for sure, it was a landmark movie in not only the style in which the movie is delivered which effectively launched found footage horror to the forefront of the movie mainstream but also in the mode of establishing a new style of marketing that connected with audiences worldwide.

It had a pulse and substance to it that resonated on a massive scale and it was for this reason that USA Today went on record to state The Blair Witch Project was the first movie to go ‘viral’.

A trend was then set with numerous movies hoping to follow suit and creature a hit with a low budget feel.

What does that mean today though?

Does the movie still stand the test of time?

There have been books released, a rushed-to-production “unofficial” sequel released the following year in 2000 with Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2.

And just recently an “official” sequel has been released, Blair Witch, which all lend weight to the mythos of The Blair Witch legend for good or ill.

Join our discussions on The Blair Witch franchise in a Surgeons of Horror Special podcast below.

• Paul Farrell