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Surgeons of Horror

~ Dissecting horror films

Surgeons of Horror

Tag Archives: Blair Witch

Retrospective: The Blair Witch Project

25 Friday Jan 2019

Posted by surgeons of horror in retrospective

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Blair Witch, Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez, found footage, Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, michael c williams, the Blair Witch Project

Transport yourself back twenty years and cast yourself in an auditorium draped with red velvet curtains and matching carpet where the unwanted popcorn had stuck to the floor and would crunch beneath your feet.

This is where I found myself ahead of this massively hyped movie that had allegedly had audiences throwing up in the aisles.

Was this a reaction to the events in the movie or from the hand-held cinematography that the filmmakers Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez were looking to achieve in order to capture the old documentary style filming you often saw in news reports etc.? What ever it was, Myrick and Sanchez had a lightning in the bottle moment that sent the Internet ablaze while it was still in its infancy, (no other film at this stage had created such a multimedia sensation) and in the process reawakened the found footage genre.

The twenty-year-old version of myself was determined not to buy into the insanity, but as I sat as the lights went down anticipating an awakening of my own. To be scared, thrilled, and gripped in fear at the events that would flow before me. This twenty-year-old was also incredibly stubborn. I beckoned, nay, willed the filmmakers to push my senses to the limit. Yes, I was disorientated, but not nearly to the degree that I had been led to believe, and I found my excitement transported to fury at these whining Americans that were lost in the woods.

To say that I was underwhelmed was a gross understatement.

And yet, something kept niggling away at me beneath the surface.

I was aware of the impact that this little movie had had on the horror industry, an industry that I loved so much. And numerous friends of mine would often talk about the impact that it had on them over the years. Was I wrong to have scoffed at the film so readily? Was there more to this movie than just your average run-of-the-mill found-footage horror?

Films of similar ilk like Paranormal Activity, or Cloverfield would come and go and not resonate as deeply, with the exception of Jaume Balagueró’s [Rec]. It was safe to say that I wasn’t a fan of this sub-genre.

It was only upon a few years back in preparation ahead of Adam Wingard’s sequel Blair Witch that I gathered the team together for a podcast on the franchise. It was during this time that I began to appreciate the making of this movie.

Listen to The Surgeons of Horror podcast:

The Blair Witch franchise


As The Blair Witch Project celebrates its 20th Anniversary, I’ve come to realize that it is a cracking example of experimental horror at its finest. The techniques that Myrick and Sanchez use in both production and marketing were exemplary, and should be applauded.

Whilst some could argue that it feels like a student film in places, (which let’s face it, it was) the direction would mark a new approach in film-making moving forward and open the door for similar stylized films.

With a 32-page screenplay and a trio of as-yet undiscovered actors (Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Joshua Leonard) in their crew, (some having to double-up as camera crew) they ventured out into the wooded terrain in Maryland to carry out their vision.

The aim was to guide the actors through pre-decided marks throughout the woods, where they would improvise around the screenplay, whilst adapting to each action as it was given to them. The effect was a naturalistic piece of drama, which made the plight of our trio all the more gritty and realistic.

It essentially became a test of endurance on the three actors, as they were deprived of food and disorientated by lack of sleep.

Throw in the shock ending, which was initially asked to be reshot by Artisan Entertainment for its confusion, only to end up in the final cut. It’s a good job too, as the ending is both startling and unsettling leaving the viewer hollow inside. Any movie that can garner such a reaction from its audience will always be held highly in these writers’ eyes.

The final mark of brilliance though comes in the marketing. With so much back-story written, it became an online producer’s playing field to create and sell the ‘history’ and cement the believability further. In an age where the scope of the internets online marketing capability had yet to be explored, and the mythology behind the Blair Witch was catapulted into the mainstream, coupled with the mockumentary, Curse of the Blair Witch, and the book, The Blair Witch Project: A Dossier.

There’s plenty of good reason that The Blair Witch Project should and still be deemed a horror movie classic, and twenty years on, it is a testament to clever filmmaking, marketing, and that special lightning in bottle magic, that only comes around every so often.

Listen to The Surgeons of Horror podcast:

Director Eduardo Sanchez interview

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: Blair Witch (2016)

28 Tuesday Mar 2017

Posted by surgeons of horror in The Blair Witch Franchise

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adam wingard, Blair Witch, simon barrett, the Blair Witch Project

I’D REALLY LOVE to get Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett’s school of thought on the aftermath of this movies release.

Fans and critics alike didn’t warm to the film and because of this, Blair Witch is deemed a failure.

The big question really though is did the movie fall victim to the Blair Witch curse?

The premise was to take a look into what the Blair Witch mythology brought to the screens back in 1999 by Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick with The Blair Witch Project, a film that sent shock waves through the horror movie scene and the cinema industry with its bold choice of storytelling through found footage.

Found footage was a medium which at the time hadn’t been as widely explored, unlike today where it seems like everyone under the sun has attempted it, with nowhere near the success.

Is this over-saturation of the sun-genre partly to blame?

Yes – I’m looking at you Paranormal Activity.

Despite this, Wingard and Barrett chose to explore and set the Blair Witch 18 years after the original (and rightfully ignoring Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows, which I think everyone can agree was a complete dud).

There are elements within the movie that feels a little disjointed with the timelines a little, but hey, that’s one of the anomalies within this universe that you could use your BS around, with the Witch’s strange effect on time and space.

So, it’s easy to forgive this little quibble and give in to the suspension of disbelief.

The filmmakers also try to throw in all the latest mod-cons to make it feel more like a bunch of present day kids venturing into the woods, armed with drones and the like.

But it does feel a little forced, especially as for me, it treads a little too closely to the original to make it stand apart from its predecessor.

Perhaps by viewing the original movie and being so affected by it, my observations and responses to Blair Witch are automatically going to be tainted.

It would be interesting to chat with someone who hasn’t seen The Blair Witch Project and therefore not been consumed or tainted by the hyperbole that surrounded that film and get their take on it.

There’s no doubt that Wingard and Barrett had set themselves a difficult challenge to undertake.

It was a bold move and falls in line with the kind of filmmakers that they are and have proven to be, with rightful praise thrown their way for previous films they have released.

A notable element in my mind that did stand out and raised the worthiness of the film came towards the climax with a knowing nod to the story of Lot.

By this time it really does feel like the current survivors are trying to escape from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Ultimately though, the film does miss the mark in establishing the same kind of hysteria that hit our screens back in 1999.

So does Blair Witch fall foul of the supposed curse? Maybe.

Should we commend Wingard and Barrett for doing what filmmakers should be doing? Making bold decisions to challenge themselves and their craft? Absolutely.

It may be a hiccup in their career so far, but I for one can’t wait to see what they deliver next and delve into their vision once more.

  – Paul Farrell

Podcast: The Eduardo Sanchez interview

25 Wednesday Jan 2017

Posted by surgeons of horror in The Blair Witch Franchise

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Blair Witch, Eduardo Sanchez, Exists, From Dusk Till Dawn, Lovely Molly, podcast, the Blair Witch Project

18 YEARS AGO The Blair Witch Project was screened for the first time before a cinema audience.

Yep, you read that right. 

This classic film has grown up and reached adulthood.

The audience in question would be attendees of the 1999 Sundance Film Festival and Artisan Entertainment would pick up distribution rights and a nationwide release would follow in July of the same year.

The result would see the a new wave of found footage Horror that is still trying to be replicated to this day, such was The Blair Witch Projects success.

Many have tried to emulate it but none have ever captured the hearts and imaginations of its audience.

Now that this film has reached a level of maturity in its 18 year history, the Surgeons of Horror team had looked back to see if it still stands true today, which you can check out our thoughts here.

But nothing could be finer than hearing what one half of the creative mind behind The Blair Witch Project, Eduardo Sanchez has to say on this much-loved film.

Thankfully the Surgeons team got that opportunity when Sanchez glacially stopped by albeit via a Skype phone call to discuss everything from the process of making the movie, its impact at the time, plus some of his other projects both old and new.

Heck, we even got to talking about life in the film world under a Trump Presidency.

It’s deep and a privilege to have spent that time with Eduardo.

Check out the podcast interview below.

https://surgeonsofhorrordotcom.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/soh-blair-witch-franchise-eduardo-sanchez-interview.mp3

The Blair Witch franchise (1999-2016)

20 Tuesday Sep 2016

Posted by surgeons of horror in Uncategorized

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Tags

Blair Witch, Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez, Heather Donahue, Horror film, Horror movie, Joshua Leonard

blair-witch-project
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.

https://surgeonsofhorrordotcom.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/soh-blair-witch-franchise.mp3

  • Paul Farrell

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