# Blair Witch Project, The (1999)

### reviewed by
Frankie Paiva

The Blair Witch Project (R) ** 1/2 Starring Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard Directed by Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez A Review by Frankie Paiva

If there is one film this summer (or any summer for that matter) besides Star Wars could possibly create more hype than this film I would give it a prize. What started out as a $35,000 dollar horror movie that could cover the fake Blair Witch, would turn into a phenomenon. Early buzz out of Sundance had people calling it the scariest film of all time, Artisan signed it that night for 1 million, and the launch of the Blair Witch site began.

Generating a cult months before the movie opens rarely happens, but do to the fantastic webpage (www.blairwitch.com) which features all of the fake mythology, it had people hanging on the edge, waiting for the film to be released. "The film cannot possibly live up to all of the hype that's been surrounding it." That was a quote from George Lucas about Star Wars, and it's true here too.

You know the story, three student filmmakers Heather, (Donahue) Michael, (Michael Williams) and Josh (Leonard) are out to shoot a documentary about the Blair Witch. Townspeople say she was old Ellie Keyward, accused of witchcraft she was banished in the 1800s. Every fourty years after that, mysterious things would happen. Disemboweled fisherman showed up at the river, children started going missing, and an old man says he was killing children because an old witch told him so.

They of course get lost and start hearing weird noises at night. One of the crew goes missing, and what are all of those strange symbols that they keep finding all over the forest?

The film does not live up to it's hype. I (and the 25 or so people that I've talked with that saw it) all agree that is wasn't scary at all. What is hyped to be the scariest film of all time didn't really inflict one twinge of pure terror. The camera technique is interesting though, if not sickening, and I'd like to see more films made that way. However do make sure to get a good night's rest before seeing the film, the camera shaking didn't make me sick at all, but it really made me sleepy. No, it's not "Scary as Hell" or is it "An Instant Classic" but I still reccomend you see Blair Witch which gets ** 1/2 stars.

    A Review by Frankie Paiva
    The 12 Year-Old Movie Reviewer
    E-Mail me at SwpStke@aol.com

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