Simple and effective: how this film terrified an entire generation.
Released in 1999, the horror film by the duo Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez is still etched in our memories and has become a cult film. The plot is simple: three film students disappear while filming a documentary in a forest about the local legend of the Blair witch. All we can find is their videotapes. And yet, despite this simplicity, The Blair Witch Project plays on our unconscious more than we think.
The film is entirely shot in camera, from the cameras of the characters, giving a particular aesthetic to the film, it seems authentic. There are two cameras, one in black and white giving a very clear image and another in color. The alternating sequences between these two cameras, in addition to giving a likelihood to the film, shows us the different points of view of the characters. Thus, we find ourselves immersed in the macabre universe of the witch with the characters.
In addition to the choice of cameras, the editing, very raw, like videos simply put together, contributes to this documentary aspect, very real film. The cast chosen: Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard, having no experience before the shooting of the film, are therefore not known to the general public. So they appear to be average people, that we could meet on the street. They could be anyone, they could be us. This makes it easier to identify the characters. In addition, the names of the characters are the same as the actors.
Everything is done so that one really believes in a real documentary. Not to mention the famous message of the beginning of the film, warning viewers from the beginning of the disappearance of the characters and that the only thing found from them are these videos.
The witch, however one of the main characters of the film, will never be seen of the whole film. And that’s where all the power of The Blair Witch Project resides. While in a classic horror movie we would be shown a bloody monster, here we see nothing. Everything is suggested through the editing and the very credible acting. Now, we even come to wonder at the end of the film if the witch really exists, because we do not see her. Finally, would it not be one of the students who trapped the other two?
The Blair Witch Project is undoubtedly one of the best horror movies of all time. It is also one of the most profitable films due to a very fast shooting and the little equipment and technicians needed. It traumatized an entire generation, especially since the internet was not as developed as today, so the information was more restricted. What sowed doubt among the spectators: does Blair’s witch really exist?
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