The Blair Witch Project
(By Sygyzy)

   The Blair Witch Project
by Sygyzy

Starring: Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael Williams   
Directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez                                                  Opened July 16, 1999 (Limited Release)

After about two hours and two days of driving, waging through traffic, and getting lost, my friends and I finally got to see the much hyped movie The Blair Witch Project. What do I think of this movie? Well let's just say thank God we did other fun things afterwards or else my day would have been a total waste.

I first heard about the BWP from my friend and fellow review writer, Gerry. He got me all hyped up and quoted the media which said it was "the scariest movie ever created." "Now," I thought to myself, "whoever even has the balls to say that must have some good sh*t to back it up!" So that was how it all started. I began mentioning it to my friends, but all I ever got were stares of confusion and wonderment. It was not until recently did the word of mouth spread to my part of the woods.

Concept/Story
The idea behind this movie is that three college filmmakers go off into the woods of Maryland to make a documentary on the legend of the Blair Witch. They were never found and eventually all these film reels were found. These were pieced together to form the Blair Witch Project. The whole movie amounts to what the three students shot with their cameras. The whole movie gets you dizzy because they are usually running so the camera shoots the floor and it bounces up and down. If you have ever seen an episode of COPS, you know what I mean. The only difference is that those cameramen can run at blazing speeds and they still keep the camera relatively steady. Maybe they should have given the makers of this movie some pointers. So there you have it, the concept of the movie is that you are seeing the footage the three students captured. I must admit it was quite original what the creators did, but that only bought them a couple of positive points.

Myrick and Sanchez   

                                                             
Acting
All the actors, as well as the directors, in this movie were amateurs. That is the nicest term I could think for them. They are all unknowns and I think it'll stay that way for a while until they take some more acting lessons. It doesn't take a genius to run around the woods with a camera. In fact, the crew held the camera so the actors really didn't have to do anything. I do give credit to Donahue because she was able to cry and yell convincingly. That was impressive. All the other redneck actors get credit too because I really thought I was being transported to the South. I was waiting for someone to bust out some gumbo. The two male actors were equally skilled. They were good screamers and made use of every foul word imaginable quite well.

Soundtrack/Music
There is no music! It might have been scarier if they had like drum beats or flutes playing but they didn't. It makes sense that there is no music though since this was supposed to be the footage that was found. There is a soundtrack and from the looks of it, there are mostly underground and non-mainstream punk bands.

Scariness Factor/Entertainment Value
When I stepped into the theatre, I was so pumped up about this movie. The trek to see it was long and hard and I was just praying that I wouldn't be disappointed. While I was watching the movie I was looking to be scared. I mean, I really didn't want it to be a disappointment so I was like actually getting into the mood to get scared. I can't describe it but my heart was beating and I was sitting perfectly still in the upright position. It did wonders for my posture <g>. After the first hour (which is 69% of the movie), I was growing tired. The movie was starting to look like it crawled out the movie Mod Squad's ass! If you've seen that piece of work, you'll now what I am talking about. Some scenes in the movie were pretty freaky because if I actually saw them, I would be afraid. But they were not scary like monster or ghost scary. It was like "Wow, those rocks are in a pile!" kind of scary. I was entertained sufficiently because the whole movie, my friend and I were cracking jokes. There were enough smart aleck remarks and crude comments to keep me laughing periodically. Some minor positive points there.

Conclusion
Scariest movie ever created? No - not in a long shot. BWP should stand for Big Waste of People/Props. It is a noble effort by two amateur filmmakers, but it does not nearly deserve all the hype it has generated.  I must admit, I left the theatre questioning many things which is always a good sign. But the biggest question that still lingers in my mind is, "How could I have wasted money on this!?!?!?"

Verdict
2 out of 5 stars (GERRY'S NOTE: I give it **/4 stars)