One of my favorite things about a Horror film is that when its magic is working, it has the ability to increase your own levels of anxiety and take your imagination on a ride far beyond what the film is doing. It happened to a number of people who saw The Blair Witch Project, and I was one of them. I was around when we didn’t know if this mysterious “found footage” was real. I remember the movie opening huge, and a large number walking out unsatisfied by the lack of on-screen Horror. I saw it the week before, late at night with a bunch of people who also heard about the film and had no idea what was about to happen. I remember because I didn’t sleep much that night.
That’s mostly because the great trick of the film – and with so much that’s been written I’m surprised this doesn’t come up – is that the most terrible stuff happens after our trio fall asleep. They wake to it. The film is grueling as slowly but surely the filmmakers discover clues, sometimes by accident and sometimes against their will. They have wandered into something they don’t actually understand and as the terror increases the filmmakers fight, scream and cry almost nonstop. The hopelessness of their situation gives way to paranoia, and if the film is working for you, you end up having the same emotions as you watch.
Because it’s such a primal experience, Blair Witch doesn’t always work on rewatch. You have to get back into that original mindset and re-access the feeling of the original experience. I’ve seen the film a few times and have come close, but never fully matched that first viewing. That doesn’t make it any less of a terrifying marker in Horror’s evolution.
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