Review by CJ

Director:
Adam Wingard

Starring:
James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez, Corbin Reid, Brandon Scott, Wes Robinson, Valorie Curry

Running time:
89 minutes but it feels like 12 hours

Watch this if you liked:
Found footage films that shake your faith in film and general goodness

James (McCune) travels with his friends to investigate a video that may help him find his sister who went missing while filming a documentary on the Blair Witch.

Found footage films, how do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways. Predictable endings. Cheap production. Questionable scripts. Acting that’s so bad it’s, well, bad. A group of people running around with cameras strapped to themselves running around screaming or blubbering incoherently while doing the stupidest things. Le yawn.

I know, I know. The simple answer to the question you’re probably asking is that I keep watching them because part of me thinks that this might be the one to change it all around. Let’s call it ‘misguided optimism’. Another answer is that most found footage films have plots with the potential to be really great horror flicks, but the format prevents them from being even marginally good.

Ultimately, this has become another rant about found footage films, but everything said applies to Blair Witch.

Now, credit where it’s due. The first female death and second overall death was one that I did not see coming and was very effective. But in 89 minutes of horror film, there should be more than one effective or unexpected moment.

Unfortunately, that’s all the credit I can give. The Blair With Project was underwhelming but I came to it late and can still respect it for innovative use of propaganda and deception. Blair Witch comes at a time when the public is savvy about such tactics and the cat is not only out of the bag, it has moved to another country. Its lacklustre script, derivative plot and my own dislike for the genre as a whole makes Blair Witch a film that I just can’t recommend unless you have a deep love the found footage genre.

Rating:

“Heather? Is that you?”