Blast from the Past:
Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez written, directed, and edited Blair Witch Project, a seminal indie that forever changed the psychological horror genre.
Grade: B+
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Theatrical release poster
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One of the most successful indies of all time, it is a “found footage” pseudo-documentary in which three students (Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Joshua Leonard) hike into the Black Hills near Burkittsville, Maryland, to shoot a documentary about a local myth known as the Blair Witch.
Myrick and Sánchez conceived of a fictional legend of the Blair Witch, based on a 35-page screenplay with the dialogue to be improvised.
A call ad on Backstage magazine resulted in casting the leads, Donahue, Williams, and Leonard.
Most of the 8-day-shoot was done on the Greenway Trail along Seneca Creek in Montgomery County, Maryland. About 20 hours of footage was shot, which was edited down to 82 minutes.
Shot on a miniscule budget of about $50,000, the film claimed a final cost of $200,000–750,000 after post-production and marketing.
When The Blair Witch Project premiered at the 1999 Sundance Film Fest (in midnight session), its promotional marketing campaign listed the actors as either “missing” or “deceased.”
Due to its successful Sundance run, Artisan Entertainment bought the film’s distribution rights for $1.1 million.
Hailed as one of the scariest movies of all time, it had a limited release on July 14, before expanding to wider release. A sleeper hit, the movie earned nearly $250 million worldwide.
Despite the success, the three main actors had reportedly lived in poverty. In 2000, they sued Artisan Entertainment for unfair compensation, eventually reaching a $300,000 settlement.
The Blair Witch Project launched a whole media franchise, two sequels (Book of Shadows and Blair Witch), novels, comic books, and video games.
Reviving the found-footage strategy, it influenced many horror films such as Paranormal Activity (2007), REC (2007) and Cloverfield (2008).
The film’s final moments are scarily terrifying. As Heather’s camera captures Mike standing in the corner, the screen abruptly cuts to black, leaving their fate unknown.
The lack of resolution intensifies the raw, unfiltered terror, leaving a haunting question mark and impressive ambiguity.
