I remember that just before the actual film came out my local Blockbuster had a video on it for £1. It turned out to be the faux documentary that is on the extras. So, I rented it. And it really creeped me out!! The face of the man in jail in particular, but also the whole mythology they built up around it. I still like the film, although it doesn't scare me anymore. But it's ruined woods for me forever And one night about a year ago I was walking home from work at night in the dark, and heard those strange cracking noises - Instantly it reminded me of the film and I ran the rest of the way home
I really enjoyed this back in the day. I liked how it left the "horror" entirely up to your imagination and was an alternative to the Scream type trash that was prevelant at the time. Misunderstood, I feel.
I remember that just before the actual film came out my local Blockbuster had a video on it for £1. It turned out to be the faux documentary that is on the extras. So, I rented it. And it really creeped me out!! The face of the man in jail in particular, but also the whole mythology they built up around it. I still like the film, although it doesn't scare me anymore. But it's ruined woods for me forever And one night about a year ago I was walking home from work at night in the dark, and heard those strange cracking noises - Instantly it reminded me of the film and I ran the rest of the way home
I am off on the Tom Tick at the moment so I took the opportunity to watch this on Netflix as Mrs finbaar has an aversion to scary stuff. She needn't have worried as there were no scary bits at all. I am disappointed. I can't imagine how it got so much hype.
When I watched it back in 2007 I felt a bit edgy at times. It's not really scary though, not in my opinion. As future horror films get scarier, we tend to expect more from the next ones that get made.
I think watching it at the time of it's release, it may of been a bit scary because people really thought it was actually video footage from a real life event,
I definitely felt this when watching it. This was probably down to the fact that the footage was made to look as if it was filmed using a camcorder.....or maybe it was.
I don't know of anyone who believed it was genuine found footage, there was so much hype about it!
No hang on, I think you misunderstood the film. The BWP wasn't supposed to ACTUAL REAL found footage.
The film makers made up a story about footage being found. What we saw were just actors. I thought that was plainly obvious. I never thought for a second that what we were watching was real.
I don't understand all these people who say things like it was ground breaking and really scary and how it changed horror or words to that effect.
Me and a mate went to see it when it first came out and we were both bored out of our skin. We didn't find it scary in the slightest. I'm a massive horror film fan so being a horror fan plus all the hype at the time is the reason why I went to see it.I was so looking forward to it because the 90s was quite a boring decade horror film wise and I thought hopefully this is as good and scary as everyone says. I remember after we left the cinema we went down the pub and were talking about it and we both simply couldn't understand why so many people said it was SO SO scary. There are films made years before the BWP that are way more creepy for eg. the original Halloween, Psycho, Amityville 2: The Possession.
I saw an interview with Mercedes McCambridge who played the voice of the demon in The Exorcist when Regan was possessed. She said something that I truly believe. She was talking about films that get a lot of hype and she said that sometimes people get caught up in all the hype and they go to the cinema already deciding that they're going to be 'scared out of their wits' just so when they go home they can say to their family "Oh my god oh my god it's so scary" which is just another way of saying "You know that film with all the hype that's supposed to be SO scary, well I've seen it". Deep down they weren't really that scared. If anyone truly was scared by it then there must have been some easily scared people back in '99.
I get fed up hearing all these clichés like "it was ground breaking" or it "changed the face of horror" etc. Did it hell. It may have been a slightly different way of making a film but was it REALLY that scary. No it wasn't.
Well different things scare different people, there's not really some objective scare scale. I found Blair Witch scary because woods at night are inherently creepy to me, moreso than unstoppable forces of evil (love Halloween but I don't find it scary).
I also don't really see it as a bad thing if people go into films with the mindset of being scared out of their wits. Horror films especially are more fun if you're open to being scared by them surely?
I really like the BWP and I still find it scary nearer the end of the movie.
The bit that always freaks me out is
When they enter that house place with the hand prints on the walls and when the girl finds her mate in the corner staring down or something and then she gets knocked out but you don't see what hits her plus all you can hear is that weird screeching sound. Her mate staring at something is the thing that freaks me out the most as it really lets your mind go into over drive trying to find an answer.
No hang on, I think you misunderstood the film. The BWP wasn't supposed to ACTUAL REAL found footage.
The film makers made up a story about footage being found. What we saw were just actors. I thought that was plainly obvious. I never thought for a second that what we were watching was real.
No, hang on. I think you completely misunderstood what I wrote... There were people who believed the hype and thought it was genuinely found footage. This is what the marketing people wanted to happen. I know it was actors just making a film but for a time, maybe a brief time, some folk genuinely believed it to be real. Some conspiracy nuts still do.
The Blair Witch herself is actually real though...
Nope. The specific 'legend' of the Blair Witch was completely fabricated for the film. It might steal elements from actual folklore from other places but there never was a Blair Witch... Burkittsville was never called 'Blair' for starters...
I don't understand all these people who say things like it was ground breaking and really scary and how it changed horror or words to that effect.
Me and a mate went to see it when it first came out and we were both bored out of our skin. We didn't find it scary in the slightest.
I think people give the movie a disservice because this movie really does play on the imagination and if you don't have the kind of mind where you can explore what's going on in the movie universe then it's never going to scare you.
Which is probably why a lot of people don't find it scary. But it's that what-if or what's-coming-next suspense, combined with the general strangeness, that makes it so effective. Again, if it didn't touch you then there's not much to love and it'll just leave you cold.
she said that sometimes people get caught up in all the hype and they go to the cinema already deciding that they're going to be 'scared out of their wits' just so when they go home they can say to their family "Oh my god oh my god it's so scary" which is just another way of saying "You know that film with all the hype that's supposed to be SO scary, well I've seen it". Deep down they weren't really that scared. If anyone truly was scared by it then there must have been some easily scared people back in '99.
This is a rather crude way of dismissing something with a flippant comment. The movie was hugely successful way before it became commercially popular and it did that by touching the audience. A movie without a huge advertising budget that relies on word of mouth alone to do as mindbogglingly well as TBW has to have some spark which stands it out from the rest. And no, you can't just attribute that to pretentious film luvvies rating it on the Internet.
Just because YOU can't see it does not mean it does not exist. I still think it's a masterpiece in terms of its own genre and is a very very scary movie.
i agree and i am glad i had the mindset to love it
I rarely slag off movies and I've been a professional reviewer for a looong time in one form of another (not that that means anything as we all have an opinion). I guess I just don't really like being critical and I'd rather see the best in things.
I didn't really like Amelie and it perplexes me why people love it so much...
No, hang on. I think you completely misunderstood what I wrote... There were people who believed the hype and thought it was genuinely found footage. This is what the marketing people wanted to happen. I know it was actors just making a film but for a time, maybe a brief time, some folk genuinely believed it to be real. Some conspiracy nuts still do.
Nope. The specific 'legend' of the Blair Witch was completely fabricated for the film. It might steal elements from actual folklore from other places but there never was a Blair Witch... Burkittsville was never called 'Blair' for starters...
I saw a documentary on Sky One all those years ago explaining the story behind it and making out it was all very real.....can't believe they made it up:o
I think people give the movie a disservice because this movie really does play on the imagination and if you don't have the kind of mind where you can explore what's going on in the movie universe then it's never going to scare you.
Rather than slate naysayers for not having much of an imagination (a rather grand presumption, btw), perhaps it just didn't do enough to get some people's imagination invested in it.
It certainly didn't with me. But then I always though it was the sensory response to the camerawork/editing that was the key. Blair Witch wants to manipulate just like any other horror, so it's a case of how the viewer reacts to the technique.
I saw a documentary on Sky One all those years ago explaining the story behind it and making out it was all very real.....can't believe they made it up:o
That's the same documentary I mentioned in my first post on this thread. It certainly adds to the mythos but, yeah, all made up. It's one of the extras on the dvd release.
I think people give the movie a disservice because this movie really does play on the imagination and if you don't have the kind of mind where you can explore what's going on in the movie universe then it's never going to scare you.
It's not about having the "kind of mind" to enjoy it.
As I said I went into the cinema wanting to enjoy it. I thought surely if a film has received this much hype then it must be scary. I was wrong.
There are loads of horror movies that I love. I just didn't find the documentary style of the film particularly scary in any way. It just made me feel dizzy. Like I said I'd rather watch Psycho, Halloween, The Omen. The originals not the dire remakes.
Comments
your really fast:D left me gasping:p
When I watched it back in 2007 I felt a bit edgy at times. It's not really scary though, not in my opinion. As future horror films get scarier, we tend to expect more from the next ones that get made.
I definitely felt this when watching it. This was probably down to the fact that the footage was made to look as if it was filmed using a camcorder.....or maybe it was.
ooh er missus:eek:
on a side note when i was 16 me and my friends tried to make our own handheld film, it was called the bare b*&^% project
only in our twenties did we realise that the film name was well.................dirty.
Those actors must have been genuinely terrified in those woods.
The film makers made up a story about footage being found. What we saw were just actors. I thought that was plainly obvious. I never thought for a second that what we were watching was real.
I don't understand all these people who say things like it was ground breaking and really scary and how it changed horror or words to that effect.
Me and a mate went to see it when it first came out and we were both bored out of our skin. We didn't find it scary in the slightest. I'm a massive horror film fan so being a horror fan plus all the hype at the time is the reason why I went to see it.I was so looking forward to it because the 90s was quite a boring decade horror film wise and I thought hopefully this is as good and scary as everyone says. I remember after we left the cinema we went down the pub and were talking about it and we both simply couldn't understand why so many people said it was SO SO scary. There are films made years before the BWP that are way more creepy for eg. the original Halloween, Psycho, Amityville 2: The Possession.
I saw an interview with Mercedes McCambridge who played the voice of the demon in The Exorcist when Regan was possessed. She said something that I truly believe. She was talking about films that get a lot of hype and she said that sometimes people get caught up in all the hype and they go to the cinema already deciding that they're going to be 'scared out of their wits' just so when they go home they can say to their family "Oh my god oh my god it's so scary" which is just another way of saying "You know that film with all the hype that's supposed to be SO scary, well I've seen it". Deep down they weren't really that scared. If anyone truly was scared by it then there must have been some easily scared people back in '99.
I get fed up hearing all these clichés like "it was ground breaking" or it "changed the face of horror" etc. Did it hell. It may have been a slightly different way of making a film but was it REALLY that scary. No it wasn't.
I also don't really see it as a bad thing if people go into films with the mindset of being scared out of their wits. Horror films especially are more fun if you're open to being scared by them surely?
The bit that always freaks me out is
:eek:
No, hang on. I think you completely misunderstood what I wrote... There were people who believed the hype and thought it was genuinely found footage. This is what the marketing people wanted to happen. I know it was actors just making a film but for a time, maybe a brief time, some folk genuinely believed it to be real. Some conspiracy nuts still do.
Nope. The specific 'legend' of the Blair Witch was completely fabricated for the film. It might steal elements from actual folklore from other places but there never was a Blair Witch... Burkittsville was never called 'Blair' for starters...
I think people give the movie a disservice because this movie really does play on the imagination and if you don't have the kind of mind where you can explore what's going on in the movie universe then it's never going to scare you.
Which is probably why a lot of people don't find it scary. But it's that what-if or what's-coming-next suspense, combined with the general strangeness, that makes it so effective. Again, if it didn't touch you then there's not much to love and it'll just leave you cold.
This is a rather crude way of dismissing something with a flippant comment. The movie was hugely successful way before it became commercially popular and it did that by touching the audience. A movie without a huge advertising budget that relies on word of mouth alone to do as mindbogglingly well as TBW has to have some spark which stands it out from the rest. And no, you can't just attribute that to pretentious film luvvies rating it on the Internet.
Just because YOU can't see it does not mean it does not exist. I still think it's a masterpiece in terms of its own genre and is a very very scary movie.
i agree and i am glad i had the mindset to love it
I rarely slag off movies and I've been a professional reviewer for a looong time in one form of another (not that that means anything as we all have an opinion). I guess I just don't really like being critical and I'd rather see the best in things.
I didn't really like Amelie and it perplexes me why people love it so much...
I saw a documentary on Sky One all those years ago explaining the story behind it and making out it was all very real.....can't believe they made it up:o
It certainly didn't with me. But then I always though it was the sensory response to the camerawork/editing that was the key. Blair Witch wants to manipulate just like any other horror, so it's a case of how the viewer reacts to the technique.
That's the same documentary I mentioned in my first post on this thread. It certainly adds to the mythos but, yeah, all made up. It's one of the extras on the dvd release.
As I said I went into the cinema wanting to enjoy it. I thought surely if a film has received this much hype then it must be scary. I was wrong.
There are loads of horror movies that I love. I just didn't find the documentary style of the film particularly scary in any way. It just made me feel dizzy. Like I said I'd rather watch Psycho, Halloween, The Omen. The originals not the dire remakes.