The Blair Witch Project is one of the defining horror films of its generation, spawning a whole host of found footage themed films.
Although not the first found footage film, The Blair Witch Project has become famed for helping to define the style. 16 years later, can it still hold up to the horror of modern day films?
As a horror film, yes. The Blair Witch Project absolutely holds up. However, it doesn't feel as though watching it today provides quite the same impact as it would have done when it arrived on screens 16 years ago. For me, this is because we've come to expect different approaches to horror. The Blair Witch Project is far more subtle in the ways that it supplies its horror than many films today.
The whole film is shot as if recorded by a group of students in order to make it feel more realistic, but the studio took this several steps further and decided to make the whole marketing campaign focus on this realism. It plays on the suspension of disbelief theory very heavily.
There is very little architecture in the film, but what becomes of interest to me is the tent. The group of 3 have a tent which they sleep in every night. It is the symbol of shelter and protection, but throughout the film, this symbol is shattered. It becomes very clear that this place of shelter is incapable of protecting the group from whatever is stalking them through the woods.
This then leads on to the woods becoming the safest environment for them to be in, even though it is anything but safe at all. Despite this, it becomes the lack of architecture which makes them feel safest.
I find the style of the film intriguing. The sense of realism emphasised by the found footage approach is brilliant. The film does not rely on heavy layers of special effects like modern ones do. In fact there are barely any visible elements at all, aside from 'presents' left by the Blair Witch, to suggest that there is any kind of haunting occurring. The narrative itself, told through the footage and pieced together timeline, is what helps us to make sense of what is happening. The film leaves us, for the most part, to use our own imaginations.
This is so key to me, playing on the imagination and letting the audience bend what they are seeing into their own fears is an incredibly powerful tool.
The whole film is shot as if recorded by a group of students in order to make it feel more realistic, but the studio took this several steps further and decided to make the whole marketing campaign focus on this realism. It plays on the suspension of disbelief theory very heavily.
There is very little architecture in the film, but what becomes of interest to me is the tent. The group of 3 have a tent which they sleep in every night. It is the symbol of shelter and protection, but throughout the film, this symbol is shattered. It becomes very clear that this place of shelter is incapable of protecting the group from whatever is stalking them through the woods.
This then leads on to the woods becoming the safest environment for them to be in, even though it is anything but safe at all. Despite this, it becomes the lack of architecture which makes them feel safest.
I find the style of the film intriguing. The sense of realism emphasised by the found footage approach is brilliant. The film does not rely on heavy layers of special effects like modern ones do. In fact there are barely any visible elements at all, aside from 'presents' left by the Blair Witch, to suggest that there is any kind of haunting occurring. The narrative itself, told through the footage and pieced together timeline, is what helps us to make sense of what is happening. The film leaves us, for the most part, to use our own imaginations.
This is so key to me, playing on the imagination and letting the audience bend what they are seeing into their own fears is an incredibly powerful tool.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_Hw4bAUj8A