Folks, it seems a lot of people have been writing me asking if I know anything about THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT... And to just nip the question in the bud... I saw it back in late January, I reviewed it February 9th (Click here to read Harry's Review!) In the rating vote on that review, you'll see over 168 perfect '10' ratings. Why? BECAUSE THIS IS A GREAT MOVIE. Possibly the best horror film I have seen. And definately the best film I've seen thus far this year. Here is Moriarty's Review. And now.... on to the crew at hand, up first is Mr Psyche's review....

I'm a fairly rational human being. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it takes quite a bit of factually-based information and heavy-handed intellectual analysis of an ambiguous situation (such as the meaning of life, the exsitence of a higher power, or the exact ingredients of a Twinkie), where my own ration being can be swayed into believing in something hard to grasp. All that changed tonight.

I don't care what you've read about THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, or who has spoken to you about the hype surrounding it . . . this is the movie to see this summer.

Not for the fact that you'll be glued to your seat for the entire length of the film (which I loosely call BLAIR WITCH, as it is far more than just a length of celluloid and remastered digital soundtrack)-- which you will; or for the idea that you will walk out of the theater reeling from what you have seen, sick to your stomach, and mumbling over and over: "It's not real, it's not real, it's not real"-- which, of course, you will.

There is no "perfect" time to watch THE BLAIR WITCH, because any time of day, any day and any mood will still create a sense of foreboding from which you'll never escape. The movie crawls under you psyche, beyond the superego you've nurtured for however many years to carefully protect your cerebellum and neural processes from melting away at pure fear. What you see is the very personification of evil, of loathing, of doubt and guilt and intense fright. When the last credits have rolled, you'll still most likely be sitting still, waiting for the resolution you desperately need to come to you. There is none. There are no answers, there are no happy endings. There's only the sense that what you've seen was of the most primal essence, and that nothing can ever surpass it . . . yet.

Naturally there will be a lot of progeny to this movie. A lot of imitators who will claim to have perfectly duplicated the experience. But seeing THE BLAIR WITCH for the first time is very much (and excuse the crudeness of my example) like your first orgasm. The penultimate climax that you experience can never be usurped. And as much as you'll try for the rest of your life, there is never going to be a way to reach beyond that very surge of endorphins and adrenaline into your brain and body.

Everyone has it correct: Don't read anything about this movie. Don't go to the website they have set-up (as well done as it is). Avoid all images, commercials and paraphenalia associated with this experience. Don't prepare yourself. Go on living your life, seeing your Austin Power's sequels and convincing yourself that everything is O.K., because this movie will change all of that.

Ambiguous enough for you? I certainly hope so. My only thought is to encourage everyone to see this movie. It's one of those things that you need to do, because it's never going to be done again-- not nearly as well. And yes, THE HAUNTING will undoubtably be very engaging and possibly frightening, and even THE SIXTH SENSE might cause some hairs on the back of your neck to come to attention-- but the BLAIR WITCH is going to do so much more for you. It's a fucking rollercoaster through hell-- and no return ticket.

Have a nice summer. Oh, and go backpacking, hiking and camping as much as you can before you see this movie. I guarantee that you'll never want to do it once you've seen it.

Sincerely,

Mr. Psyche

And here is Josh... who somewhere in the world is shivering in the dark...

Hi Harry... I dont care what you call me. I have to talk about this movie. I have been reading your site for over a year now and never had a desire to write you, I just enjoyed watching this site and occasionaly read about your little parties and get togethers..... Okay Harry, you're part of my life, happy now?

I don't want to say where or how I saw this movie, but I had the privlige of seeing The Blair Witch Project and I HAVE TO SHARE MY THOUGHTS WITH SOMEONE. There are not many movies that I do deep research into. In fact, the only movies I have ever read numerous articles about are The Exorcist and Poltergeist because, they psychologicly had me hooked. I was hooked on the Blair Witch Project the second I was going to a movie and I saw a poster that just said, " In October of 1994 three student filmakers disapeared in the woods near Buriksville, Maryland while shooting a documentary.... a year later their footage was found." Thank God The Blair Witch Project has a very cool and extensive site. It made me really want to see this film. And I wanted to see it as soon as I can.

Always getting what I want, I got to see it tonight. I had the honor of sitting in the dark all alone in my house. Just my cat and dog with me. This movie is special. A movie like this hasent come my way since... and I dare say it, The Exorcist. Harry, this movie got in me.

The poster says what the movie is about. But it is the art of the filmmakers that make this movie work. 1 hi-fi 8 camera and one 16mm camera. 3 college students. I can honestly say that if you were able to take Dr. Evils time machine and go back 5 years and give it to the press, they would think it was real. I WAS THERE HARRY. I was with Josh, Mike, and Heather as they started this little happy documentary all the way till their camera was shut off. I have never been in a movie before besides that opening scene in Saving Private Ryan. And if the filmamkers of this movie could just see what I wrote... I just compared them to Stephen Speilberg... my idol was compared with amature filmakers.

This movie will be the biggest hit of the year. People will see it and tell their friends and their friends will tell their friends etc. This movie was like those old homemade birthday movies you make and you let the 8 year old kid be the cameraman. Ususally I would say that is a bad thing, but in this case, it made it all more real. SHIT HARRY!!!!!!! I cant get this movie out of my head. I got one hour of sleep last night and I have to work all day tomm... I'm not going to be able to sleep. This movie is going to haunt me all day.

The screening I saw was the 80 minute version. When I first put it in I thought I would feel incomplete, but I have to say that The Blair Witch Project is perfect the way it is. I would like to see the original cut, and maybe one day the powers that be will let me have the honor, but not tonight.

You have to excuse my spelling, english etc... it's late and I had to share with someone about this movie. If you actualy did take the time to read this review out of the 400 emails you get everyday, by all means feel free to post this, I would love to for everyone to know how this movie impacted me... Someone who has seen just about everything there is to see out there. I would like to thank the crew of the Blair Witch project for making me feel the way I feel right now.... It is a feeling you dont get often and a feeling you can only take every ten years or so.

BTW: I WILL NEVER GO CAMPING AGAIN!!! EVER

Josh

Now it's MS. X's turn...

Hey Harry. This is my first time writing in to your site, however I check it every day and am a big fan! Ever since you posted the trailer link to The Blair Witch Project I have been fascinated by this film. I would get chills every time I would watch the trailer and I was sure to show everyone it. I became intrigued because it just seemed like a fresh and brillant idea for filmaking especially during a time of lame horror pics!

Anyway, I found sites on the web devoted to the film and found out as much as I could and on one site I found that the film was opening and closing the Florida Film Festival in Orlando. I live in Tallahassee and my boyfriend and I decided to get tickets to the final showing as soon as tickets went on sale. We were so excited and from all we had heard, frankly, we were a little nervous about seeing the movie since everything we read said it was literally one of the scariest movies of all time! We never fully realized the magnitude of this film until we started talking to others about seeing it and all of them congratulating us just for getting tickets and from those telling us how great and scary it is yet they had not even seen it! I'm telling you the word-of-mouth is unbelievable for this film.

We got to the theater at 10:30 for the midnight show, we were the first ticket holders in line but there was already a line of 122 people hoping for stand-by tickets. After we had ordered our tickets I began bracing myself for sleepless nights afterwards and wondering if I would be able to camp in the woods ever again (I'm not a huge fan of horror film because if done correctly they will scare the begeezus out of me, but I was just so damn curious about it that I had to see it!). I am also glad that I did, this is a brilliant and utterly creepy movie! I believe the execution of the film with the two different cameras worked well. Some think it's annoying and takes away from the scenes but I think it keeps it more realistic, considering I don't even believe I would still be holding the camera (it would have been left long ago) if I were in their shoes!

The film is totally psychological and those are the ones that leave room for much elaboration in the viewer's imagination and this one is no exception! The actors did a wonderful job and probably gave some of the purest performances I have ever seen. The final scene is the clincher, it is terrifying and exciting and completely and totally eerie! I left the theater thinking "oh that wasn't as bad as I thought" I really thought I was going to be scared out of my skin. However that was before we began to talk about the film and I began replaying certain scenes in my head, especially the final shot before the camera goes off, and that is when I realized just how frightening the film is. I reluctantly went to sleep and all through the night found myself waking up to what I thought was giggling outside our hotel room door! Anyone who has a chance to see this movie better run to the theater, if for nothing else go for the unbelievable performances of these three actors. Heather Donohue (sp?) provides one of the most bone chilling scenes in the entire movie.

We were able to sit in on a Q&A with the directors and producers after the film which was really cool, they have really done a good thing for the horror genre right now. Some people have compared this film's scare-factor to The Shining, Exorcist, and Silence of the Lambs; I however was not creeped out by Shining, or Silence yet a little spooked by Exorcist, given that...this movie creeped the hell out of me. Furthermore I do believe, as one had explained ("it will do for camping what Jaws did for swimming"), I will not be going camping for a long, long time. Thanks for a great site!

If you even do use this you can call me Ms. X.

And here's Benihana's look....

I'm a first time scooper. I'm not sure if anyone has already sent in their impressions of the Blair Witch Project(for that matter, I'm not even sure when it opens nationwide), but here's mine.

Naturally, it scared the living crap out of me. I mean, that's the goal of the whole genre. But it was the way in which it did so that really counted, preying on the audience's ability to get caught up in a picture. The cinematography really made the viewer feel as though he or she were there with the group, and as though we were experiencing the same feelings they were.

And best of all, there were no cheap thrills, no quick startles which are the hallmark of stupid horror flicks. This was all masterfully crafted throughout the length of the film, which is not excessive- although in some parts it seems to drag on, in the end it all adds to the tension. It is a horror movie that you really have to focus on, to absorb, rather than simply eat popcorn and jump every couple of minutes at some overblown gore scene. Put simply, refreshingly chilling. I'm sitting here alone at the computer now, right after having seen it, and I find myself looking around my shoulder in my empty house. This bodes well for the movie as far as I can tell.

The bottom line- check this out as soon as you can, but go in expecting to pay attention. It's not that the movie requires memorization or meticulous attention to detail, but if you don't soak in all of the sights and sounds you will probably lose some of the general effect. The scariest movie I have yet to see, bar none.

call me Benihana.

Thanks.

p.s. Don't plan any hiking trips through the woods anytime shortly after you see this one- trust me.