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Quint on THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT as well as a completely different reaction...
Quint here was sent out tonight on a mission to watch the audience here in Austin as they watched THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. Why didn't I go? Well, because at the Paramount theater they were showing a print of Elizabeth Taylor's CLEOPATRA, what a sumptuous film that is. No CGI... What a gorgeous film. Deserving of a restoration job. Meanwhile, Quint was witnessing the exact opposite end of the spectrum of filmmaking. The little low budget film that could. Well, I might as well turn things over to his Quint-ness...
Quint here with a little write up on Blair Witch Project.
I finally saw the film on the big screen with an audience tonight, after
having seen it as a private screening aboard the Orca. It was a trip. I loved
the film just as much as I did the first time I saw it.
But I'm not going to focus on the film in this write up. Undoubtedly, most of
you guys know what the film is about and have heard many geeks drooling over
it, so you don't need more of the same for me. I'd like to mention the
audience.
To start off, I got to the screening an hour early and there were already
more than 250 people in line. Most people got turned away due to the roughly
60 press and guests that showed up. That astounded me. I've been to my fair
share of early screenings, press screenings, etc., but I've never seen such a
big turn out so early. Luckily a jedi mind trick or two and I got in.
Anyway, the audience was pulled in and was silent from beginning to end...
except during the funny scenes where they laughed and the scary scenes where
murmurs of "Oh, my God," and sharp gasps. Except for the guy behind me. He
was one of those guys that feels he has to prove to not only himself, but the
rest of the audience that he is above the film that he is watching. He mostly
got sharp looks and thankfully shut up fairly quickly.
This was also the guy that after the movie was saying stuff like, "I liked
it, but I wanted to see the monster.... and the camera was too jumpy." I
remember a guy in talkback a while back that said he saw The Blair Witch and
stated that the filmmakers "should learn to use a Steady Cam." These kind of
people who obviously miss the point of the movie just kind of irritate me.
Especially those that let everybody know they are above the film WHILE it's
playing. The reason these people get on my nerves is that they are impeding
the viewing of people who are actually liking the movie.
After the film everybody was talking about it. That's a very good sign. Like
it or hate it, you're going to talk about it. Good or bad, it's better than
forgetting the movie the second you leave the theater. Overall, it's the kind
of movie you want to see with the audience. It's terrific when you're
experiencing moments of thick, atmospheric tension and you look around to see
you're not the only one fascinated with what's unfolding before you.
Other than not keeping the mystery of the film during the advertising stage,
I'd have to say that I have no bones to pick with this film. It just keeps
getting better every time I see it. Although, I realize that some of you out
there won't share that opinion. Just keep in mind that this isn't Scream 8 or
even a Halloween movie. It's great because it's filmmaking that hasn't been
seen a lot or exploited yet by the big studios. Although, I bet we'll see
strings of films coming from the bigger studios that very closely resemble
Blair Witch. So is the nature of the beast.
So, go see it and see it with your friends. This movie kicked my ass many
times over. I hope you'll let it do the same to you.
-Quint
FOLKS, WHAT IS BELOW IS SPOILERISH! HUGE SPOILERS! AVOID IF YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE FILM. IF YOU HAVE COMPLETELY RESEARCHED THIS FILM, READ BELOW...
Hey folks, Harry here. This next review is from someone that expected the SCARIEST movie ever made. Personally, I would call this the CREEPIEST MOVIE EVER MADE... they are totally different things. But... he was disappointed, as many of you are setting yourselves up for. This is not a traditional film. It was never really meant to be a GIGANTIC BUZZ FILM. The Blair Witch Project is a film that most needed a good friend of yours to set it up for ya, get you just a little primed, then it needed no END CREDITS and you walk away unsure of what you just saw. Your faith shook a bit. All these articles about how the movie was made, they should all be ashamed of themselves. Those needed to be written AFTER the movie. Knowing all the background details will fuck with the way you are supposed to accept this film. There are many better NARRATIVE HORROR FILMS, but this is not a traditional narrative film. It's an experimental ART house Horror film. But now... it's bigger than that. Don't compare this film to THE EXORCIST... THE EXORCIST had a friggin budget. This movie was made for nothing. People like you and me... except a bit more motivated, gathered up people and did this. Look how big this is, all the articles... all the buzz.... Go do it. Go make your movie. Don't tear this one down. This is a dream movie of a buncha guys that didn't know what they were getting themselves into.
Harry,
I just got back from seeing the Blair Witch Project a while ago and felt kind
of unsure about it. So I thought I'd write about it to get it clear in my
head, and share it with you at the same time as you seem to be interested in
different opinions on movies and I've only seen glowing reviews for BWP on
your site. Maybe I should have taken them with a grain of salt. I'd maybe
gotten myself too excited about the movie.
My very first problem with BWP came about five minutes in when I realized the
movie could only end two ways, 1. the movie just cuts to black after a scene
or 2. it ends the way it does. I thought the ending was great, and the only
truly scary thing in the movie but knowing basically what it would HAVE to be
took away some of it's luster.
I guess I'll give you my day and frame of mind the same way you do in your
reviews. I knew it was opening on Wednesday in NYC so I called up moviefone
to see where it was playing and was very annoyed to find out that it was only
playing at the Angelica. Now, the Angelica is a very cool place for
independent film and I saw many of my favorite Independent movies (Chungking
Express, Smoke, Cold Fever) there. With that in it's favor the truth is: as a
movie theater it's just terrible with lousy sound, small screens, long
rectangular theaters with seats extremely far from the screen, you can feel
subway cars pass by as the theater is underground, bad seats, it's very far
out-of-the-way (at least my way) and sells popcorn that has done things to
people that, well, that I just don't wanna talk about. I found out that
there were going to be screenings at 11:45, 12, and 12:15 on Tuesday night
and I remained undecided as whether or not to go on Tuesday or wait for it to
reach a decent theater. I saw in the paper then that the filmmakers would be
at the late-night showings and the showings on Wednesday. That pushed me
over the edge and I decided to go to one of the late-night Tuesday showings.
Forget that moviefone was saying "technical difficulties" so I couldn't find
out if there were tickets available and the theater is 80 blocks downtown
from me for a midnight movie, I decided to go.
So I watched the Sci-Fi channel "Curse of the Blair Witch" (I'd taped it),
went out, bought a box of Junior Mints, a book, put some money on my
metrocard (NYC transit fare cards), and hopped on the downtown Lex. Got on
the train, started the new book, getting excited for the movie, all was going
well. An announcement over the intercom says that there will be no local
service between Union Square and Brooklyn Bridge due to trackwork. Okay so
I'll have to walk from Union Square (about a mile or a little more) to the
Angelica, not a big problem, I still had time, I just hoped they had tickets
left.
I get to the Angelica. Huge Lines. Tons of people in Blair Witch T-shirts,
with posters, standing in line eager to get in. I instantly just know I've
come eighty blocks to find out the movie's sold out. I get to the box
office. Sometimes I hate being right. Three white sheets of paper each
saying the 11:45, 12, or 12:15 are sold out. Then I notice a guy who just
walked away from the box office with 2 friends but 4 four tickets when he
says to me (almost in slow-mo) "you wanna ticket?" I take a look at it for a
second. Looks real. Sure I want it. Give him 10 bucks and take the ticket.
Ticket has moviefone written on it, with the extra charge it must have cost
him eleven. I ask somebody where the 12 o'clock line is and get on.
All in all at that point I'm pretty pleased with myself, having faced the
challenges of the subway and the sold out theater I've come away with a
ticket and 15 minutes to spare. I'm at the very end of the line and I just
know I'll get a lousy seat but I don't care because I look at the people in
front of me and I know this is the perfect audience to see the film with.
People arrive and ask me if I'm on the ticket holders or ticket buyers line,
I look at my feet and tell them the movie is sold out. A man walks up and
down the line with a handmade sign saying "I'm looking 4 a miracle." I think
that this guy wants to see the movie much more than I do and I should
probably give him my ticket but I really want to see the movie at this point
and don't. I justify the selfishness by thinking the ticket might not even
be real. I was glad to see it when he got into the movie anyway.
I start talking Kubrick with a British guy named Matthew on-line in front of
me. I realize that he thinks the movie is real. He has no idea it's a
fake-documentary. He starts talking about his theories on the BWP (thought
the filmmakers made the footage, left it, went deep into the woods and killed
each other in ritualistic ways, or maybe the witch did get them). I refuse
to comment, politely, by saying that I know more about the film than him and
don't want to spoil it for him. I also advise that he doesn't read the
blown-up review sitting in the lobby. I accomplished getting him and his
girlfriend into the movie without their knowing it was bogus. I wish I could
have seen the film like that, without knowing.
The line moves into the theater, I get in, the ticket is real! I actually
get a nice seat. Up close. No motion sickness, sorry. The lights dim,
people clap and the trailers start. First the English comedy with Malcolm
McDowell, I forget the name, having seen the review on Siskel and Ebert last
week the trailer looks shallow. Then the trailer for Stir of Echoes, I'm
glad you liked the movie but the trailer sucks. Not Wild Wild West or
Arlington Road bad but still just generated no interest for the crowd.
The movie (finally): I think I was just too pre-hyped for it. Phantom Menace
syndrome. I was expecting a very scary horror film without any real gore ala
the original Haunting. Then a couple of days ago I read that it was more
suspense than horror, that's good too. I didn't think it was either. To me
Horror is Halloween or Alien or The Exorcist. Suspense is the roulette
sequence in the Deer Hunter or the last hour of Aliens, or The Silence of the
Lambs. The Blair Witch Project isn't, to me, horror or suspense. The Blair
Witch Project is fucking creepy. I can't think of anything else to put in
the "creepy" genre right now, but I'm sure there are movies that qualify.
For some reason I found several of the high-stress interactions between the
three filmmakers to be very funny. I think this was because I didn't care
about the characters enough, I just didn't buy them as real people (except
for Mike and Heather in the last 10-15 minutes) which is very important for a
fake documentary. The action of one filmmaker regarding a valuable piece of
equipment/gear seemed to me completely wrong, out of character, unreal, and
lacking in any sense. The real problem for me though is how Heather is
constantly filming (so that the audience can see the movie)
even after things get seriously rough feels fake. A lame explanation of why
she keeps taping is given but I just felt it was an excuse. So really most
of what she tapes feels out of place, she's filming not because her character
would film (when the stuff at night starts happening I felt that her
character would have stopped taping and concentrated on surviving), she's
filming so we can see the movie. It sounds like a minor detail but it really
took center stage for me whenever she was taping.
The movie divides itself into three types of scary. The first is human
interrelations scary, although this doesn't really start until scary number
two begins. Scary number two is lost-in-the-woods scary. The third is
supernatural scary. I think the way the characters start to blow up at each
other is, while uneven very good at times while they are lost in the woods
especially the part where Heather feels attacked because she has gotten her
boots soaked and Josh and Mike just laugh at the situation, while she feels
they are laughing at her. However the thing that Mike does immediately after
is the weakest thing in the entire film. I'm a city guy, I've never been
camping so I found the lost in the woods stuff to be extremely scary.
Although I don't know why they didn't just follow the creek, it would have to
have led them somewhere. The supernatural scary stuff I feel is ineffective
except in three parts, the first being the great ending, Heather and Mike
hearing what they want to believe at night, and one morning when they open
their tent to find three rock piles circling it. The collection of
stick-witch figures in the middle of the woods was not scary to me at all. I
felt that the dialogue between the three concerning whether it could be a
bunch of locals causing problems for them in the woods were forced. Seemingly
something to delay springing the heavy duty supernatural scary stuff for the
last third of the film when it would be scary not from the actual events but
from them being stacked one atop the other in order to build to it's
conclusion. This doesn't bother me as I feel it helps the film at it's end,
what bothers me is how easy it would be to miss, I think the whole
is-it-rednecks-doing-this dialogue thread runs maybe 6 sentences.
After not buying the characters I was surprised how much I believed the
dynamics between Heather (while I liked the actress was the character I
bought least, from the camera thing) and Mike after you know what happens and
I was very much affected by the ending.
Leaving the theater (never seeing any of the filmmakers before or after the
film) I felt lukewarm about the movie after seeing it with the perfect
audience and realized the last time that had happened was with the 3:30 am
showing of the Phantom Menace. I hope I don't really dislike this movie in a
few days. I hope other people like it more than I did.
I saw the British guy on the way out who had by then realized it was fake and
was disappointed. He said he wouldn't have gone to see it had he known.
So I went home, e-mailed my brother in Boston that if he sees Blair Witch
instead of Eyes Wide Shut this weekend that I'd kick his ass, and got started
on this review. Where I am now.
BWP was a sleeper at Sundance, it was a sleeper at Cannes, it was, I
understand, adored at both places. It was not a sleeper last night, maybe
that took some of the fun away. I can imagine the joy at discovering how
good a movie this was without being told, and told, and told. I can imagine
the fun of telling people that they have to see this movie without them
replying "Yeah, I know." I'm not saying that movies shouldn't be hyped or
talked about, I love that they are, it's just that some movies don't live up
to there hype. For me Blair Witch Project and Phantom Menace were two that
didn't. Many lived up to their hype for me Matrix, Contact, L.A.
Confidential, Titanic, etc.
If over hype disturbs a second of Eyes Wide Shut for me I'm gonna put my hand
through a wall. I don't think it will though, I've avoided reading about the
film, and have only seen the trailer on ET with the Chris Isaac song. Plus,
Kubrick created his own advertisements so maybe that means something.
I've got to learn to stay on topic, I started out to review BWP and I've
ended up writing about how I think advertising affects films.
Finally (Finally! about time) I don't think this was a bad movie. I
actually think it's a must-see. I think it's a movie that is simply very far
from being great. It certainly, to me, doesn't live up to what's going on
around it.
If you decide to put this tome on the site call me:
Walker Easterling
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This film is going be the best. I can't wait till friday.
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Thank God that I live in Southern California. TBWP, opens at the Nuart and the makers of the film are gonna be there. I'm going to have to get my tickets ASAP! I can't wait for this one.
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...Seriously, this has GOT to be THE most built of film of the year (right behind TPM)... and was the biggest disappointment. I did not find this film frightening in the least, and it was only interesting in a few places, such as the "Tent Scene" (and those who have seen it know which part THAT is). All I'm saying is don't be too shocked if you walk out of the theater thinking "Yeah... so what?"
In any case, I find it the most interesting from the technical standpoint... after seeing this, you'll realize that YOU TOO can make a film! All you need is a video camera and sub-par actors ;-) -
Well, I haven't seen the film and really am looking forward to it. It seems some people have found it very boring and not scary at all, like yourself. But how scary was the latest Kevin Williamson piece of shit? Even if it doesn't live up to expectations and isn't scary at all, it is a refreshing movie that i'm sure showcases more talent than any "horror" movie that have been released recently. On a completely different note, I just purchased The Criterion Collection of Brazil- I urge any Gilliam fan to get it, it's fucking awesome!
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Got a hold of a copy about a month and a half ago, and me and my friends get together ever other night and watch it! I am a huge horror movie buff, and this one has to take the cake on the scare facto9r. I havnt been this scared since Max schreck in 1922 Nosferatu. UHgg, And everytime I go camping, The Blair Witch is there with me, no matter how hard I try to ingnore it. Well Heres to great new ideas. Bone Daddy
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I wholeheartedly agree with you about Williamson... and in fact, I don't think he should write anything ever again...
You're right, the Blair Witch Project is indeed a refreshing departure from the string of hated Teen Horror Flicks, but Blair Witch could have been so much more...
It didn't surprise me that I didn't find it frightening since I have never found a film, on the whole, that ever terrified me. There have been, however, little things in films that have made me not want to turn out the lights, two examples of this being the end of FREAKS and that damn clown from Poltergeist. If that thing's not scary then I don't know WHAT is... -
Jul 14, 1999 3:43:51 AM CDT
I had some of those morons in Jackie Brown and Truman Show
by paragonian
They always laugh the hardest to show everyone that they got the advertising joke in Truman and the hip dialogue in Jackie Brown. And what's even worse is the crying baby and the oblivious mother with no respect for anyone else. The audience was completely silent during the entire three hours of Saving Private Ryan though. There should be a special 'Losers Only' section which is sound proofed with darkened windows so we don't have to put up with these people.
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Hey,
I think Eternal was the guy who was sitting behind Quint. If you never get scared at the movies, well than good for you. Some of us enjoy letting our emotions go.
I can't wait to see this movie. Thanks AICN for giving a lot of exposure to this gem. -
Hey,
I think Eternal was the guy who was sitting behind Quint. If you never get scared at the movies, well than good for you. Some of us enjoy letting our emotions go.
I can't wait to see this movie. Thanks AICN for giving a lot of exposure to this gem. -
Hey, Harry, or just about anybody...do you know where BWP will play in Austin? I originally heard it was going to be opened nationwide this Friday, but then this morning I heard on a local radio station that there was going to be a limited release and that Austin was one of those lucky cities to get the film. If that's true, does that mean it will only play at the Dobie where it was screened last night? Let me know!!
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I have a feeling that, even though I haven't seen the movie yet, I'm going to find myself agreeing with Easterling. Hype seems to be begetting hype lately....
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Although I have yet to see the movie, it is obvious from this talkback and the Usenetthat there are plenty of people who think they're being oh so cool by slagging the picture. Well, that's fine. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But, in the future when THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT is looked back on as the beginning of a whole new wave of independent cinema (and, this *will* happen), I hope that these same people don't go blathering on about how great the movie was.
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god smiled on me last night, as i was the last one let into dobie for the preview. i gotta admit, even knowing background information on bwp, i was still biting my finger and debating taking my glasses off near the end of the film. it's been a long time a suspense film has been so, well, suspenseful. i'm convinced there was no need for reps to hand out free stuff, as the word of mouth is gonna take this baby far.
i'm never camping again.
-sikan -
that may be the best way to describe BWP. It's creepy, it's unsettling, it gets into the back of your skull. I can't wait to see the final version of it.
(And JMS, honestly, for the love of God, if you think it can be done better, stop talking about it and get a camcorder and do it! it obviously doesn't cost much money to get a movie going and if yours turns out so much better, surely you'd be able to get the buzz going and get a studio deal.)
(and whoever it was who said something about sub-par acting, bull fucking shit, some people just can't seem to accept people onscreen who act like REAL people rather than horror movie cliches. The actors were great) -
ALL THE OVER HYPE, SHIT, I SAW THOSE BUMBLING IDIOTS ON DIANE SAWYER YESTERDAY. LOOK PEOPLE, I'M SORRY BUT IT REALLY STINKS! I WOULD RATHER WATCH NIGHTMARE ON ELM ST 2-7 100 TIMES EACH BEFORE WATCHING BLAIR WITCH AGAIN. ANY KEVIN WILLIAMSON MOVIE HE WILL EVER MAKE IS BETTER THAN THIS. I STILL KNOW IS BETTER THAN THIS, SHIT, BRANDY CAN ACT BETTER THAN THE BLAIR WITCH RETARDS. ALRIGHT, I'LL QUIT TALKING ALL THIS CRAP AND JUST SPEAK GENUINELY....YOU ARE ALL VERY HYPED RIGHT NOW, YOU THINK YOU'RE GONNA WATCH THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER MADE, YOU THINK YOU ARE GONNA BE SCARED SHITLESS, AND THEN YOU WATCH VERY BAD UNSCRIPTED DIALOGE ABOUT "WHO LOST THE MAP" FOR 75 MINUTES. THESE MEN ARE NOT FILMMAKERS, AND ANY 5 YEAR OLD CHILD CAN MAKE THIS THIS MOVIE WITH THEIR PXL 2000 VIDEO CAMERA. THE FILMMAKERS DON'T CARE, THEY KNOW THEIR VIDEO SUCKS, THEY CARE ABOUT THE MILLIONS THEY'RE GONNA MAKE OUT OF ALL THESE FOOLED PEOPLE. COME MONDAY, "MARK MY WORDS" PEOPLE WILL WANNA KILL THEM! PS, DON'T COMPLAIN ABOUT MY CAPPIES! I HATE YOU STUPID GEEKS THAT RAG ABOUT MY CAPPIES, BE A MAN AND JUST CALL ME AN ASSHOLE!
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YOU'RE AN ASSHOLE
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Is what I have to say. I've gone from being excited (and intrigued) by the concept of the movie, to just hoping it don't suck too bad. Seriously, some friends of mine (who were really excited to see this film) caught the premiere last night and were bitterly dissapointed. To all those people defending this film cause it's made on the cheap, indie or however important it's going to be... if this film doesn't absolutely rock my world, it'll be just another over hyped piece of shit. Period. Say all you want that a movie can't live up to it's hype. It's just too bad. It's the fault of all the "foaming at the mouth" fans who have made some pretty bold statements, "this is the best, or scariest horror film, it's the most original idea in years," yada yada yada. Personally, I thank that jms powers dude for offering another opinion on this film and having the balls to admit he didn't like it. There's been a lot of "groundbreaking" films I thought were crappy. If you like them, fine, if they change your life, fine, just don't expect everyone to agree with you, and don't get all pissy when someone says different.
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Jul 14, 1999 9:16:20 AM CDT
Even the ARTISAN flunkie, TALL MAN, says "ENOUGH ALREADY!".
by the tall man
Don't get me wrong, I still really want to see this movie, however, after all the endless net hype, fan debate and now the SCI-FI channel's CURSE OF THE BLAIRWITCH special, damn people - BRING ON THE MOVIE ALREADY! Personally I think ARTISAN has totally screwed up on this 20 screen release. Not in the distributor's history of existence have they had a film THIS hyped and exposed and they're dumping it at the peak of it's notoriety on only 20 screens. I just saw BLACK MASK, a film they put out on I believe over 1000 screens and it made only 14 million or so - CAUSE IT SUCKED! BWP would have made 14M it's first weekend alone had they gone wide. Too many people are not going to "get it" and kill much of the buzz from the lame 20 screen deal. Frankly, I'm even sick of all the hype and bullshit. I still think this is going to be a fun, unique little movie but shit, let's get it over with already. It's hard to keep the excitement up for A YEAR! ARTISAN's acquisition and campaign for BWP will either be their greatest victory and/or worst fumble. We'll hope it's only the former. LONG LIVE THE NEW FLESH...yadda yadda yadda.
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A movie such as this is bound to be disappointing in this day and age where the media distorts everything and the hype gets out of hand. I was at the same screening in NYC last night as the reviewer above, and the crowd reaction afterwards was very positive. It's not a jump-out-of-your-seat screamer, so don't expect that. Instead, it's a creepy, tense, unnerving low-budget film with fine, natural performances, a good dose of humor, and an effective play on our fears of the unknown, our fears of what's out there in the dark. Why people get so angry at the filmmakers is beyond me--they've created a wonderful and effective thriller here. If it didn't live up to the hype, blame the media and the publicity machines, but these guys have done a great job. I doubt "The Haunting" will have an ounce of the genuine raw terror experienced here, for about 1/1000th the cost.
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What a group. To the "Oh, god, I can hardly wait" crowd - get a grip. Just cuz someone else liked it doesn't mean it'll be as good for you, especially considering the subjective nature of fear. To the "I saw it and it wasn't worth shit" bozo's - likewise, get a grip. Those of you who have their teeny lil panties all knotted because it didn't match their fevered expectations, well, life's tough, ain't it? Those of you who didn't care for the film technique, well, whatdyaknow? It's low-budget experimental film. Go back to your mindless gore and stupid self-referential jokes. Those who were bored, well, you didn't buy into the movie (maybe your fault, maybe the filmmakers) so you got what you paid for - nothing. To the, "Ohmigawd! It was REAL!" feebs - no, it's not. It's just a movie. No animals or actors were harmed in making this film.
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This is the worst case of a overhyped movie that I have ever seen. I think the marketing people need to get their own Oscar. I give them all the credit in the world. "The Curse of the Blair Witch" and the trailers were scarier than the actual movie. Hell, even the website was scarier. The movie was all build up with no pay off. If I were Artisan, I would of sent the three kids back out into the woods with a handful of beef jerky and a real plan and told them not to come back until the movie was REALLY finished.
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If you get the slightest bit of motion sickness when watching home movies, DO NOT see Blair Witch.
I had to leave halfway through and go directly to bed. If you absolutely have to see it, though, and even if you don't get motion sickness, I would strongly advise sitting in the back rows. -
Whether this movie "sucks" or not, I do not know, but it's nice to see that it has provoked such a passionate response in people.
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I too saw this movie at the Angelica last night, I was at the midnight showing also and its funny cause that guy with the sign "looking 4 a miracle" sat right in front of me!! He looked like that comedian that was in that movie "Half-baked" the guy who always slept on the couch! Well anyway I thought the film was very good but not scary. I think this film opens a new genre and it really is the very first "creepy" film. Although the movie had only a very few scary parts (the crying baby, the little kids talking)the ending sticks in your head. That last image with Mike standing in the corner(if you've seen it you know what I'm talking about)as heather comes downstairs is vary very scary. Yes this movie is overhyped but without it then most people would not see this movie.
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A poster above wanted to know where TBWP was going to be shown in Austin. I've heard it opens at the Arbor and Dobie. From there on I have no idea.
I respect the opinions of the people that didn't like the movie. There have been some films that most loved and I just sat there looking around going, "What's the big deal?" So, I've been there. But to say that the filmmakers were stupid morons who did something a five year old could have done... well, when you put it like that you sound like you're saying you could have done a better job. Well, obviously you didn't, or else you would be the ones getting torn apart in talkback right now. Feel free to voice your opinions like everyone else, just know that when you start ranting about the talentless hacks that get all the jobs or all the attention, you just end up sounding jealous.
-Q -
I saw TBWP at Sundance and I was disappointed because I never was really scared and it overall kind of gave me a headache. The tent scene was good and I thought the ending was terrific, it reminded me of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. But overall I thought it was repetitive and I couldn't wait to get to the ending. I know of no one who has seen it that hasn't known in advance that it was a fake, and I wonder if I would have really been creeped out had I not known this key fact. Has anyone on earth seen it and not known about the way it was really made? I'd like to know. By the way, Phantom Menace gave me a headache too and I walked out of Wild Wild West. I hope Iron Giant doesn't suck.
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1. No, it's not real 2. Although not a classic of modern horror, it is a fantastically creepy movie and by far one of the top 3 "expiramental" films of all time 3.Although it only opens on 20 screens this friday, on July 30th it is released WIDE. 4. BE PREPARED FOR THE FLOOD OF UTTER RIPOFFS!! I've already gone out and bought all the great movies I've seen but don't own, so that when the pieces of utter trash that big studios are going to hurl at us(I personally have already copyrihted "The Hexagonal U.F.O. Project :P ), I'll be able to seek refuge
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I am that "Looking 4 A miracle" guy mentioned in someone else's review, so I figure I would share my story. This took place opening night in NYC at the Angelica, the Sandy that I mention is a friend of mine.
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Okay, so Sandy called the Angelica Tues afternoon and they said the 11:45, 12:00 and 12:15 showings were all sold out. But he said let's just go by anyway and we'll see what happens.
At 10:00 I was in the area and dropped by. The line went all away down the block! The people in the front of the line were sitting in tents! They had been there since the morning. Not only were they definitely sold out, they had been sold out for a week!
I knew I would prevail. I went into the lobby where they were interviewing and shooting the directors infront of fake Blair Witch evidence. I found a publicist or someone like that and said, "There's no way in hell I am getting in tonight, right?" And after some conversation he suggested he might have tixs for empty unclaimed seats and that if he sees me on line he maybe could give him one.
I left, picked up the Village Voice (Blair in the cover story, with 3 additional ones on the film as well), went home, drew a "Looking 4 A Miracle" sign, with the creepy cross shape on it, and went to the bar to meet Sandy. I told him we had a snowballs chance in hell, but that I always wanted to be a snowball.
He said forget it, he would just go home.
The party began to break up and I somehow convinced Sandy to give it a shot. His friend Jon was coming as well. We got in a taxi and made it to the theater at 11:25.
The plan was for Jon to get on line, for Sandy to double check that tixs were sold out, and for me to case the line with my sign, then all meet back on line. I held the sign high and walked both 12:00 and 12:15 lines. Most people got it and laughed, others had to ask. One or two rude folks. No tixs.
Back on line I told Sandy and Jon to wait there just in case, on the 12:15 line, and I would do what I could do.
12:30, a couple appproaching told me this was my lucky day. He sold me one 12:00 tix for cover price. I gave the tix to sandy and jon and told them to wait on the 12:00 line. I had less than a half hour to work my magic.
In front of the main doors lots of folks like me were trying to get tixs, but I kept wandering back and forth with my sign, talking it up with folks, looking for the newcomers at the ends of the lines who might not have been approached yet. No luck.
I run into the publicist again. He says, hold on, stay there, let me see. He motions some people away then says, Listen, I only have one tix, I said I am with two people but that would certainly help, and thank him and now I have a second tix. I go back to the line and give Sandy and Jon the second tix.
11:50. Things aren't looking good. We start talking but don't want to talk about what to do if we have 2 tixs and 3 people. I do some more casing. A guy calls me over. If his friend doesn't come the tix is mine. Just wait there. I pose for lots of photos. The friend is not coming.
11:55. The friend comes. I go back with Sandy and Jon, hoping one of them will graciously leave. The line starts to move. Sandy says let's wing it. The first tix point is the staircase outside the angelica, before you go into the lobby. Please hold your own tix, they say, and they look like they are looking. Sandy and I look at each other and then walk past the ushers, both holding the same tix. It seems to have worked and then we are in the lobby.
We are in. Phew! First hurdle overcome. The long line snakes from us, through the lobby, to the two ticket ripers above the escalators (once you get on the escalator, you can't come back into the lobby). I say I have a plan. You two go ahead of me, say that the guy behind you has the tixs while I hold them up, then as soon as you're past casually but quickly get the hell out of there and get on the escalator. I will wait with the two tixs, buy you time, and if they notice I am one short I will say one of you must still have it on them and try to go after you to get it, and in all the rush they'll probably forget. And just in case I had some tip money in my hand.
As we approach the rippers, sandy and jon stood behind me. Get going, I said, and pushed them forward. Sandy went through but Jon got scared, and bent over to explain that I had the tickets for all of us and waited to make sure the guy got it. Doh! I handed the two tickets to the ripper, watching his eyes. He ripped the two and handed them back, not flinching, and we got on the escalator, telling Sandy we were clear.
Hurdle two overcome.
Hurdle three. They were checking every single ticket at the theater door, one person per ticket, and making sure it was the right tix time. Sandy, go to the bathroom. We'll get you.
Jon and I entered the theater and, even through we were in the last in line, I snagged three seats in the back together and then sent jon out with the two stubs to retrieve Sandy.
When they both got back, I took a stub, got us popcorn and soda, and return to watch a fucking awesome movie!
end of story
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Quint. I try to read all of the talkbacks, but who specifically were you referring to that said , "filmmakers were stupid morons who did something a five year old could have done..."? Also, I read your comments about watching the audience. Several (at least 10) of my friends were in the audience last night, and they really, really wanted to enjoy this film. It might have been one of my friends (he claims he made a comment similiar to the "you never get to see the monster" bit you mentioned earlier) you were talking about. Now I didn't feel the need before, but I'll say so now. Just because someone didn't like the movie, or thought the movie failed to deliver does NOT mean that they "just don't get it". Also, nothing pisses me off more then a person who uses the argument, "if you think it sucked, could you do better?" If I take a shit on a piece of paper and call it art, would I expect people to honor it just because they hadn't thought of it (or claimed to be an artist) before? I'm sorry, but whether or not you are a film maker, if you feel cheated by a movie, you have every right to call it a piece of shit. An artist (of any kind) has to take criticism. And yeah it hurts, and it sucks, but if you can't take it, then do art as a hobby, showing it only to your friends. Otherwise, prepare to eat the shit sandwich that is the general public. And stop putting down people that call a spade a spade. I don't like Showgirls, I think it's a terrible movie, a piece of shit even. Does that make me look jealous?
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Can someone tell me where in DC BWP is playing. The web site says it will be at Wisconsin Ave but a friend (well friend is a strong word) insists it'll be playing in DuPont. Moviefone has no info.
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Jul 14, 1999 2:18:21 PM CDT
For the people who have seen this movie, and tell us "virgins" n
by w. leach
For the last time: SHUT THE FUCK UP!! You didn't like the movie? Fine!! That's your opinion. Don't try to tell us NOT to see it. You call us "sheep." Funny, you've seen it. You seemed to follow the flock, eh? I guess that would make you sheep too. You say you can make a better movie? Fine. Go out and do it. But until then, SHUT UP. Go take your NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREETS, your HALLOWEENS, your FRIDAY THE 13ths, your SCREAMS, your I KNOW WHAT YOU DIDS...and SHOVE 'EM!! You saw the movie. Nobody told you it sucked beforehand, did they? You were brainwashed by the ads and teasers, weren't you? That makes you as much of a sheep as the rest of us who haven't seen it.
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That second review was so dead on I almost feel a kinship to the critic! You have no idea what kind of anticipation I held for Blair Witch. I talked about the film for months, told all my friends all the glowing reviews and then today, it was showtime. I got tickets for the afternoon show with my friend and here's my quick review.
Blair Witch is a good film, but yes, sadly, it is FAR from great. The worst thing is, damn...it just isn't scary! To its credit, the idea is novel and these filmmakers should be applauded for such an original concept. The ending is mind-blowing and the best part of the film. But other then that we get a lot of daytime hysteria and only a few "tense" filled moments at night. This film needed a tighter noose around its chill factor and it just didn't cut it. All in all, I DO reccommend this film for you to see. You will end up catching a pretty good flick but believe me, you will say "Fuck, what was the big deal???". This sucks because I am a horror nut and was hoping this would be the film to bring it all home....it didn't. -
Saw "Curse of the Blair Witch" on Sci-Fi Channel Sunday Nite, and damn if I didn't fall for it hook, line and sinker. I'm so disappointed you all fucked it up for me before I saw it, but I'm going anyway.
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The thing I've noticed about people bashing movies with alot of hype is that it's not what they liked. That's fine, but it doesn't make the move bad. For Example Star Wars, I've heard that the most is wrong because it wasn't done a certain way. Well guess what, it's not your movie, it's Gearge Lucas' movie. That Movie fits in with the mythology. Now that Star Wars is out the people will now turn on The Blair Witch Project. Most people will problely like it, but there is always a few who will bash it to be cool. They will complain how people are sheep, how crummy the film was made, and much better it would have been if they had done it. I can't wait to see the movie, it look like it will be good. If I don't like it then i don't, but i will go into the movie with an open mind unlike some people. You do have the right not to like, but you don't have the right to bash people who are waintg to see it and have seen it and liked it. So in other words grow up you can't have everything the way you want it.
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Not really a BAD movie. But I just don't think it holds up against something like the original Evil Dead film...
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The irony is almost too much to bear.
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I was psyched to see this today and was bored (and a bit car sick). There was just nothing there. The folks leaving the theater were using words like "sucks". It was a good description.
The worst part is I'm on some mailing lists that talked about this being the scariest movie some folks ever saw -- they slept with the lights on for two days. Well, good luck sitting through things like the original Psycho or Trilogy of Terror.
Sorry! -
I'd like to say at the beginning that my post (while not explicitly
spoilerish) is meant for people that've seen the film. The two people I know who'd seen it set me up nicely for last night's NY screenings (hello fellow audience members)--one thought it was effective, the other didn't, which wiped my personal slate of preconceptions clean. (I should say that I decided to post in relation to "creepy films" but after reading all of the above might comment on other things).
This hard-to-pin-down feeling of "creepiness" and being "unsettled" is something I've only experienced a few times: A few things I find reminiscent are "Rosemary's Baby", the best Lynch-directed episodes of "Twin Peaks", and the strongest parts of "Nightmare On Elm Street"; all of these have, over time and poor choices of sequels/subsequent episodes, gained a kind of camp value that tends to undercut their power if you view them today. (The same thing may well happen to
BWP in time.) I just found it powerful, in part, because it hits so many different fears (often at once)--of the dark, of being lost, of being watched, of the woods and old houses and ghosts and potentially inaccurate compasses and maps, of places where the normal rules of space and time have disintegrated. At the same time I realized, in thinking about it afterwards, that it works is that (almost) everything in the film CAN be rationalized--that if you wanted it to "make sense" in a non-supernatural way, it could. What makes it disturbing is that either way, one is left with doubts and uncertainties. If you choose to follow the mythology (as intensely creative, in its own way, as George Lucas'; but i do wish that Artisan/Sci-Fi had waited til, say, August 1 to air that special) and connect it to the movie, what d'you get? Less: The closer you get at a truth, the farther away you feel. Much as I felt after, say, the second episode (the one with the "dwarf-dream-sequence") of Twin Peaks, efforts to connect all the dots and clues to come to no satisfying solution. I should say that I thought the film was viscerally very effective (i was in the 2nd row and didn't mind), but what lingers (and doesn't for me with, say, "Scream"--though i enjoyed it a lot) is its psychological effectiveness. I've written enough. But it's a testament, for me, to the film's quality that it's so worth discussing. This is a cynical downtown NY audience (it always is at the Angelica), but I've never walked out of a movie theater in which so many members of the audience were still in their seats after the end-credits, some talking, some still looking at the screen, trying to process it, looking vaguely in shock. The cliche/phrase "It creeped me out" has never seemed so ideal. -
SPOILER SPOILER MAJOR SPOILER!!!!...okay, i have shitty bootleg copy of Blair Witch, and some things you cant make out, so i have question for the people who saw it in the theatre..was mike hanging at the end?..looked like he was standing there to me...also, for the people who saw it..what are your interpretations as to what the noises, and the murderer was/were. thanks
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Hey soup....I thought he was hanging at the end too...at first, but then we though about it some more and decided that it had something to do with all the kids that Rustin Parr guy killed...he took two kids down to the basement and made one face the wall while he killed the other one (I'm not sure if I got this bit of info from the movie or "the Curse" on Sci-fi), but anyway...it looked to us as if Mike was standing in the corner, facing the wall, while someone/thing killed Heather....perhaps I'm thinking too hard about this...but I do agree the movie is more creepy than horrifying,which I was expecting...but I really enjoyed it nonetheless.
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it is good to see a film can get a major release that doesn't have any "stars". Try getting a film even made without a "star".
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thanks Remydid, yeah..i had that theory also (i didnt see the Sci-fi special, but i read about how Rustin Parr made the one kid stand in the corner, and he never recovered on the BW web page)..but what does that mean..the ghost of rustin Parr was the one in the woods after them?..i know the blair witch supposedly made him kill the kids..but whats up with the standing in the corner part, the witch didnt make him do that to the kid, so what would mike be standing in the corner?..am i just reading in too deep to this??/ other thoughts very welcome here!
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I saw BWP Wed afternoon.I've read some postings and the people who want to rip into this film so badly is due to the fact of all the advanced hype it's gotten.I hate over-hyped bullshit too, and I knew more about this film than I wanted to going into it, but I must say that for a while after leaving the film I felt a little unsettled.I had to think over a few scenes to actually make sense of what I had seen and in one scene I can think of, I was genuinely scared.One moment of terror or a demented image is worth the cost of admission to me, so I feel it more than satisfied.At least the filmmakers weren't trying to be tongue-in-cheek or sarcastic to try to prove how intelligent they are.To me that is not a horror film, like these pieces of re-hashed crap like Scream after the Drew B. scene and I Know what You Did..., among others.Real terror is like the Exorcist and Texas Chainsaw.At least these guys attempted to make an honest horror film.Don't blame the film for your heightened expectations.Take it for what it is on its own merits or faults.
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Okay I went to a screening last night in San Diego and the line that snaked down the stairs into the streets and down the sewers was the most amazing line I have seen, We are not talking about the T.P.M lines but we are talking about a energy, not hype but excitement of people from all genders, all ages, gays, straights, a few drag queens, all in line for one reason to be scared. I was born when the Exorcist came out, so I missed the lines back than....The Fire Marshalls came, Hundreds and Hundreds of people were turned away....Me and my six friends were lucky, and it was my third viewing...guess what..I loved it and was chilled to the bone upon the 3rd time watching Heather screaming..... The audience went nuts, gasps in all the right places...Listen not everyone is going to like it, Not everyone liked Titanic but look at the success and the hype behind that...
This is not the Summer of Sam...
It is the Summer of the Blair BITCH!!!! LOOK OUT, she's gonna be making some money honeys.....!!!!!! Jason Jizzum saying "Peace and Give me Mindy Cohen's fat ass on my face anyday!!"
Just kidding... -
OmarSnake... I was the one who said the acting was sub-par, and I believe it was. You said that they acted like REAL PEOPLE, and they did... they acted like REAL PEOPLe ACTING. They reminded me (truthfully) of actors in high school productions. Just the way they said their lines (or, rather, for the most part, screamed them) sounded as if they were reading off of cue cards (even though supposedly a lot of it was improvised). And basically all they did was YELL... yelling over and over (just like hitting one key over and over on a piano) does not a good performance make.
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I am soooo fucking sick of the crap surrounding this movie. That includes the raving reviews but more specifically the assholes who tell people not to see it and then give you a hundred reasons why THEY think it sucked, as if that in itself is enough reason for somebody else to not see it. Sorry to bust your bubble guys, but I can bet not one person decides to avoid this movie based solely on what somebody wrote in Talk Back. Personally, I dont even give half a shit about what the real critics say, as I like to judge for myself. As for whoever it was that called people "sheep", if you only realized how stupid you are for that shit. YOU obviously bought into the hype for at least the amount of time it took for you to get a ticket and stand in line, or even to sit and watch a bootleg of it. I don't know why its so damn hard for somebody who didn't like Blair Witch to just say they didnt like it or even why they didn't like it without totally shitting on everybody who happened to enjoy it. Why the fuck do you care if somebody liked it? Dont get me wrong, I think everybody ought to have their 2 cents here, but this is ridiculous. I think all this negative shit is from people who expected a hell of a lot and were let down because it wasnt as good as they wanted it to be. Smells like sour grapes.
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Look. I don't believe in overhyped bullshit either. I don't go to every new movie because I see commercials and previews for it ad nauseum. I tend to stay away from "event" movies. I rarely watch any of the current "horror" movies. BLAIR WITCH looks like an interesting movie to me. I'm not expecting it to be the scariest movie I've ever seen. I'm not expecting it to have Olivier-style acting. I'm not going to go into the theater thinking this will be the greatest movie ever made. I've tried to ignore most of the hype (except on this site of course), and want to go into the film with a fresh and open mind. If it sucks, it sucks. I'm not going to pretend it's a great movie even if I didn't like it. If THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT doesn't meet my expectations, I'll be the first one to admit it. But what I WON'T do is come here and insult people who have seen it and liked it OR insult people who haven't seen it yet, calling them "sheep," and telling them to save their eight bucks, yadda yadda yadda.
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Well, everyone has their own opinion, but hand on the bible, dude, i think you're stunningly wrong. They're yelling? Well, they're scared shitless. What should they do? I'd put their acting up against any actors in any horror movie in memory. Sorry you didn't dig it, but it's very interesting to see characters who act like real people and don't turn into horror movie super-survivors a la Neve Campbell/Jamie Lee/Ash. And the early scenes, before they venture into the woods, they are remarkably convincing, as if you were watching the real home movies of someone you didn't know. I just don't see any sub-par acting. You want subpar, check almost any other horror movie in the past few years.
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LOOK PECKERS, I'M NOT TELLING PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN IT "NOT" TO SEE IT, I'M JUST EXPRESSING MY VALUED OPINION JUST LIKE YOU HAVE AN OPINION. TO ME THIS VIDEO (I'LL NEVER CALL IT A FILM CUZ IT ISN'T) SUCKED! I NOW HAVE RETINA DAMAGE, I NOW HAVE TO TAKE MOTION SICKNESS PILLS. THE CAMERA WASN'T JUST A BIT SHAKY, IT LOOKED LIKE THEY GRABBED THE FUCKING THING A SWUNG IT LIKE A BAT THE WHOLE TIME. AND AS FAR AS THE STORY....IT BLEW, BIG TIME. I'VE BEEN MORE SCARED WATCHING THE SIMPSON'S HALLOWEEN SPECIALS. THE PEOPLE THAT ARE SAYING LINES SUCH AS: "I'LL NEVER CAMP AGAIN", OR " I SLEPT WITH THE LIGHTS ON", HAHAHA, THEY DEFINITELY WORK FOR ARTISAN AND THEY'RE JUST TRYING TO STIR MORE HYPE. I DON'T THINK A GENUINE PERSON WAS ACTUALLY SCARED BY THIS MOVIE. AND AS FAR AS ME PAYING, SHIT, I WOULD HAVE DEMANDED MY MONEY BACK AND PROBABLY BEAT SOME ASS. THANK GOODNESS THE FILMMAKERS EXCUSE ME VIDEOGRAPHERS THEMSELVES GAVE ME TIX IN PASADENA, CA. THEY ALSO GAVE ME A REAL "COOL" BLAIR WITCH T-SHIRT WHICH I RIPPED TO SHREDS LIKE HULK HOGAN AND THREW IT IN THEIR FACES AFTER I WALKED OUT OF THAT PIECE OF SHIT. THIS IS THE ONLY SUGGESTION I WILL MAKE....FOR THOSE THAT WANT TO SEE IT, GET A BOOTLEG COPY AND WATCH IT AT HOME FOR FREE. DON'T PUT MONEY INTO ARTISAN OR THE POCKETS OF THOSE ASSHOLE VIDEO MAKERS. IF YOU WATCH THIS SHIT IN A THEATRE, YOU WILL BE PISSED WHEN YOU LEAVE. GUARANTEED. IT'S FUNNY HOW A MONTH AGO EVERY REVIEW WAS SO POSITIVE (THEY ALL WORKED FOR ARTISAN) AND NOW THAT REAL PEOPLE HAVE SEEN IT WE GET THE REAL REVIEWS, MOST NEGATIVE. I TOLD YOU SO SHEEP!
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You are entitled to your opinion, but their is no reason to yell it. You call people who like or want to see this movie "sheep", well you are proof positive that monkeys can use a computer.
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*******major spoiler************
For those of you who saw the film but didnt understand the ending, here it is:
Well, at the end they were both killed by the Blair witch, although Mike (after he dropped the camera) seemed to die first it was actually Heather that was killed first (after Josh). Josh was never in the house. It was the witch pretending to sound like Josh the same way it sound like a crying baby and children playing in an earlier scene. If you recall earlier scenes when they were talking about how the 7 children died they said that Rustin Parr killled and disemboweled one child while making another stand in the corner facing the wall(that was Rustin Parr's house if you're wondering and those were the children's bloody handprints throughout the house) When Mike went downstairs something "hit" him making him drop his camera. That same thing forced him into the corner until heather came downstairs. When she saw Mike standing in the corner facing the wall that same thing hit her and killed her and apparently (we never see it) disemboweled her the same way the children were while Mike stood in the corner awaiting his turn. -
This story has been done before. Anyone remember the UPN special a few years ago about a family that disappear during Thankgiving and a video camera left behind makes us think that it was aliens that aducted them. Of course it was done with actors even the show wanted you to think it was real. However, it does resemble Blair at sometimes specially when the last family member talks to the camera before being aducted himself by a fake looking alien luking in the shadows. Take Blair off it's pestal it's been done before.
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I've been mildly obsessive the last few days regarding this film. I haven't seen it yet. I saw the Curse of the Blair Witch and it actually had me going there for a minute. I'm the sort who likes to believe in the possibility when it comes to stuff like the supernatural, but I'm also sceptically open-minded, and have the curiosity of a dead cat. So I've been seeking the truth about the film, and more importantly I've been gauging people's reactions. And when it comes to people's reactions, predominantly what I'm seeing with this low-budget, critically-acclaimed, creepy, inspired film is very much the same crap I've seen a lot in the last several years when it comes to movies. First, there's the knee-jerk reaction to a great movie. The first wave of people who experience it. They loved the movie and aren't afraid to say it. They tell their friends and those that make a living in the media who see it tell their audiences. The money-backers behind the movie ride the wave of the growing popularity in hopes of expanding on that popularity. This is where what we call "hype" lives, and one of two things happen. The hype is either bigger than the movie itself, or it goes in a direction other than what is ideal for the film. Now, the first wave of people who get to see this movie, be it in special prescreenings or during studio tests or just from a favor from a friend of a friend, they experience the movie with zero hype. They simply have the merits of the film itself to go on. However, a lot happens between the first wave of viewers and the point where the film actually premieres. No film lives up to its hype. Phantom Menace could never have lived up to its hype. It was a good movie, but if I had been thinking about the hype when I saw it I would have been disappointed.
Before you walk into that theater to see TBW or any movie, you have to shake off the hype before the film starts. You have to divorce yourself from that and give the movie its chance. If you can't do that, why do you come to places on the Web like Ain't It Cool News?
There is no such thing as a spoiler. If you come to a place like AICN and read about a movie you haven't seen yet, you're only spoiling it for yourself if you read past the point you need to read to know whether or not you want to go see it.
I know how TBW ends now, thanks to a previous Talk Back comment, and I STILL don't believe the film is ruined for me. When I sit down with my popcorn and my coke, I will let the film absorb me. I will approach it on its terms.
I will also however, know from educating myself ahead of time what to expect. I will not be frightened out of my wits. I will not be bored to death. The movie will creep me out. That's what it was meant to do and that's no doubt what it will accomplish.
For goodness sake, most of you have spent your whole lives going to movies. I'd think by now you'd know how best to appreciate them.
Don't believe the hype. Don't let someone else overrate the film for you before you get a chance to appreciate it.
You rate the film AFTER you see it. If you rate your enjoyment of the film before or during the experience itself, you're peaking too soon, and that's like shooting your wad before you can get in bed with your mate. Sorry to be so graphic but there's not a better way to put it.
You watch the film, and you let it simmer in your head. From what I can see, people who didn't enjoy this film prematurely rated it. This is the kind of film that will subtly affect the way you think.
I read one guy say immediately after seeing TBW, he grabbed his girlfriend and they ran out into the woods to make out. Had he not seen TBW would he have thought about doing that? Sounds like a rebellious reaction to a fear trigger to me, but then that's just dimestore psychology. I've also seen at least a half dozen reports saying after seeing the film they'd NEVER go camping again. In all these cases, the film incited a reaction. That IS what films are supposed to illicit, is it not? A new way to think. A new perspective of thought and perhaps a new direction to take. Perhaps being inundated with films, one becomes jaded. To a person who believes a movie can't be great without the latest special effects and a car chase every fifteen minutes, TBW will bore you. To someone like me who is starving for a new direction in cinema, this might be the breath of fresh air so many have been looking for. At least it's a daring step in that direction. -
I don
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PLEASE DONT READ THIS POST IF YOU HAVENT SEEN THE MOVIE1 LOTS OF SPOILERS. Could anyone outthere explain what they saw in the last 30 seconds of the blairwitch project.Was Mike hanging in the corner, were he and heather clubed over the head with something, were those little childrens handprints all over the walls, was anything written on the old houses walls? It all happened so quickly I wasn't sure exactly what iI was seeing.
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There are very few movies in recent memory which had full one hour specials broadcast on a major cable network days before they premiere. I mean it has been done before, but I would qualify that as one example of hype over and above the usual routine. As for the ending, if the last minute or so went by so fast and you had trouble catching all of it, sounds to me like you need to see it again. =)
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Literally after months of anticipation it is here. So here we go! Dateline..Az:
Have you ever been to camp and heard all of the noises outside of your tent or cabin? Maybe it was your counselor and maybe it was not? Do you still have lingering doubts? Remember how your ears picked up the snap of each twig as it broke and how every sound that echoed through the forest made you cower under the covers while you begged God for your life? Ahh! To be a human being at night, alone and in the woods A hideous slave to your own imagination and desperate for an answer to what you cannot see. The ugliest monsters live in our minds and call our imaginations their home. I happen to know that this is true from personal experience. You see Dracula lived under my bed throughout my childhood and sometimes...if the lights are all off... I can still feel him licking his fangs and waiting patiently to take
that inevitable first bite while whispering in my ear, "Remember me? I've been here all along...just waiting for you to turn the lights out." This is at the heart of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. The soul of the film is in it's ability to scare the goosebumps off of our bodies by never truly revealing what it is that we are so certain is out there! Fear is never a random thing and in the case of these 3 college students, who have decided to make a documentary about an old legend deep in the Maryland woods, it has chosen it's victims deliberately and with a severe
cunning. Liz, my girlfriend,went to see it with me and she echoed what many have been
asking.,"Is this a true story?" And I suppose that the answer is, "No...not really." Monsters lay deep in our hearts and dwell within the broad limits of society. We read about them everyday in the news but the truth is, in film, they have always lurked right under the waters of the ocean (JAWS), under our bedsheets (Freddie Kruger) and behind the "reality" of a human face (PSYCHO). It lays right there at the threshold of our imagination, capturing us and holding our abilty to swim or to shower hostage for eons. So we believe what we have experienced and we've learned to lock our doors for fear that the monsters might come a knockin' at our own house someday. Most definately we want these suckers kept at bay.
Not so with these 3 students. They have left their door completely unhinged and ventured forth into the woods of Maryland like soldiers going off to do battle (for their craft) through their
dedication to film. (Mirroring what the directors went through to make the movie. Bravo!)
You have to give them more than their due..they want to make a film and they are willing to sacrifice for it. (Noticeably the director and the only woman involved in this) In the beginning there is absolute control and slowly, as they begin to battle the forces of nature, their own hunger and fears...their journey into the confines of the woods turns into a Wes Craven interpetation of the 1972 film DELIVERENCE. As they fall deeper and deeper into the web of the woods..and the witch; images of the WIZARD OF OZ spilled forth on this viewer as evening drew
near each time for our students. Days slowly progress into night and the longer thatour crew is out in the Black Hills of Maryland we notice that the trees begin to stand taller, straighter and thicker. Marching together in a frozen formation that reminds one of thin wooden soldiers being placed on guard duty so as to
prevent these young filmakers from exiting their hellish prison. As dusk beds down over the forest floor the branches and twigs mingle fiercely together and they form a kind of natural barbed wire. Yes..these 3 idealists are caught like mice in one big maze and somewhat like
prisoners in a concentration camp who they are slowly having their wits squeezed out of them. At the mercy of good ol' Mother Nature they are experiencing the yellow brick road to hell with
the wicked witch punchin' their tickets like clockwork. As they are
being led thru this horror...the audience is compelled to join in by attempting to discern what is real & want is not. (But then again thats the thing about the unknown isn't it? You never know REALLY know when it's going to leap up & bite you in the ass.) Without flinching, the woods have become stoically alive and without moving a muscle they are in control of this chess game. It is a web of cunning deceit that borders on Bergman's THE SEVENTH SEAL when the Knight and his followers found that they could not not cheat the ultimate bad guy in life. But then again these present day pawns have ventured into someone elses territory and left their own behind. Here they are trespassing into what Rod Serling so effictively designated as THE TWILIGHT ZONE. That line between fantasy and reality. The ultimate grey area and like the defintion of the word prison alludes to inWebster's...these 3 have been found guilty, judged and are now awaiting their sentence. The ending of this film will haunt your worst nightmares, lingering well into the night as you repeat to yourself over and over "I'll never go camping in the woods again! EVER!" sounding a lot like The Cowardly Lion's mantra in THE WIZARD OF OZ.."I PROMISE TO BE GOOD" And you'll lie awake and say to yourself.."I wish that someone had brought a cell phone with them."
Blair Witch=4 wolves a surfin'
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ok... ill admit it, I'm the moron who didnt know whether it was real or not... Im a little less shaky now that i know the truth. But ill tell you what, all you pretentious know it all bastards, not knowing made it a lot of fun! I sure as hell dont intend to tell my friends that it was "just a movie" until a couple days AFTER they see it (hehehehh). Oh and you folks who are clownin the acting... maybe you and all your super intellectual friends dont do this, but us sheep tend to blame other people when we get stressed and dont know exactly what to do... The actors did an excellent job of portraying the dynamic of three young (college) kids lost in the woods... im mean id probably be throwin a fit if I couldnt get to my job cuz somone got me lost...
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So there's the Sci Fi special, some spots on MTV news, and the occasional teaser trailers on cable networks, and a few newspaper & magazine articles. This is what's available to the general public, and, at that, only the general public who have cable in their homes and read the entertainment section of their daily papers. The real hype is all on the internet. blairwitch.com, last I heard, recieved 11 million hits to date. And this news came just the day after the sci fi special aired. There are countless pages of reviews and interviews. Take a look on ebay; there's easily 100 BWP items up for bid. There are fan sites, online fan clubs, message boards... you name it. So while the hype may not be immediately apparent; just do a search for "blair witch" on altavista and see what happens. ;)
Still haven't seen it, BTW. It supposedly was opening in NJ, but not until the 30th, from what the kind lady at Ritz 12 in Voorhees told me. Guess I'll have to go to Philly this weekend and hope it's not sold out :)
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Not sure if this will reach enough people to be worthwhile, but here goes.
If you are in the New York City area and still haven't seen Blair Witch, DO NOT GO TO THE ANGELIKA THEATRE.
They are way overbooking the theatre and angry patrons have been interrupting the movie looking for/demanding seats.
It ruins the movie, which relies entirely on an uninterrupted mood.
I hope this heads up helps. If I had known how bad it was I would have eaten the $11 fee for my reserved ticket and waited until it was shown at a decent theatre.
Pinback -
There is no other way to say it...I'm so SICK of hearing about how grweat as film is because what the indie film makers went through to make it. What you dont think sudio films face the same challanges....99.99999 percent of the inde films made SUCK donkey and the films that are realeased a good 80 percent of them still suck....This film will be rembered as the biggest oveehyped pice of shit of the decade and in a year youre going to look back and say "what was i thinking that made me like this pice of shit so much THIS MOVIE IS GOING TO SUCK DEAL WITH IT GEGT$EGERGRGWERTRWE#A IT WILL FUCKING SUCKvvjhdiogd
20th Century Fox -
Were you the guy I saw at Starbuck's this evening with your mouth directly UNDER the cafe mocha dispenser? Chill out, dude. I mean geeze! OKAY OKAY! You didn't like it. I caught that the first time! Chill! Blair is an aquired taste, like fine wine or foreign cuisine. Just because you have no appreciation for it, that does not lessen its quality for other people. I bet you think of caviar as just gross fish eggs. Yes caviar IS gross fish eggs, but it's also caviar. See what I'm sayin'? You don't have a taste for Blair. I do. So please respect others opinions. I thank you ahead of time.
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"So some people don't like the movie, how the fuck does that matter to you?"
And some people really enjoy the movie. Why do you have to insult them and use foul language? I'm not losing my temper or resorting to SouthPark mentality communication in attempts to get my thoughts across. You're the one calling me a dickweed: not the other way around.
Why can't you stand on facts and well thought out opinions to get your point across? I think it's painfully obvious at this point that you just like to hear yourself spew and are not interested in sharing your movie experience here. You're just spouting venom, and I for one think you're pretty laughable.
You call me elitist? That's so laughable. You have no idea who I am. You're more than welcome to enjoy the movie, "20th". It's your choice and your loss that you don't "get it." No one is stopping you from appreciating the film. You CHOOSE to hate it. I choose to love it.
Guess who's having more fun?
Talk to the hand, funnyboy. -
Got you mixed up with "20th Century Fox" there. The two of you communicate so much alike I thought you were the same guy there for a minute. I'm really surprised you didn't enjoy Blair Witch more. The kids sure were speaking your language all the way through it. fuck this and fuck that. I mean you'd think it would be right up your alley. =)
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The Sci-fi special cover on the movie called "Curse of the Blair Witch" made it seem that it was a true story. Imagine my dissapointment when I found out it was fake! The Sci-fi network should have implied it was just a movie to avoid people's dissapointment when finding out it was fake. I haven't seen it yet but dispite my let down I'll still see it. Despite all the evidence that it was fake, my older obviously stupid 17 year old brother still believes it is a true story. Oh well!
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I went into this movie only knowing what the two directors said about it on Later the other night, which was--don't listen to too much about the movie before seeing it. Of course, that was after they were introduced as the directors of TBWP.
Yes, I'll admit it, I've been living under a rock and I don't care who knows it.
I had no idea what to expect and I'm glad that I didn't, but I don't think I would have liked it any less had I known more.
If I had known any more, this is the only thing I would have changed...Dramamine half hour before the show. Good God was I sick. I haven't been that sick since my mom put me in the backseat of the family station wagon on a trip to Colorado. I actually had to have someone else drive home. I had to take a nap afterward. A friend that came with us had to sleep it off this afternoon, too. This was after she said that there was no way a horror movie could possibly scare her in the middle of the afternoon. She is now planning to sleep over at my house tonight because the woods of Austin start right behind her bedroom window.
Of course, there are people who will not be scared at this movie, duh. There are also people who hear a sound out in the garage and then a voice and immediately go to investigate. These are the people who become the horror stories of the future, the fearless ones who get it in the end. There is not necessarily a relation between the two, merely a coincidence. -
i'd like to mention that for all the people who are freaking out that there is going to be a sequel: wise up. the sequel will be absolutely genius, as already displayed by the fact that joe berlinger is directing it, who is the co-director of docs "brothers keeper" and "paradise lost", and if you havent seen those films, keep your mouth shut about the sequel until you do, and then realize what you will be in for.
whether you like the blair witch project or not, you cannot deny how smart all those involved are, that this many people have seen it or talk about it is all the proof you need, and why shouldn't that continue with the sequel...
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