BLAIR WITCH

US, 2016, 89 minutes, Colour.
James Allen Mc Cune, Callie Hernandez, Corbin Reid, Brendan Scott, Wes Robinson, Valorie Curry.
Directed by Adam Lingard.

It was 17 years ago, in 1999, that a small budget horror film made more of a mark than it ever anticipated, not only with its eerie tale of an ill-fated search in some dark Maryland woods but with its technique of handheld camera, (jerkiness personified) and the device of found footage. It led to a sequel but the influence of the film extended to many imitations in homages, sometimes an epidemic of found footage!

So, why revisiting of the theme 17 years later? It is too easy to say that the production company wanted to make money, not that they don’t, but this film seems to be one of those labours of love by young filmmakers who admire such films as The Blair Witch Project and who want to do their own version, enjoy creating a variation on the story, are proud of their cinematic techniques, and the desire to give their audiences some good scares.

In many ways these filmmakers succeed here – and their contemporaries, or whom the original film might be a touch of ancient history, will share the enthusiasm of the director and writer and the zest of the cast (not always a likeable lot, not always too easy to identify with) and enjoy Blair Witch on its own modern terms.A guess is that older audiences (and older reviewers) will have a feeling, especially in the first two thirds of the film that they have been there, done that!

The device for this film is that some footage has been found (of course) of the original expedition, and has come into the hands of James, the younger brother of Heather from the original. He feels he ought to conduct a search though police and other agencies have found no trace of the mysterious house in the woods. His girlfriend, Lisa, is interested in making a documentary and is persuaded to go into the woods on the search, along with James’s old friends, Peter and Ashley.They go to visit the young people who found the footage who insist that they come along on the search.

They have a range of cameras, cards, GPS, drone cameras…

A lot of the time is spent in the woods, preternaturally dark for so much of the time, trees and mysterious paths, travelling in circles, mysterious symbols appearing in the trees, loud and cracking noises, wounds to the foot, and plenty of scares in the woods. Of course, it has to be said, that any audience susceptible to these dramatic devices will be scared, agitated, affected by the situations.

Some of the older, more tried critics, then had to admit that once James and Lisa had found the house in the woods (in the dark) and gone inside this rambling and ruined mystery building, it really did become very eerie and at one stage, Lisa catapulted into a vault, trying to squeeze through claustrophobic tunnels, something the critics would dread having to do, it did become really scary.

No real explanations at the end – and probably filmmakers at the ready if they and audiences have the urge to take the narrative further.

1. The impact of the film? Horror? Terror? In comparison with the original, content, found footage, mystery? Handheld camera work? The woods, the dark, the presences? The musical score?

2. The sequel to the original? This film 17 years later? So many other films influenced by the style and content? The original revisited?

3. Situation, 2016, characters, the footage of James’s sister, the decision to go on search?

4. Audience response to the characters, the men and the women, identifying with them or not? Sympathetic? Unsympathetic?

5. Situation, the initial footage being discovered, James and his bond with his sister, his age when she disappeared, his interest in her project, his own project, working with Lisa, her documentary? Friendship with Peter and Ashley?

6. The range of cameras, improvements over the years, GPS, the drone camera, reverse cameras? Seeing them in action? The effect?

7. The visit to Lane and Talia, their personalities, their information, to one wanting to join the group?

8. The woods, the trees, the paths, the search, no house, the drone and the aerial surveys? The dark, fears, the symbols in the trees, Lane and Talia the reaction? Their being ousted? Ashley and the wound to her foot, treatment, infection, the worms? Peter, going off alone, his search? Talia and Lane returning, being ousted, the further symbols? Waking up at two in the afternoon?

9. The final night, Ashley, her foot wound, her leg, rushing away, seeing the drone in the tree, climbing, reaching out, her long fall, being dragged away?

10. James and Lisa, their search, finding the house?

11. The house, the details of the interiors, dark? The lights from the cameras? The apparition of the Blair Witch, appearance, movement? James upstairs, in the corner? Lisa, coming
inside, her fall, the claustrophobic climb through the hole, with James? Their fate?

12. The ending, the terror, no explanations? The latter part of the film and its effectiveness in horror?