I'm scared to close my eyes. I'm scared to open them. - Heather Donahue

My Experience:
After weeks of researching on the net, looking for articles, pictures and anything else I could find, and getting my own site set up, I was finally going to see the The Blair Witch Project. The limited screening had already been open for eleven (11) days at the Inwood Theater in Dallas and I hadn't been yet? What the hell is wrong with me? I took an extended break from work to get to the theater and stand in line assuring me a ticket for the 5:55 showing. The box office opened at 3:30 and when I pulled up at 3:25, there was already a line of at least 50 people. I overheard two guys, apparently roommates, discussing whether or not they should use their bill money to buy tickets. The verdict: 'Screw the bills!' Okay, I got my ticket, now back to work. After finally getting off work and rushing home to change clothes (who wants to wear Dockers to watch TBWP?), I was off to the theater. By the time I got there, there was a line of at least 200 people waiting to get in. In addition, there was a line of people waiting to buy tickets for future screenings. (The Inwood has five screenings a day of TBWP and every one of them has the same mob-type scene.) After taking my place at the end of the line, which by this time was somewhere near Egypt, we started moving and actually, pretty quickly I must admit. I guess everyone was anxious to get inside. Was it in anticipation of the movie or the 100 degree Dallas heat? Probably some of both. How about some Coke or popcorn? Forget it! Of the 200 people in line in front of me outside, 100 of them were in line at the concession. I didn't want anything anyways!  I decided on a seat in the back of the theater so I could have a wide view of the screen.  I ended up sitting between two people I didn't know but it didn't matter. We were all drawn there for the same reason:  the calling urge to see TBWP and to experience the terror firsthand. The atmosphere in the entire theater was one of anticipation. You could hear whispers throughout the crowd 'I wish it would hurry up and start'.

Finally the movie started.

After the final scene was over and the credits started rolling everyone sat there for a few seconds unsure of what to do. Milling through the crowd on the way out I heard many comments: 'That was so freaky!' 'I can't believe it ended like that!' and someone thinking along my lines 'I want to see it again!' Exiting the theater doors revealed a line stretching back, back, back, waiting to get in for the next screening. I'm ready to go back and see it again!

My Review:
TBWP is a great film and was scary but it didn't scare me as much as I thought it would.  I guess I was expecting a keep-me-awake-at-night type scare but that's not to say it might not affect some people that way. The film starts off while they are getting ready for their trip, going to pick up Mike and do some grocery shopping for the trip. From there they head to Burkittsville where Heather proceeds to interview locals about the Blair Witch and the surrounding legend. On to the woods! They park the car and head into the dense forest. During the next hour of the film we wander though the forest with Heather, Mike and Josh, hearing things at night, finding strange things out in the woods, getting lost, running low on food.  The final few minutes of the film are heart stopping. I could barely breath, totally enthralled by the movie. I couldn't imagine experiencing what I was seeing on the screen. I'm not one to be easily scared, especially of a movie, but the final scene is embedded in my brain. It gives me chills to think about it!!! There was one aspect of the film I really enjoyed that I hadn't read anything about in any of the articles I'd seen: the movie was funny. No, it's not a comedy by any means. At the top of the horror movie classics is rightfully where this masterpiece resides. Regardless, there are many times in the film, primarily in the first half, that there are humorous situations and comments made by our three new friends.

There are two primary reasons why TBWP works as well as it does.  First, it puts you inside the film. The entire movie is composed of images caught by Heather's HiFi camcorder and the 16mm camera brought for filming the documentary. How much more homemade and realistic can you get? You end up caring about the characters, laughing and joking with them as they get ready for their great filming expedition. You get pulled into the movie. You get to feel as though they are your friends and you're a character in the movie. It's shot entirely in first-person format putting you behind the camera. By the time they reach the woods and begin the journey, you're already deeply involved and believing in what you see. When they run through the woods, you feel each step as the image shakes. You are there next to them when the first day of shooting goes smoothly up until the chilling final scene caught by Heather's camera.  The second reason why this film has such an effect is that it preys on one of mankind's most primal fear: the unknown. What is it out there? What's making that noise? What's going to happen? The uncertainty of not knowing what's in the dark is enough to frighten anyone. Add in the factors of being hungry, hearing strange noises in the night, finding strange things in the woods and being lost in a forest claimed to be haunted by the Blair Witch. Chills!

As the movie progresses from the time they enter the woods, the tension and suspense keeps building and building. Every new scene draws you deeper into their situation. What are they going to do? How are they going to get out of the woods? What's going to happen next? Ed and Dan, the writers, directors and editors of TBWP have more than successfully shown the most important element in a truly great horror movie filled with suspense and surprise isn't ghosts, a guy in a hockey mask, mass mutilations or anything you can see in your local slaughter house. It's the audience's own emotions and fears that can be used against themselves to give them the cinema shock of their lives.

Overview:
This is not only one great horror movie, it is a great movie period. It is a totally new twist to film making. It is a supurb piece of work and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves horror movies and a great scare. BUT BEWARE! This is not your average scream flick. The Blair Witch Project is truly a piece of terror cut directly from the heart of primal fear itself.

D.Mills 7/28/99

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