This weekend sees the release of surprise sequel Blair Witch, a high(er) tech follow-up to 1999's The Blair Witch Project. You might recall the GOTCHA moment on social media when Adam Wingard's The Woods was revealed at Comic Con to be a surprise sequel to an unwitting audience, but the original was somewhat of a surprise in its unveiling as well. Launching at Sundance to an audience unclear of its authenticity (later revealed to be fictional), the building buzz of its shocks created a box office hype machine so large that it could only leave some viewers feeling dooped.
Still today, the film can inspire fierce debate among genre fans and cinephiles over whether or not the film is indeed scary...
Do the protagonist reflect our own hubris or are they just obnoxious, entitled idiots? Does the shoddy filming enhance the snuff film vibe or is the thing just too damn ugly to watch? Does it hold back too much or let your imagination go to its darkest reaches? Is The Blair Witch Project scary or not?
Here are some reflections from Team Experience:
The Blair Witch Project came shortly after I was embracing horror, and was maybe one of my first scary films in the theatre. I saw it right when the buzz was high with hyperbole, and once it was revealed to be fake, I was fully on board. I remember being all but breathless in the final scene, that final shot still being one of the most chilling of the genre. When the film cut to black, my packed theatre unanimously booed. - Chris Feil
The film was too small to play in my home country, so my very first time was at home on VHS. I sat there completely horrified, and even knowing I had the power to stop it and find something happier to do, I was compelled to keep watching (was this perhaps why the characters in the film set out to find the Witch in the first place?) and as if the piss-in-my-pants feeling I was left with wasn't enough, I spent endless hours afterwards reading about witchcraft. I had nightmares for a whole month. - Jose Solis
I still don't remember how it happened because The Boyfriend and I are not into horror films but we went on opening night in a giant theater in Manhattan. (Must have been the Sundance hype?) The theater's air conditioning was the most insane I've before or since experienced -- we were shivering before the movie even started. By the end of the movie -- which I still remember vividly and I only saw it once -- it wasn't the air conditioner making us shiver. We were both terrified and I still think it's one of the great movie endings. - Nathaniel R
I'd ever experienced My first time with the Blair Witch was on VHS. I had heard about it, of course. Who hadn’t? But my friends were seriously horror-phobic so I skipped the cinema. Ultimately, I think that helped and it’s why I never understood the backlash. Watching the events unfold alone in the dark at home with all of the scratchy tracking a Blockbuster rental could provide is surely the most appropriate way to watch this film. It was exceptionally scary then and it remains just as scary today. That ending in particular. How do they top that? We’ll soon see, I guess. - Glenn Dunks
Consider Team Experience's vote as affirmative for the scary side. Tell us where you stand on The Blair Witch Project in the comments! Is the film scary or not?