LifestyleMK's film critic and writer Tremayne Miller gives her insights on "Blair Witch"
Blair Witch
From the director of ‘You’re Next’ & ‘The Guest’
Adam Wingard
Rating: 15 Run Time: 89 minutes
Cast
• James Allen McCune as James Donahue
• Valorie Curry as Talia
• Callie Hernandez as Lisa
• Brandon Scott as Peter
• Wes Robinson as Lane
• Corbin Reid as Ashley
Blair Witch formerly sold under the false name of “The Woods” is directed by Adam Wingard and written by Simon Barrett. It is a direct sequel to 1999 film The Blair Witch Project, which follows a group of college students as they bravely head into the Black Hills Forest, in Maryland in order to uncover the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Heather, James’s sister.
Many believe there to be a connection to the legend of The Blair Witch.
Blair Witch – the sequel is presented in a similar vein to Paranormal Activity of 2007, an American Independent presented in the style of “found footage.”
The search party are at first hopeful, particularly when locals offer up their services, and guide them through the deepest, darkest part of the forest but as the nights wear thin the group is visited by an intimidating presence, and it isn’t long before it becomes a menacing reality.
During the filming of blair witch - the sequel, actors were provided with clues as to what their next location would be via messages in milk crates found by using Global Positioning Satellite systems. Individual instructions were then given to each of them, which they would use by way of helping them improvise actions throughout the course of the day.
The Blair Witch Project of 1999, relays the fictionalised story of three student filmmakers (Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard) who disappear whilst on a hike in the Black Hills, intending to shoot a documentary on the local legend of The Blair Witch.
Viewers are then informed that the three were never to be heard of or seen again, despite video footage and sound equipment having been unearthed at the scene, this "recovered footage” is, in fact, the film the viewer is watching.
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 was released on October 27, 2000, and another film was planned for the following year, however, it did not materialise.
The backstory for the film, a “faux legend,” was made up by filmmakers Sánchez and Myrick, and it detailed The Curse of the Blair Witch in mocumentary form, which was then broadcast on the SciFi Channel in 1999 prior to the film’s release.
The mocumentary was to lead people into believing that the legend was true, least it did me and I recall a group of my friends teasing me about it at the Sixth Form college I was attending at the time in Derby, in Derbyshire!
Myrick and Sanchez were to develop the idea of paranormal activity after having seen lots of documentaries on the subject, which they found to be a lot scarier than average horror movies.
“Found footage” is scarcely tackled by modern horror these days, which is baffling when you consider the lengths technology has grown in recent years.
However, Hollywood’s interest in “found footage” has waned, at the same time that Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension is about to be released.
It is thought that it will be the final installment in this genre of “flagship franchise.”
A positive - “found footage” has never really fit into the Hollywood format, and was never meant to go mainstream. It will undoubtedly, however, always thrive within the realm of budding and broke filmmakers.
We, after all, live in a society where everyone who has an iPhone can gain access to a high definition camera.
But what’s now missing is “the blurring between fiction and reality,” as had been first promoted thanks to the aide of the Blair Witch mocumentary.
There’s something evil hiding in the woods… the Blair Witch. In cinemas on September 16.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=girSv9UH_V8 (trailer)
*On July 22, 2016, an official trailer for the Blair Witch – the sequel was screened at the San Diego Comic-Con.
The film is released on September 16, 2016.
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