In the thick black forests of the Black Hills in Maryland, it is what you don't see that can kill you.
Heather Donahue as herself in THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
Heather: "We will look back on all this and laugh heartily. Believe me."
Michael: "We are making a film about a witch, not about us getting lost."
Josh: "What's your take on the Blair Witch at this point? Do you think she exists?"
Heather (smiling): "I don't know. I don't know."
The first line uttered at the beginning of "The Blair Witch Project" is "It is a little blurry." This is Joshua Leonard's line as he focuses the video camera and zooms out on the instigator of this whole messy enterprise through the woods, Heather Donahue. That line can also apply to the experience of watching "The Blair Witch Project," one of the most original, creative and truly horrific horror films since "The Exorcist." It is the first horror film in quite some time that also manages to blur the lines between reality and fiction in crudely imaginative ways. Its fertile grounds actually share more of a kinship with the landscapes of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "The Hills Have Eyes," both films that begin and end as nightmarish trips through Dante's Infernal Circles of Hell. Those films left the horror to the imagination and there was some blood and gore, though minimal compared to the slasher flicks of today. The difference is that "Blair Witch Project" has more in common with the horror films of the 30's and 40's in its entirely implicit nature. Basically, there is no gore or blood at all (save for one revealingly graphic moment), no visible monsters or witches, no special-effects or digital manipulation of images. Instead, we are told this story from the point-of-view of the filmmakers and their experiences of finding the Blair Witch. We get noises, shrieks, screams, altercations, and sheer desperation from the characters, aiming to find their way home from the desolate woods where an inescapable evil exists.
"The Blair Witch Project" begins with Heather Donahue addressing the camera as she gets ready to go on a two-day trip through the Black Hills Forest outside of the town of Burkittsville, Maryland. Joshua Leonard is at her side with the video camera and a CP-16mm black-and-white film camera, and we get a view of Heather's domicile. They already begin shooting as they leave the house, and the film quickly establishes their points-of-view - we are seeing this story as told through the eyes of the protagonists. This is after all existing footage found of the filmmakers after they had disappeared in the woods. Later, they pick up the jocose Michael Williams, the sound recordist, who thanks Heather for the opportunity before saying goodbye to his mother. "Can we see your mom?" asks Heather as she records on her HI-8 camera. They leave hastily.
The trio begin their day by interviewing the locals in the town of Burkittsville about the Blair Witch. One 20-year-old talks about how his parents used the Blair Witch as a scare tactic against being rowdy in the household. One woman with an irate baby daughter speaks of the Blair Witch while the daughter tries to shut her up, and mentions that she saw a documentary special on the Discovery channel. They find an older resident at a grocery store who speaks of the town's famous 1940's case where a man named Rustin Parr killed several kids in the neighborhood and claimed that the Blair Witch made him do it. Then there is a lunatic woman named Mary Brown (very witch-like in appearance) who claims to have seen the witch at Tappy Creek and remembers how the "black hair on her arms and chest" looked like animal fur, but is unable to come up with any other adjective besides "strange." Afterwards, they visit the town cemetery where many kids were buried, and Heather ominously explains, "There are an unusually high number of children laid to rest here. Most of whom passed in the 1940's yet nobody seems to recall anything unusual at this time, to us anyway. Yet legend tells a different story, which is all around us. Etched in stone."
After a brief hiatus at a hotel room where they drink scotch and test equipment, the trio begin as they drive to the Black Hills Forest area. Already, the film involves us with some humor to offset the horror to come. As Joshua drives his car, he admits he does not know how to operate the 16mm camera ("It's measured in meters and feet." Heather: "But isn't this an American camera?" Josh: "I've only used it once.") They arrive at the site as Heather tries to carry her heavy backpack (Mike: "I would help you but I would rather record with the camera.") They begin their trek through the woods, leaving Josh's car in an abandoned road. So far, so good. "Wow!" says Josh as he anticipates the long hike ahead. They begin hiking, crossing streams and walking on logs. The first night, they set up their tents and camp. Joshua relays how he feels like the "Captain" of the ship from Gilligan's Island. Mike corrects him as he says, "It is the skipper you illiterate TV people." This is by far the only self-reflective pop culture moment in the entire film.
The next day, the desperation begins to settle in slowly. Joshua claims he did hear some noise during the night, a kind of cackling. Heather mentions that she slept like a rock, and Michael says he heard nothing and if he did, he would have "shit in his pants." The day begins complete with some off-trail hiking. Heather has the trusty map and the compass, and basically leads the group (Her preparation rests on a couple of hiking books and a text of witch lore seen at the beginning of the film). Mike and Joshua begin to have doubts as they find themselves practically hiking through brushes and twigs and vines.
Heather (noticing Joshua looking at the map): "It is not necessary to look at the map now. Since I know where we are going. We are going straight through here."
Mike: "If you knew where we were going, we wouldn't be hiking out here-"
Josh: "We're in the middle of the f**in' woods."
Heather: "Some of it...some of it is off-trail hiking."
Joshua: "We are here (pointing to the map). So we should be more or less going this way" (motioning his hand upwards).
Mike (referring to the map): "This looks like Greek to me. It is completely useless."
The three continue on their journey, and it begins to rain. Heather tries to convince them that it will take "two, three hours max" to arrive at their destination. Mike concludes that she made that statement two or three hours earlier. They find an offering of rocks and twigs in a nest settled between two branches. Heather looks at her watch (approximately 4:52pm) and suggests setting up camp since it is getting dark. Everyone is tired and exhausted. That night, noises and shrieks are heard again, and they become louder. Mike gets scared and denies hearing anything, though he records it on DAT tape. Heather asks Joshua to record her investigation on 16mm film. She steps out of the tent looking and yelling, "Hello?" More screams are heard and there is a definite rustling of branches and someone or something stomping on the ground, but we never see anything.
The next morning, piles of rock formations are found outside their tent - three of them surrounding the area. Heather: "How could we have set up camp between these rocks just by coincidence?" Heather films everything, and the others suggest going back home. Joshua: "We are obviously not wanted here. So let's go. Heather! Stop recording!" They pack up, and then Heather realizes that she lost the map. She accuses Joshua of taking it and he records her on video in a canted angle. He argues that all she wants to do is stick around and film rocks. Mike asks with bemusement: "Did you really lose the map?" Heather tries to be confident when she adds that it is hard to get lost in America nowadays. They begin walking south, but Josh and Mike do not speak to Heather. Finally, after crossing another stream and getting their feet wet, Mike jokingly admits that he threw the map in a creek. Heather and Joshua start pushing him and yelling. "You betrayed us all," shouts Heather. This trip has come to an end and has spurred all kinds of mixed feelings within the group.
Another night of camping is suggested by Heather despite the rumblings from the others. That night, more noises and shrieks are heard as the trio hides inside the tent. It could be cackling from children, and a baby is heard (possibly the witch's manifestation of such sounds). This culminates in someone or something trying to reach or punch through the tent causing it to shake. Heather and the others escape from the tent and she yells: "What the f*** is that? Oh, my God!" They continue running from the tent, though Heather's shoelaces are untied. They stay up all night, and they never see anything nor do we. In the early morning hours, they discover ominous tree branch formations in the form of a creature with its arms spread out - the twig men. They film everything they see...and slime is found on Josh's belongings. "Josh! Come here! Quick!" cries Heather as she films all the branch-like offerings and symbols, and the others yell at her to continue on hiking south. They wearily continue their trek until they find they are back at the same stream they crossed the previous day. Heather cries, and the others angrily shout "HELP US!" Joshua teaches Heather a lesson in her obsessive filming methods after filming her in close-up and badgering her with the line: "I am out in the middle of the woods. What's my motivation?" Mike calms down everyone. Heather bites and tugs Mike who tries to take the camera away from her. There are the requisite apologies. They decide to sleep in the same tent and calm each other down.
The next day, Joshua is missing and they try to locate him but he is nowhere to be found.
Mike: "Maybe he is at the pond."
Heather: No, if he was there, he would've heard me."
After some futile searching, Mike and Heather continue their journey back home. "Where was the Wicked Witch from? East or West"? asks Mike. Heather replies that she was indeed from the west and Mike decides that the best way back is east rather than west.
That night more sounds are heard...and they do hear Joshua screaming. It is indecipherable but perhaps he is yelling, "Heather! Heather! Help!" (Again, possibly another manifestation of the witch mimicking Josh's voice). They can't find him anywhere in the pitch-black darkness that surrounds them. The next day, she awakens to find Mike is still around, soundly sleeping in the tent. Heather finds an offering of twigs and branches tied together outside the tent. She places them aside and eventually untangles them revealing severed body parts (some say it is actually his teeth or it might be his tongue or a bloody fingernail! Who knows). She screams and the camera turns away. Heather seems to be suffering a mental breakdown, and gets some consolation from Mike. They set up camp again, and Mike asks Heather what she used to do on weekends. "I used to go hiking, but I think those days are over" says the smiling Heather, desperately trying to regain her composure. They continue to travel through the woods and find an abandoned shack where screams are heard, including Josh's. They continue walking through the decrepit shack finding scribblings and children's hand prints on the walls. More screams are heard as they go upstairs and downstairs through the shack, looking and searching. Mike's video camera is knocked over as it falls and focuses on a slimy substance. Where is Mike? The sobbing Heather continues to move through the shack with her 16mm camera...and finally reveals Mike standing on the corner facing the wall. The camera pans quickly and falls...and is left rattling until it runs out of film. Cut to BLACK.
REVIEW OF THE FILM (Written in 1999)
I first heard about "The Blair Witch Project" back in late 1997 on the show "Split Screen," hosted by guru of independent film, John Pierson. The program showed excerpts from the film, and some outtakes not shown in the final product. Producers from Haxan Films talked about the film and how the footage was found by an anthropology class at Montgomery College in Maryland. The footage is the film we see of the disappearance of three filmmakers who went out into the woods looking for the coveted, enigmatic legend of the Blair Witch. Naturally, the producers spoke about the film as if it really happened. The footage they showed seemed real enough to convince anyone (including "fake" footage of a news channel commenting on their disappearance). Of course, I looked everywhere for some knowledge or facts about the investigation and/or the case and found nothing. I don't believe in witches or goblins or any supernatural beings but it is plausible that three people could have disappeared in the woods without a trace. No records were found anywhere in the Internet or in any news files, but what Haxan did brilliantly was to stir up interest in the film itself. Mr. Pierson may or may not have known at the time if the film was a hoax, but he did pose the question and I have been riveted by the footage and the story ever since.
Then I heard that the film was screened at the Sundance Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival and I saw the clever websites, which were receiving as much as 2 million hits a day. I've seen the film twice, once at the Angelika Film Center in New York and at a theatre in New Jersey. What are my feelings now that I've seen one of the most anticipated films of the year? Very positive. "The Blair Witch Project" is one of the best horror films in many howling moons. What is particularly effective about "The Blair Witch Project" is how realistic and authentic the whole film is. It really seems like actual footage found of three people who were to anxious to discover a spooky legend. The fact that most of it is shot on Hi-8 video and on 16mm black-and-white film adds enormously to the authenticity - we believe these people are in jeopardy and thus we become enraptured by their experiences. Video is real enough (operating at 30 frames per second) to make anyone believe that whatever transpires behind the camera is really happening. It is a medium omnipresent on television, from shows like COPS to The Real E.R to most "reality" programming. Video is as close an approximation of reality as we are likely to get from any other medium.
What is doubly remarkable about "Blair Witch Project" is not only that the story is involving but that we see how the victims, the protagonists of the story, are affected by the unseen evil every step of the way. There isn't a single scene that is not shared by any of the three principal characters. Most horror and slasher films since "Halloween" (1978) centered on the killer and seeing everything from the killer's point-of-view. Michael Myers became a hero for many gore fans, and thus sprang Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger and so on. It became a phenomenon that the reason that the targeted audience (mostly teenagers) went to see these films was to see the latest mutilations and creatively bloody executions of the victims, who remained characterless ciphers; for example, the stereotypical naked girls who have sex will die whereas virgins will survive a killer's wrath. There are some exceptions such as "Scream" and its sequels, which did not aim for the same psycho perspective and its characters were at least given some depth. But "Blair Witch" never shows us a witch or anything evil in any physical form. This story is about its victims, pure and simple - the ones trying to survive in the labyrinth they were placed in. And we do care about Heather, Mike and Josh enough to hope they make it out of their surroundings alive. They argue, they are naive, they are unprepared, they fight senselessly, but if we did not care about them or their plight, the horror would never materialize or truly scare or titillate us. That is the cardinal rule of all horror films - to empathize, to identify. Another rule is that the situation or environment has to be credible or plausible to some degree. Many of us may have found ourselves in similar situations as Heather, Josh and Mike have, particularly those of us who've hiked through the woods and been lost or almost lost.
The performances by the three lead actors are so good that it is impossible to believe that the events are not really happening. Heather Donahue is the controlling leading figure of the film - she guides the group through the woods and gives a brief background of the history of the Blair Witch ("The story is unsettling enough.") She is also too insistent on recording every bit of information she can get a handle on, and at the most inopportune moments. Her obsessive character is very much like Winona Ryder's character Lelaina in "Reality Bites" and Henry Jaglom's directorial alter-ego in "Someone to Love." She changes from controlling and spiteful to shaken and deeply scared by the end of the film Interesting that she switches roles with Mike in terms of leadership). Her final confession to the camera where she apologizes to her parents and to the parents of Josh and Mike is unsettling, emotionally powerful and as humanistic as any horror film ever gets. It is destined to become one of the most memorable and indelible images of human terror ever to be seen in the annals of horror.
CLOSE-UP of teary-eyed Heather as she peers into the video camera: "I am so...so sorry for everything that's happened. In spite of what Mike says, it is my fault because it is my project. Everything had to be my way. I said we had to go south...and this is where we ended up. It is all because of me that we are hungry, cold...and hunted. (She looks up as she hears noises again) What is that? I am...so scared."
Josh Leonard is the long-haired hippie type whose primary intent at the onset is to have a good time. He does not take anything seriously, until he realizes they are lost and without food or cigarettes. His fear settles in on the third day of their journey when he realizes he will miss work and will be unable to return the camera equipment on time. When Mike complains and cries out for help, Josh can be seen marching past him ready to cry. Everyone suffers a mental breakdown at some point, and he often wanders off by himself and cries trying to regain some composure.
Mike Williams is the merry prankster, the court jester of the group, who in the end turns out to have the most faith in Heather - they are left to their own wits to get out alive. Mike is skeptical and always in fear and causes the group to lose the path back home when he throws the "useless" map in a creek. In the end, though, he is the most sensible character and grows closer to Heather - she puts her arm around him at one point hoping for relief from the endless terror.
Contrary to popular belief, "The Blair Witch Project" is not meant to be professionally edited or filmed, and it isn't. If it was polished or if there were smooth transitions, the reality of the horror would not have been so unshakable or disturbing. Remember what the opening titles read: "In 1994, three Montgomery film students went out into the Black Hills woods near Burkittsville, Maryland. A year later, their footage was found." This immediately sets up everything that transpires on screen and it sets forth our identification with the protagonists - we believe every event as it happens to them. Adding to that identification is the fact that the three actors use their own names as the names of the characters. The lines of reality and fiction really start to blur.
Another complaint about the film is that the hand-held camerawork is often too shaky and disorganized. The same can be said of the Rodney King video - when events are captured in real time and with spontaneity, it is likely to be very shaky particularly on video. Having said that, the hand-held camerawork did not cause me to have motion sickness but it seems to have caused major audience walk-outs.
With no instrumental music score, special-effects or gimmicks of any kind, "The Blair Witch Project" is as good a horror film as we are likely to see for sometime. It leaves the horror to the imagination, and the tense, nail-biting finale will give you goose bumps for days. Ominous, disturbing, thought-provoking and often scary in retrospect, this film will not exactly entice anyone to go hiking any time soon.
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