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Massively hyped before its release, this high-concept, low-budget, mega-grossing indie horror film achieved instant cult status with its improvised performances, handheld cameras, and a savvy Internet marketing campaign that boosted the film's suspense quotient to the stratosphere. It's also one of the scariest movies of the '90s. The story chronicles the misadventures of three film students who get lost in the woods of Maryland while shooting a documentary about a legendary local witch. Cocky and full of Gen-X attitude when they start out, the trio quickly lose their cool as they are terrorized by the strange sounds and enigmatic offerings of an unseen predator. While The Blair Witch Project taps deftly into ancient fears about the evil that lurks in dark forests, it is also very much of the moment -- a cautionary tale about overzealous snoops with movie cameras. Kryssa Schemmerling

All Movie Guide

Combining Hi-8 video with black-and-white 16 mm film, this film presents a raw look at what can happen when college students forego common sense and enter the world of voodoo and witchcraft. Presented as a straightforward documentary, the film opens with a title card explaining that in 1994, three students went into the Maryland back woods to do a film project on the Blair Witch incidents. These kids were never seen again, and the film you are about to see is from their recovered equipment, found in the woods a year later. The entire movie documents their adventures leading up to their final minutes. The Blair Witch incident, as we initially learn from the local town elders, is an old legend about a group of witches who tortured and killed several children many years ago. Everyone in town knows the story and they're all sketchy on the details. Out in the woods and away from their parked car (and civilization), what starts as a school exercise turns into a nightmare when the three kids lose their map. Forced to spend extra days finding their way out, the kids then start to hear horrific sounds outside their tents in the pitch-black middle of night. They also find strange artifacts from (what can only be) the Blair Witch, still living in the woods. Frightened, they desperately try to find their way out of the woods, with no luck. Slowly these students start to unravel, knowing they have no way of getting out, no food, and it's getting cold. Each night they are confronted with shrieking and sounds so haunting that they are convinced someone is following them, and they quickly begin to fear for their lives. The film premiered in the midnight movie section at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. Chris Gore

Product Details

• UPC: 012236112662
• Source: LIONS GATE
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Pan & Scan
• Sound: Dolby Digital Surround
• Language: English
• Time: 1:27:00
• Sales Rank: 7,292

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