One of the most divisive, influential, and profitable independent films of the 1990s, The Blair Witch Project not only popularized the found-footage technique, but revolutionized the way a film is advertised online. The picture, which I consider perhaps the scariest ever made, tells the story of a trio of students who vanish in a dense and purportedly haunted Maryland forest while filming a documentary on a local legend. This belated direct sequel, simply titled Blair Witch, adheres to a similar trajectory: the brother of the first film's heroine joins with a few friends and two locals to travel into the same forest to investigate the still-unsolved disappearance. It cannot hold a candle to the original, but Blair Witch, directed by Adam Wingard (You're Next, The Guest), is a decent enough genre exercise with a handful of highly potent jolts. Its most inventive and spine-tingling moments involve the fluidity of geography and time in the witch's woods; at one point, for instance, the characters realize it is 7am, but the sun has not risen. There is also a moment of almost nauseating claustrophobia involving escape via a dilapidated, flooded underground tunnel. Wingard's sequel falls short of its predecessor, however, in regard to character development and pacing: the ensemble of camper-victims is expanded and rather interchangeable, and they register more clearly as actors (photogenic and otherwise of moderate ability), diminishing the verisimilitude. The film also moves too rapidly from the initial hints of menace to full-stop nightmare extravaganza, not exploiting the fear and frustration of becoming lost and doubting oneself and one's companions (a strong suit of The Blair Witch Project, a perfect example of slowly mounting dread and paranoia). And people can and will hotly debate Wingard's decision to plainly show the title character; the design is credible—creepy and evocative of the finale of [REC]—but the Blair Witch, previously an aura of insanity, despair, and blood-curdling fantasy rather than a corporeal antagonist, becomes less otherworldly and sinister when rendered so tangible.

B

I thought the film would do more with the drone. Maybe...I don't know, a shot of the trees violently swaying in the distance while the main characters are placid and unaware in another part of the frame. So much attention is put on the drone, but it never does anything but reveal, "Yes, this is a big forest" and predictably crash in a tree. And, yes, set up the one girl's death. But still.

On the subject of technology: the gap of seventeen years unfortunately means the addition of a new and unflattering found-footage trope - constant digital "glitches" to signal a transition or condense a scene.

The sound design in this movie was pretty incredible and I liked the addition of the variety of cameras being used, but unfortunately it's only a slightly above average found footage horror film which is disappointing.

According to Wingard himself, what we see in the film is not the Blair Witch who, according to him, remains unseen throughout.

* / ***** (F)

It sucked. I guessed from the start that the girl in the video wasn't his sister but his friend. Too obvious. The self fulfilling prophecy angle could be interesting if done well, but it wasn't done really well here. The whole time stretching thing was cool, but just having them split into two groups and then having them come together to just say - "Oh, time went by different for us." was a total waste of an idea.

The deaths are unimaginative. The house part was OK. I was actually on toes during the part where she's in that hole crawling. I actually wanted her to die or something to grab her and pull her out. I'm a bit claustrophobic and that part was done right. But it was a boring movie. Probably even more unnecessary sequel than Book of Shadows was. Especially considering that The Blair Witch Project isn't even a good movie to start with.

It's, unsurprisingly, pure shit.

I saw it opening night and was really disappointed. I had such high hopes for it. It really is just an updated version of the first. Hits way too many of the same beats. It's still "good" and has a couple of intense moments, but I expected more.

B-

It sucks. But I am not surprised, the original sucked too.

I'm kind of excited to see it again. I wasn't a huge fan of it when I saw it in theaters (and I am a HUGE fan of the original) but I think my expectations were just too high. I bought it digitally (hey, for three dollars, whatever) and hope to watch it again soon.

This was BAD. Nothing in the movie was scary aside from a single reference that this is 7am. The suggested use of technology was also essentially wasted in the movie. The house bits at the end didn't seem as scary this time around.

3/10

It is a very forgettable movie for the most part. Acceptable, but nothing inspired. I hoped for a lot more from the combination of Adam Wingard and one of my favorite horror films of all-time.

I thought this was a snoozefest. Really poorly directed too, which is surprising because I love Adam Wingard's You're Next and The Guest. The characters were also hugely annoying. C