Tragic Reviews The Blair Witch Project or
One year later his blog was found...

The premise of this film is very simple. In October of 1994, three student filmmakers disappeard in the woods while shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found.

I've always felt that in horror it's better to tell than to show. The Blair Witch does a great job at this... jerky hand-held camera movements and out of focus shots, leave you wondering just what it was that you saw.

What was it that Heather found after Josh disappeared?
What was that off in the bushes?
What happened in the basement of the house?
There's always just enough of a glimpse for your mind to register something's there - but never a good enough glimpse for you to be fully sure what it was. Brilliant

The film hinges upon your belief that what's going on is absolutely real, and the filmmakers did a pretty good job of that. The website played it completely straight, giving photos of the crimescene, images of the tapes and film that was found and a history of the Blair Witch. A mockumentry, The Curse of the Blair Witch, played on television around the time of the film's release, fleshing out the details of the history and background. Convincing interviews with bereaved parents, local law officials and so-called experts all lent an air of credibility that what you were watching was real. I can recall, at the screening I saw in '99, a woman in front of us asking her husband, "was that real?".

Of course - now it's common pop-culture knowledge that the film isn't real - taking much of the oomph out of it. Skim through the comments at imdb, and you'll see what I mean.

My recommendation: Watch the mockumentry. Give yourself an hour or two and then watch the main feature. Then head out for a weekend of camping.

The Blair Witch Project (Full Screen) -- Tragic gives this film 9 out of 10 screams in the dark.