Because it was a fad. No different from the mullet or bright neon pink T-shirts or Disco Duck. We don’t know any better at the time and get caught up in the hype and energy. Then when it all settles down we burn all of the old pictures of us wearing tight rolled jeans…wait that’s just me. It was marketed brilliantly though, I will give them that, but watch it now and it’s really silly. People want to have that big picture that they can talk about and appear vogue if they’ve seen it before others. It was an event, something to talk about during our mundane days, now it’s dead and buried with all the other fads.
I liked it for precisely the reasons you have given. I truly want to like every horror film that is released because so few are any good. It’s not the greatest horror film ever made, but i’ll take it over most of the swill they put out today.
Edit: Mark Thimijan said all this first, as I was typing, basically.
Partly it’s because The Blair Witch Project is the type of movie that really can’t last on it’s own. Once the hype goes away, so to goes the reasons for seeing it, for the majority at least, with myself in that majority. Same reason why no one gives a shit about it’s more modern twin Cloverfield anymore, but a year ago it was all the internet could talk about.
i feel like, despite its somewhat innovative qualities, that people, regardless of their opinion on the film, tend to overlook the fact that the work is really just painfully boring to watch.
Good movie, good acting, great execution. Film in my opinion did what horror films are suppose to do make your mind feel scared. A brilliant film and unfortunately was a one trick pony for the filmmaker’s, but what a pony. An excellent movie experience, best experienced with a big crowd. Ideally a packed stadium seated auditorium.
I actually disagree with you on how to best experience movies like this, missy. I think Blair Witch Project would of had a much bigger impact on the individual viewer were it handed to them on a bootleg vhs tape, with no hype behind it. And again with Cloverfield, I hated the movie, but would of loved if, for it’s home-video release, it was put out on a mini-dv tape.
What was in that rag? His teeth? Dear God! Your imagination had to do all of the work. That’s what it’s all about. Hostel, Saw, etc. no thanks.
Blair Witch Project was great. I feel no shame making that claim.
Sorry Brandon didn’t mean to steal your thunder.
“Blair Witch” a one trick pony? Did no one see it’s squeal ?!?!?
I’m not sure the acting was great. From what I can tell, much of it was reacting since the directors set up these conditions in which the actors were thrown into situations. Much of what I thought was boring was the fact that when actors—especially novice ones—improvise, the dialogue can end up fairly prosaic (I know, there are plenty of exceptions, but still…). They spoke like real college kids in such a situation—swearing a lot, muttering, repeating themselves. That doesn’t produce a mots juste.
Still, the take on lore is pretty engaging as is the consistency of the trope of the lost footage. The fact that much of it is suggestion and inference, etc is well done. Romero’s Diary of the Dead is an example of how to use this idea and still have it be crafted and focused and thoughtful about film itself.
It was only really interesting to me during it’s original run. Basically when it was still being hyped and what-not. I watched it this past Halloween on TV and was pretty much bored by the whole thing. I think it’s one of those films that really have their most lasting effect the first time you see it, but upon repeated viewings they lose their thrill. At least that’s how it is for me, and I’m an avid horror flick fan…so, you know…it’s a pretty major accomplishment.
Also the snot dangling thing is just exhausted. Please don’t make me see that again. Ever. Thank you.
It is overrated. It was only great during the time it was released (though i disliked it at that time and didn’t find it so great; then again, i strongly dislike horror movies). It is one of those movies that once you take them out of their context they are dull. what made the blair witch project great was all the anticipation and uncertainty of knowing if it was real or not and when all of that faded away, so did the movie’s charm. I’ll agree with michael gillett on the vacation footage thing; my idea exactly.
Wah wah! There wasn’t any blood! I had to imagine too much! Wah!
i was sorta confused by the movie. i thought it was a good film but it really did make me carsick.
I fucking hate The Blair Witch Project, but can’t deny it was brilliant. Not as a movie, but as a marketing campaign.
I had a fantastic experience with this movie. I saw it on the first weekend, not knowing anything about it, in a late night packed house. It scared the shit out of me. Sure, there is a lot to pick apart and complain about, if you want, but why? It was an original idea and if you let yourself get involved in it, it is scary and fun. What is wrong with that?
it was a great movie at first. i really enjoyed it.
but the truth is that the film has no shelf life. its almost impossible to watch a second or third time. it’s literally cinematic fast food. so its not a masterpiece. just an enjoyable movie for the moment.
I will never be able to understand why so many people hate this movie. I just…cannot understand, and I don’t want to understand because the opinions of people who choose to deny utter filmic brilliance matter less to me than the opinions of a seventh-grader talking about his favourite “American Pie” film. This is my favourite horror filmm and the scariest movie I have ever seen – and it was made on a spectacularly tiny budget which just shows you don’t need big budgets to make good films.
And impossible to watch a second or third time… WHAT? This is one of the ONLY films I can watch several times without my enjoyment of it deteriorating… I think it has infinite replay value.
I thought it was terrific, but then again I’ve been on a camping holiday on fog-bound Dartmoor, and am more than used to lying in a tent wondering what the hell that lumbering shadow outside might be. (A cow, usually, but it might not be…)
Watched it on my own the first time, with my girlfriend the second – and I don’t recall the second screening being a letdown.
I think it’s a masterpiece. Easily one of the greatest and scariest movies made. I see how up above people say they didn’t like it because it was a fad. But whether or not it was a fad, it’s still the same movie and should get the same recognition as any movie made.
Well, I’m usually quite late on things, as a matter of fact, I was not really aware of the “fad,” and I just happened to stuble upon it in a video store when it was released on VHS. It seemed interesting, so I bought it, expecting something entirely different. I was actually quite favourably surprised; I think it is a good horror film, for one thing, it is very atmospheric and the acting is really good. I thought it was quite innovative as well, presenting the whole affair like a student project. I guess what irritates people here is that it seemed like some kind of marketing trick; but fortunately for me, it did not appear as such since I had no notion of the publicity made around it.
Agree with Bret.
The film definately polarizes people. Everyone either loves it or hates it but the haters arguments never ring true to me.
It’s one of the only horrors I’ve seen that was genuinely scary.
One of the most perplexing and offensive things I’ve experienced is that Paranormal Activity way pretty positively received last year. It was a complete ripoff of Blair Witch, but worse in every way. Every criticism you can make about Blair Witch is even worse in Paranormal Activity. It’s slower, more boring, and has an even less-satisfying payoff. I guess the only difference this time is that they only halfheartedly tried to convince people that it was real.
Isn’t the intro to Paranormal Activity something like:
‘The following is based on a reported incident’ – which basically means nothing if you think about it.
Drunken Father Figure of Old
Yes, the Blair Witch Project. Why is it so vehemently hated? True, the story is completely bland and generic, but the way it was done was, in my opinion, completely brilliant. The improvisation, the cheap camera, the marketing, and the idea of a character holding a camera make it one of the first truly original films in decades. So why is it regarded with such contempt in both the mainstream and arthouse crowds?