The Blair Witch Project - Hungry and Cold and Hunted

The Blair Witch Project revitalised an entire genre when it hit the horror scene in 1999. Extremely low budget horror has always been a staple, but the found footage twist established in no uncertain way a sub-class of terror that is here to stay. Their approach to filming was lean, mean and efficient, and the finished product proudly reflects this approach.

It's a story that most people know - the three student film-makers (Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard) heading into Burkittsville, Maryland to film a documentary about the legend of the Blair Witch. Locals tell them of Rustin Parr, the hermit who murdered seven children at the behest of the spirit of Elly Kedward and others spin tales of the hair-covered witch figure in the woods. They logically decide to enter said woods and go filming at some locations from the legend, finding some odd rock formations and hearing odd sounds at night. After losing the map and admitting that they too are seriously lost, tempers begin to fray, and the woods seem to turn against them. When one of their party goes missing, terror reaches fever pitch and pretty much stays there.

My God it's effective. Shot on two cameras (a colour camcorder usually held by Heather and a black and white 16-mm camera operated by Josh), the footage is edited between the two in a way that both develops multiple perspectives and unsettles the viewers. Conversely, the gorgeous old-school of the 16-mm occasionally punctuates the colour footage with the bleak and threatening beauty of the forest slowly swallowing our trio. The filming locations are almost our film's fourth lead, and the autumn colours hide our deepest fears behind a washed-out palette. But that's the primary thrust of this film - we never see the titular witch nor Parr, it's the descent into psychosis with the students that truly terrifies us. Reading up on the filming process is incredibly interesting - the cast was hounded through the woods and deprived of food and sleep for eight days, receiving instruction left in milk crates and improvising much of the dialogue. The directors - Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez - ought to be congratulated for their unusual and highly effective approach. Finally, the cast - they're very solid, as can be expected given the calculatedly harsh treatment that they received from the crew. Heather's teary apology to the camcorder must receive a special mention - the acknowledgement that they're going to perish in those woods will still chill me for weeks to come.

Unbelievably profitable at the box office and well-received by critics, The Blair Witch Project could be called a classic of modern horror. Well-made, acted and with an incomparably dark and haunting ending, this has to be one of the better horrors I've reviewed yet. I'm now properly scared of going camping ever again - 6 out of 7 straw dolls hanging ominously from the forest's canopy...