The Blair Witch Project

It's like Video Nation gone horribly astray -- rawly dealt, poorly paced, yet with a definite voyeuristic appeal.

Switching back and forth adds to the feeling someone actually did find both the cameras and their contents a few years later...

So convincing was this clever, chilling fake documentary that Donahue’s mother received sympathy cards from people who believed that her daughter was actually dead or missing.

The scariest shots, from someone's little Hi-8 camcorder, document the students losing their bearings, giving way to panic and finally falling victim, though off screen, to some ineffably, unphotographably evil presence.

Whenever night falls, the movie takes off, but in a slow creep, with all your childhood fears of the dark suddenly revealing themselves as absolutely reasonable.

The very crudeness of the film stock and technique contribute mightily to the feeling that things are out of control, disoriented and possibly subject to unnatural laws.

The movie's ambiguous open-ending is one of the best in the genre.


People deride the shaky camera and not seeing anything happen, which is a valid complaint, but it is also revisionist history. The lack of clarity was part of the charm of the movie.

The Blair Witch Project isn’t a horror film experience on par with ‘The Exorcist’ or ‘The Shining,’ but that’s not a fair comparison. It’s an experience all its own.

[The Blair Witch Project is] the most effective and unsettling horror movie in quite a long time. Just to clarify: after seeing this, you will not sleep well. Invest in a night-light.