For those who grew up during the 90's era, one can remember the intense hype for the 1999 independent horror film titled The Blair Witch Project. Filmed as a found-footage style documentary with a low budget of $60,000, the film went onto becoming a box office phenomenon grossing $250 million worldwide along with generating cult status with it being hailed as one of the scariest horror films of all time. It's success was largely due to the clever marketing campaign, which teased audiences that the story behind The Blair Witch Project is real with the films main leads Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Joshua Leonard either being declared missing or presumed dead. The success of the film spawned a sequel a year later titled Book Of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 with the story taking the opposite approach of the original film with it acknowledging the events of that film as fiction while playing off its mythology with different characters in real time. However, its poor box office and critical reception placed a halt on any further sequels to The Blair Witch franchise for over a decade until it was announced during the 2016 Comic Con that a third film had been filmed as a secretive project under the working title The Woods. Ignoring the events of Book Of Shadows, Blair Witch aims to return the series back to the roots of the first film with it continuing the tradition of being a found-footage story taking place twenty years after the events of The Blair Witch Project with Heather Donahue's brother searching for the house that both her and Michael went into during the originals final moments. While effectively establishing itself as being the true sequel to the original film as well as a significant improvement over Shadows, Blair Witch still can't measure up to the legacy of its original, which to this day, still stands as being the creepiest film of the series.
Picking up two decades after the events of the first film, Blair Witch takes place in 2014 with the story revolving around James, the brother of Heather Donahue receiving information that suggests that his sister is still alive after disappearing in the forest years earlier. Determined to find the house that she was last seen in, both James and his group of friends enter the woods to search for her but end up finding more than they expected. What made the first Blair Witch a hit with audiences was the originality behind its story with the execution being creative, while making effective use of its found-footage style of filming. Since its release, the film has received credit for reviving that specific technique of filmmaking that's later been used in films with similar thematic approaches such as Paranomal Activity and Cloverfield. While the original may not have terrified everyone who watched it, it managed to provide a surprising counter to the teen slasher films that dominated the horror genre in the late 1990's. The newest Blair Witch sequel aims to return the series to form with its story aimed as being the true continuation of the original, giving audiences proper answers in regards to what happened after the shocking final scene of the original. As noble as Blair Witch's intentions are to continue the legacy established by its predecessor, it doesn't quite measure up to the quality of that film despite generating some solid moments of suspense as well as surprise twists regarding the Blair Witch story. The biggest problem with the new film is how generic it comes across with it feeling similar to all the other found footage movies, that have come out since the release of the original Blair Witch. What made that film a unique experience for audiences was how brand new and left field it felt with it taking the whole documentary style approach to telling its story. It arrived at a time when the market wasn't saturated with numerous found-footage style stories that it had to compete with much like what the newest Blair Witch finds itself doing. Despite being an average to mildly entertaining horror film that feels more true of a sequel to the original phenomenon than the one that came before it, there's nothing about this film that makes it standout as being particularly memorable nor justify a follow-up nearly two decades after the release of the first Blair Witch. The newest film carries the promise of delivering fans a proper sequel to the iconic found-footage horror classic, but doesn't quite fulfill it with the overall end result in regards to its quality.
One of the key aspects of the first Blair Witch that made it appealing to audiences was the strength of it's main trio. The performances from all three actors made the whole experience more believable and creepy with the strongest performance coming from Heather Donahue. The cast for Blair Witch 2016 is more diverse in comparison to the originals with the main difference this time being that its a group of friends stuck in the woods with the witch compared to three student documentary filmmakers from the first film. The performances from the cast come across as being serviceable though nothing to write home about in regards to work that truly stands out. The films strongest performances come from James Allen McCune and Callie Hernandez in the films main roles with McCune turning in an effective performance as Heather Donahue's brother James and Callie as a film student, who wants to record James searching for his sister. While McCune's performance for the most part lands on being reasonably decent with him showing some family resemblence with Heather lookwise, he never truly gives audiences the feeling that he's been haunted all those years by his sister's disappearance nor appears obsessed with finding her. His work here isn't bad nor is it great, it just falls within the category of being fine. The same can be said about Hernandez's performance with her doing well enough to sell the plot, but nothing that'll stick in ones head afterwards. The rest of the cast delivers performances that land in the meh to serviceable department with Brandon Scott being likable as James loyal friend Peter along with Cobin Reid as the latters girlfriend Ashley. Along with the cast of James friends, Valorie Curry and Wes Robinson give some of the more interesting performances in the film as a pair of locals Talia and Lane, who join the group in their search for Heather after finding and uploading a video giving clues to her whereabouts. The cast for Blair Witch does their best job in attempting to make their situation feel real and less staged, but they never come across as feeling as equally convincing nor natural as Heather, Mike, or Josh in the original film. Their work shown isn't terrible and falls along the lines of being standard for a found footage type horror flick, but there's no one shown who stands out from the others that'll stick in the audiences mind long after the film ends. Certainly not in the way that the trio in the original did with Heather giving her iconic testimony on camera near the climax of the original or Mike's final moments at the end.
The films directing by Adam Wingard is admirable in the sense that he tries to recapture the chilling mood and nostalgia of the first film while providing new elements such as the drone footage. He proves effective in creating an atmosphere that's both mysterious and chilling while managing to maintain the same documentary style of filmmaking that made the first film so effective. Wingard attempts to home in on the audiences nostalgia of the original by delivering familiar atmospheric moments such as the group finding mysterious stick-figured symbols outside of their tents, which is reminiscent of of the first Blair Witch. Whereas the original film relied on an uneasy yet steady buildup of suspense without much jump scares, Wingard applies him here but inserts them at key moments throughout the story with their usage adding to the creepiness of the films tone rather than feeling like a cheap attempt to scare the audience. Wingard crafts some genuinely terrifying moments in the film, particularly within the films third act including a scene where one of the main characters find themselves crawling through a small sewer under the house from the original Blair Witch. Such a scene is well-shot and acted with it being one of the more visually striking moments in the film. In terms of both violence and gore, Wingard stays close to the first in regards to showing little moments of gruesome and disturbing images while leaving the rest to the audiences imagination in an effort to increase the terror. One of the films most surprising moments of gore is the showing of one of the main female characters being snapped in half at the waist with blood being shown to pour from her mouth as she gurgles. While Wingard aims to take things up a notch in regards to shocking the audience, he keeps everything minimal as well as in line with the work established prior. The films cinematography is handled through the use of digital cameras this time along with smartphones, that gives the film more of a digital upgrade in regards to its filming in comparison to the cameras used by the original actors in the 1990's. The pacing maintains the same structural buildup of the original with the film moving at a steady pace that allows for a slow buildup of suspense, as well as confusion for the main characters in regards to what's happening. Overall, the directing by Adam Wingard is noteworthy as he attempts to remain true to the vision that the originals filmmakers Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez put forth for the franchise while adding newer elements to the story as a way of showing the differentiation between the two generations. Besides some slick additions to the story along with some impressive new gimmicks such as the use of cell phones and the drone giving some nice aeriel shots of the woods, Wingard's work comes across as feeling standard for the found-footage genre with him not being as skillful nor creative as Myrick and Sanchez were in regards to building up the tension with the story, as well as generating more genuine reactions out of their actors.
The films screenplay by Simon Barrett is where the momentum of the story being a true sequel to The Blair Witch Project comes to a screeching halt. The effort that Barrett puts into the writing feels like a mixed bag with the end result ultimately being underwhelming. The script is full of both interesting and promising ideas that don't fully get fleshed out they way they should've been. The decision to completely ignore Book Of Shadows and do a straight sequel to the first film, is the smartest idea that the filmmakers of the new film all agreed upon. The concept of Heather Donahue's brother despite never being mentioned in the original, growing up and continuing the search for his sister is a clever twist, although it lacks the punch needed to give the film an emotional gravitas that would've undoubtedly binded it to the first Blair Witch. The audience is never shown a moment where James grieves in private over the disappearance of his sister nor has a testimonial moment like Heather did near the end of the first film, where she admits the mistakes she made in pushing everyone to travel into the woods to film their documentary. One of the more interesting elements that the new script introduces are that of the obsessive Blair Witch fanatics Talia and Lane traveling with the group and later discovered to have put up some of the stick figures themselves in a way to mislead everyone into thinking that they're being stalked by the Blair Witch (Which the audience knows is very well the case). The boldest idea that the new script introduces is the concept of the the main characters being trapped in a time warp in the woods, which is a believable explanation as to why the characters of the original stayed lost in the woods for so long. The script for Blair Witch has elements that make it seem like it wants to take things in a slightly different direction rather than just following the exact same structure of the original, but it ultimately ends up suffering due to a severe lack of originality rather than feeling fresh and innovative like the original. The film feels more like a less thrilling remake of the original rather than a sequel that pushes the story forward along with providing answers such as what happened with Heather, Mike, and Josh at the end of The Blair Witch Project. Audiences looking for an explanation here are bound to be disappointed with the films ending being a profound letdown given the anticipation that the first two acts of the film set up for a bit payoff that unfortunately never arrives.
The biggest letdown that audiences feel upon watching the newest film is the missed opportunity that the filmmakers had in regards to exploring the mythology of the original. Blair Witch had tremendous potential that ultimately feels wasted as the filmmakers had the opportunity to provide the audience with answers as well as closure regarding the events shown at the end of the first film. Rather than providing audiences with those answers, the film settles for what appears to be a follow-up that leans too closely on the first film for comfort rather than taking more risks in regards to pushing the story further. The film tries to sugarcoat the obvious that it's being heavily reliant on the first film in telling its story by making basic changes such as the group being a little larger this time along with throwing today's technology into the mix regarding the use of drones and phones. The film carries with it an intense and creepy atmosphere that's ultimately undone by the shortcomings of its script. One of the strongest feelings that The Blair Witch Project provoked when audiences watched it was the feeling of dread that they shared with the main characters along with the fear of the unknown. Regardless of how audiences felt about the original film, there was a certain amount of empathy that one felt for the main trio that's largely absent here with the newer characters. One doesn't find themselves being invested in James search for his sister, and the side characters that are interesting aren't developed well enough for the audience to latch onto them. It says a lot when the original made you want the main characters to make it out of the woods alive along with avoiding going in the house at the end compared to secretly wanting the Witch to pick everyone off in this film. The ultimate revealing of the Witch in the film is underwhelming in a sense that audiences expected more from its physical appearance, though the chase scene throughout the house that the reveal inspires is one of the films more interesting moments. As a found-footage film, Blair Witch doesn't fare too bad with it actually managing to pass as being mild entertainment due to the effectively creepy atmosphere it generates. As a follow-up to an iconic horror film that took audiences by storm upon its initial release as well as popularizing the found footage genre of filmmaking that's become largely popular with today's audiences, the sequel /reboot doesn't live up to the legacy established by its superior original. One wonders what kind of film this could've turned out to be had the original filmmakers Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez returned to both write and direct it as their initial plan for the third film before backing out was to make a direct sequel with the original actors returning in their roles. That sounds much more compelling than what audiences have been offered here. Blair Witch can best be summed up as a missed opportunity that's ok in terms of entertainment but not satisfying enough to bear its franchise name. At the very least it's better than Book Of Shadows.
Final Verdict: For fans of The Blair Witch Project and horror fans in general, Blair Witch 2016 serves as being mildly entertaining but is largely devoid of the impact and creepy tone of its far superior predecessor. It works as being a reasonably watchable found-footage movie rather than a worthy follow-up to the 1999 classic.
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