The most terrifying things are never seen, and that truth is stretched to the limits of endurance here (with only one minor display of blood that is fleeting in presence but devastating in impact). As Blair Witch moves inexorably towards its climax, it excels in playing upon the most primal of human emotions: fear, hunger and the despairing realisation that you are lost and you are going to die - and there's nothing you can do to prevent it from happening. And in Heather, the narrator and ringleader, the film-makers have an unconventional but riveting protagonist, a bullheaded young woman whose fatal misjudgment gets them all lost but whose ultimate responsibility isn't tainted by the gender-bashing that can seep into the films of other, better-known horror operators. Unlike most horror movies, where you can scream yourself silly at the brain-challenged cast - ""Don't open the door!" - " - there is no relief here because they're doing exactly what you would do in the same situation. Knowing their performances (and most of their dialogue) were improvised adds to, rather than detracts from, the acute sense of foreboding. It's a hard act to pull off, but these three actors genuinely do appear to be scared out of their wits. The budget may have been severely restrictive ($22,000, according to the film-makers), allowing for zero sound effects, no musical score and minimal production design, but it also cranks up the "realism", enhanced by the shaky hand-held nature of the footage shot by the three campers. The genius of Blair Witch lies in the Zen-like simplicity of its concept and the brilliance of its execution. Do go in prepared for fear to manifest itself in far subtler and more harrowing ways. Don't go in expecting crimson-drenched gore or Scream-style self-referential irony. Filming began in 1997 and lasted eight days. Myrick and Sanchez wrote a 35-page outline of a story with the dialogue to be improvised. If you sit back and allow it to lead you into its heart of darkness, then this intense and imaginative horror will snatch every assumption you've ever had about what makes a scary movie (and, indeed, what makes a movie scary), and leave them in a bloody, mangled heap on the side of the road. The development of the franchise's first installment, The Blair Witch Project, started in 1993. Because The Blair Witch Project's strength is also its most glaring weakness: namely, it is played out on such a small, intimate scale, with none of the gory frills or bombastic artifice of your average Hollywood frightfest, that knowing anything about it can only detract from its irrefutable capacity to disturb. But take our word - if you have any intention whatsoever of seeing this eerie little mind-bender, stop reading right now and don't return to this page until you have.
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