The Blair Witch Project | Canadian First Time Watching | Movie Reaction | Movie Review | Commentary

[@Canadian_Guy_82]

The iconic shot of the girls close up face of her crying was actually an accident. It was supposed to be her whole face but the actress accidentally hit the zoom in button on the camera and only ended up shooting the top half of her head.. but it looked so good, authentic and creepy that not only did they keep it.. but used it for the movie poster.

[@DKSean]

The marketing for this film was trailblazing. People were convinced it really was found footage that they published. It was very early days Internet viral in the spread of its rumour and legend on the runup to release. People were more susceptible to believe it as it was one of ( certainly *the* first majorly widespread) case of a viral campaign of its type. Basically it was the "train coming towards the camera causing the audience to flee the theatre" of viral marketing/found footage horror, and it changed the game for years.

[@RonJomero]

The hype behind this movie was crazy. I remember watching it in the theater and after the credits began to roll, the entire theater just sat there in stunned silence. Me, I was stifling some chuckles because I knew it wasn't actually real and was amazed at the reaction that I had never seen before en masse. If I remember right, even the actors (who used their real names for their character names) didn't promote the movie before it came out to also sell the illusion that they were dead. A little while after the movie was released they then began doing the talk show circuit and what-not.

[@davidmcleod5133]

I’ve often said it was my generations “War of the Worlds.”

[@rasmuspedersen3563]

How the f can you have written this 9 days ago? they put the video up like 9 mins ago??? 0_o

[@manlym1k3]

I remember the fake websites they made about the 'local legends' they investigate in the movie. Didn't they also make fake news sites with articles about the disappearance, or am I misremembering that?

[@leftofpunk]

@@manlym1k3 They did and it was amazing. So goddamn groundbreaking.

[@sletrent]

George: “That was a great movie!” Simone: *has PTSD*

[@bubu1066]

Fact, when she screams "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" The crew had hired an extra to stand in the woods wearing white overalls. So that was her real reaction. It was intended for it to be a trailer shot but it was missed by the actor. It made it way better in my opinion

[@noneya3635]

I hear they also had that extra wear long socks on their arms with reflective white paint so when he started booking it through the woods it didn’t look human.

[@Patriiiiick]

I feel like this film is from such a specific moment of time during the 'early' internet years that we'll never really have anything like it again. Very much looking forward to seeing Simone spend a lot of the movie watching from between the cracks in her fingers.

[@Jpew2007]

That is why I’ve hated this film for a long time. I was told that this was the scariest movie of all time (at the time). My cousins told me that I would have nightmares (like they did). So I steeled myself and got myself ready to watch unimaginable horror, the only thing I got from this film was a some motion sickness and a hearing check (because I couldn’t hear/understand the characters most of the time)

[@Drownedinblood]

Imo nobody watching now can experience the real effect of this film, cuz everyone knows its fake now. Whereas at the time people legitimately thought something had happened and it being on real news prior to release really added to it.

[@ThreadBomb]

It's obviously not the scariest movie ever, but it's definitely a unique movie with a unique vibe.

[@system0fadowner251]

​​@@Jpew2007yeah it's one of those "you had to be there" movie experiences. Very unique style and very well marketed during a time when the internet was young and the idea of "viral" marketing didn't really exist

[@Jim-yn9rm]

George asks at 25:02 why Mike is just standing in the corner. The reason is given by the guy in the yellow baseball hat at 3:28

[@michaelbryan1882]

I'm amazed that so many reactors are unable to make this connection.

[@soniaiboyako4023]

@@michaelbryan1882 Because tbh most aren't actually paying attention to the movie, especially the beginning so they don't retain any of the info given to the viewer - then they tend to go into "Heather is annoying" mode and almost say nothing but that which, for instance, causes them to ignore that it was established that she *knows* how to read a map and does this stuff often..

[@rustybroomhandle]

Funny, right after you said "ectoplasm" one of the characters said they hate crossing streams. 😅

[@wozing]

One of the interviewees in the beginning mentioned that the guy would face one child into the corner while he killed a second, then grabbed and killed the first child. That's why Mike was staring into the corner at the end.

[@pievancl5457]

surprised they forgot that so quickly, especially since it seemed to make such an impact on them when they heard the story earlier in the movie.

[@jhornacek]

I'm not a technical guy when watching a movie, but I love the little details about who has what equipment in this film. For example, at the end when Mike is in the basement and he's knocked out/whatever, we cut to Heather upstairs and she's yelling but we barely hear her, because Mike has the camera with the microphone so it's picking up Heather's audio but from the other end of the house. As she gets closer to the basement her volume level increases because she's getting closer to Mike's camera/microphone.

[@Fedorevsky]

yeah the reason it's like that is because they shot it alone those three and the directors never spoke to them during the week of filming just came by when they slept with a bit of food and instructions on what to improvise and shoot every day. So they really had only that equipment. So the resulting footage they cut together the film from really only had audio from that camera and so on.

[@kevinlaw6185]

One of the best things about the marketing campaign was that they put out an hour-long TV special called "Curse of the Blair Witch" before the movie came out. The one detail I remember from the special was them stating that the videotape with the actual found footage was found inside the wall of a building, which they couldn't explain. Because the surrounding material was hundreds of years old, and there was no sign of that old material being disturbed, so they couldn't explain how a 20th century artifact got in there. I think they also gave some more backstory on Rustin Parr, the serial killer who claimed the witch made him kill. It was really slick marketing.

[@damot69]

I found “Curse” to be more disturbing than Blair witch. The interview with the killer was so creepy

[@ThreadBomb]

I'm sure I've watched the "documentary" more times than the actual movie.

[@earlthepearl6414]

They had a full website too.

[@Cadinho93]

The fact that you never see the witch is the scariest thing. Her screaming "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?" when we never see what she's seeing just chills me to the core. Also, back when this came out, the Internet was young, so the whole "is it real" had a bigger effect and this is what kicked off the whole found footage style of filmmaking. These were students making this movie, not a big studio, so makes it more impressive.

[@Drownedinblood]

The only film close was paranormal activity.

[@Dylan_Platt]

100% agreed. On the commentary, they said that she actually did see something -- one of the directors ran past wearing essentially a large white cloth and black leggings -- but Josh never caught it on the 16mm footage. There was a small appearance of it in the camcorder footage, but in the edit they ended up deciding it was better not seeing it.

[@mastixencounter]

PA is way better than this @@Drownedinblood

[@rgg6383]

If she said "what the fuck is that?"and then you got a perfect horrific shot of the witch it would lose all the realism it has been building

[@sluglife9785]

"I kinda hope we don't get to see the witch at all, for the whole movie." George, you breath of fresh air, your wish be granted.

[@ThreadBomb]

And if you watch the movie "Blair Witch" (2016) you will be massively disappointed, for several reasons.

[@purcascade]

​@@ThreadBomb The original sequel was much worse.

[@magicbrownie1357]

I got lost in the woods for several panicked hours when I was about 8 or 9. I saw this movie in a nice, dark theater when it came out and I was INSTANTLY transported back to that intense state of hyper reality and panic by this film. So, needless to say, I found this film to be one of the scariest films ever. But had I not had the personal experience, I'm not sure how I would've reacted to it. Let's just say, I'm glad my story didn't end like theirs.

[@virgobreezy22]

I’ve always thought that the concept of getting progressively more lost in the woods and more pissed off at the people with you would have made this scary enough as a horror/thriller movie, even if they’d chosen to leave the supernatural stuff more ambiguous. The human experience and characters are really what sells the movie. I can’t imagine getting lost in the woods at that age. Glad you’re safe

[@Michael-of6zf]

There is a lot of cool facts about this movie. Too many to list here. Much of the acting was method acting, there were no script lines. The scares were real because produce never told them the actual script, he said he wanted the movie to feel like what would happen in real life, by giving the cast a script all you would get is fake reactions. So they hired a guy whos soul purpose was to create events that would scare the cast and not tell the them about it. Now the funny thing is that the crew thought the were filming a movie about the Blair Witch which they thought was a real life witch, but they did not know that the Blair Witch was made up not real, they did not even know that the townspeople were actors, they thought they were real people. So basically it was a real life Harry Truman show. One of the best fact is that they actually starved the cast to make them irratable, they gave them a broken compass, and the wrong map.

[@nickinskeep]

Harry Truman show lol I'd give it watch

[@Dylan_Platt]

Hmm. They did try to put the cast through a lot to put them in their characters' mindset, and a lot of the other stuff you say is true -- the dialogue is almost entirely improv, and the cast was given decreasing amounts of food as the shoot went on -- but the main three absolutely knew it was a fictional story. They did go around town interviewing random people they encountered, and some were plants with specific info about the myth.

[@MrAdamloring1985]

Harry Truman show?

[@clh35]

That's not what method acting means.

[@MarcosElMalo2]

This is going to sound silly, but thanks for calling them “cool facts” and not “Fun Facts”.

[@white.lodge.dale.cooper]

It's impossible to overstate how terrifying this was in a dark theater, first show, opening night, not knowing anything about it except it was being marketed as a true story. (Being a film dork, I know it was just brilliant guerrilla marketing, but I was still totally sold on the premise.) I have still to date never been so scared by a film. When it was over and we started waling out I passed a group of young women holding on to each other for dear life, crying hysterically like they just witnessed their best friend disemboweled by a grizzly bear right in front of them, and he might come back for more. Over the years so many people have watched this on a little computer display, in their brightly lit bedroom, and thought it was silly or not scary at all. Well sure, they weren't there like we were on opening night, and they knew knew what to expect. I've also observed that creative people like writers, filmmakers, designers etc seemed to enjoy this film and were genuinely scared by it, whereas meat and potatoes folks despised it, thinking it was stupid and not scary at all, complaining that "nothing ever happened!" I always found this fascinating.

[@andyg264]

I had to drive home on my own through a heavily wooded area with no street lights after dropping a friend off after seeing this in the cinema . I am not ashamed to say I did not stick to the speed limit

[@steveshute3810]

The "Making of" is amazing. The directors would leave small amounts of food and daily script instructions for each actor. They really were deep in the woods for a week. It was essentially filmed in real time over a week.

[@UncleBuckRodgers]

It was amazing to see it have the same effect on Simone it did on us, after all these years. Revolutionary concept back in the day. Had a lot of us fooled leading up to and shortly after it's premiere in theaters. The debate was on, even after opening weekend, until the actors started doing interviews on TV actually.

[@Ian-Omega]

I had a coworker who swore it was all real found footage until I told him that the three actors presented at the mtv awards that year.

[@michelle6337]

One thing I think this film does really well and comes off as very natural is the self-soothing gestures when they start to panic. Heather assuring herself that everything is fine and constantly rubbing her face. Mike rocking himself in the woods after Josh disappears. The manic laughter when things get too heated.

[@markpekrul4393]

The house at the end was a real abandoned building located a few miles from where I live now. It was on land belonging to Maryland's Patapsco Valley State Park and was called the Griggs House (possibly after the builder - no idea). After the phenomenal success of the film, it became a gathering place for fans. The town of Burkettsville, MD is also real - about 30 miles from the house. After the film, they had a lot of problems with kids congregating there, in the cemetery.

[@CheckersMcGavern]

Yes! I'm so glad yall enjoyed it! I know so many people who just think the movie is dumb or were disappointed by the ending. Some people have no appreciation of suspense, I swear.

[@Jimandtonic85]

It’s more of the fact that the whole movie builds “suspense” with 0 payoff. At no point does anything seem anything other than some young people goofing off in the woods trying to trick you by setting up some sticks and then acting silly. Plus it made shaky cam popular and that in of itself deserves this movie to burn lol

[@richardb6260]

Or they appreciate well done suspense. Which this is not. This movie is more annoying than anything else.

[@gamer-px5cu]

Some people has different opinions i would say.

[@oneopinion6806]

@@Jimandtonic85I would liken this movie to a ghost story told around a camp fire. Sure the storyteller can elicit a jump scare with an abrupt loud noise, but in the end the viewer/listener is given a good amount of control over how much they want to sink into the story.

[@Jimandtonic85]

@@oneopinion6806 while true, most ghost stories actually have events happen…everything in this movie is implied and when using a visual medium you usually have to give your audience something. Things like cloverfield did a good job because most of what you got were glimpses of the monster. This movie is just the ghost story about “what could be out there” and “when we get there”. While never having anything happen to make you believe they aren’t just hiking around trying to get you excited for literally nothing. Showing a character with his back turned and they literally don’t do anything is lame. Dude could just be taking a pee and doesn’t want you seeing his peen on camera

[@bhelliom3]

Goerge’s face @ 24:48 while Simone says she’s gonnna barf is GOLD. Omg George 😂 your pleasure is palpable.

[@lolyungmulaBABY]

George’s pure joy experiencing the details at the end while Simone is near hysterics is one of the reasons I watch this channel.

[@liamrichardson6578]

@@lolyungmulaBABY They compliment eachother so well. So glad I found this channel!

[@ZachLorton]

The shaky-cam stuff isn't too bad when you see it on a maller screen in your home. On a movie theatre screen, the effect was tremendously amplified. I remember the marketing of this film, and watching it in the theatre was an amazingly visceral experience. When Mike admitted that he'd thrown away the map, you could hear the packed crowd groaning in pain, realizing that he'd kind of screwed them all. The reason Mike was standing in the corner was a throwback to what one of the Burkittville townspeople said-that the witch would take 2 kids into the basement and make one stand facing the corner while k***ing the other child. When the credits rolled, nobody moved for at least a full minute. This was a packed, sold-out theatre, and you could hear a freaking pin drop.

[@dfilthy9104]

This was the first found footage film that I ever saw when I was 11. The marketing was so good. I actually thought that they disappeared in the woods. I know that I wasn't the only one that believed it because the families of the actors received condolence letters.

[@johnnynoise7897]

Same, I thought it was real too 😂

[@TheNowhereMan0]

Same here. And I think this movie is the best found footage ever.

[@ThreadBomb]

I think older people were more likely to realise that it was fictional, because if a director actually used real footage of people's last moments in the woods and marketed it as a horror movie, there would be a huge scandal.

[@A-small-amount-of-peas]

First DVD I ever bought when I got my first dvd player (which was a PS2), even the dvd menu was terrifying which I found out the hard way when I fell asleep and left it on only to wake up at 4am with Heather screaming "JOOOOSSSSHHHHHH!" and a flashlight moving around the trees on my tv, nearly pooped myself

[@white.lodge.dale.cooper]

Wait, they designed it that way on purpose? That's amazing!

[@7rollface]

One of my favourite films of all time. "Heather, if you make me yell at this point, I'm gonna have to yell at you, man" is a line that still lives with me to this day. One of the producers once said that by far the best thing they did in making the film was to cast Heather Donahue. For example, the famous scene of her talking to camera saying it's all her fault was the result of her getting a note from the producers asking her to "film something to camera". Just that, and all the rest is her. It's also perhaps worth noting that when the film became a huge success the producers gave the actors huge bonuses. Might seem like obviously the right thing to do, but it's an illustration of how far from Hollywood they really were. And here's a fun bit of trivia - Josh is still an actor and is now married to Allison Pill, who you might recognise as the drummer from Scott Pilgrim.

[@lindala2602]

Braiding your hair is really practical when in the wilderness

[@JohnSilverHawkins]

It can serve as a kind of ritual. Something familiar and comfortable and a way to exercise a small measure of control in a situation where you do not really have any.

[@robhax]

When I was in Boy Scouts back in the 80/90s, we had those exact same tents - Eureka. Hearing people laughing or talking outside or even shaking the tent is a visceral memory. So this had an extra impact on me, lol

[@motorcycleboy9000]

If you're lost in the woods, you don't need a compass. There's about a dozen ways to figure out true north before sunset, and after sunset there are stars (North Star for northern hemisphere, Southern Cross for southern hemisphere). Always wear an analog watch, btw, it's the fastest way to figure out direction when the sun's up -- plus, they're just cooler than digital. If you die in the woods, at least you had swag. 😎

[@williammatthews693]

The thing that keeps bringing me back to this movie, what makes it so rewatchable for me, is the performances. They're SO good!

[@DistractedArachnid]

Same. Honestly, I would have still been impressed if this wasn't a horror movie and nothing particularly noteworthy happened in it. The performances just seem so real to me. Usually even great acting is somewhat larger than life and would seem out of place in the real world. Not so with this movie.

[@Troll-ne9cs]

I'm so glad you wore headphones and able hear children outside of their tent. Other reactors without the headphones couldn't hear them at all and they're like "What..? What's happening?"...Great reaction.

[@eddawg79]

The way this was directed was genius. They gave them GPS points to get to where they each had a film can with their names on it. They were told what their character was supposed to feel and what they were to do, nobody was supposed to see what the others directions were.

[@jamespetkwitz8737]

this is one of those movies where you had to be there at that time to appreciate how much of a lightning in a bottle moment this movie was

[@natecloe8535]

I like how at the beginning Heather is very adamant that she wants to avoid any cheese in this documentary. And then literally every word that she films for the documentary she does in the cheesiest scary documentary voice that anybody could ever come up with.

[@Accolonian]

This is the FIRST time EVER I have understood Simones start comment. And having understood that it is NOT a reference to a recently watched movie but to meme culture in general should make it easier from now on. I hope...

[@darrengooding8785]

i had no idea it was part of a meme culture, i thought it was a tv clip from like 10 years ago

[@tofersiefken]

Seeing this in a dark theater (or even in a dark media room when not filming a reaction video) added another layer of terror to the experience. This movie experience was never about the plot, the effects, or even the witch herself, it was about experiencing your fears. Fear of being lost or alone, fear of being pursued or hunted, fear of the dark, fear of the unknown, fear of the occult, and any other deeply rooted primal fear.

[@erikpetersen-chinguacousys1943]

...fear of betrayal!

[@CineRam]

Personal anecdote: I was still keeping a VHS movie collection at around this time. I bought a few movies, but only the ones that I loved beyond measure. Mostly I would wait for a movie to air on commercial-free cable and would then tape it. It was my custom to design a special label for each film, with a unique font for the movie's title in red. Since the tapes would stand upright on my shelves, I would also include the last name of the director in ballpoint at the top edge of my custom label. For Goodfellas I wrote "Scorsese", for Raising Arizona I wrote "Coen"...but for this movie, instead of crediting Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, I simply wrote "Donahue".

[@positivelynegative9149]

I don't get it.

[@CineRam]

@@positivelynegative9149 The name of the director in the film itself is Heather Donahue.

[@JebWCManning]

One of the best found footage horror movies. Even beyond the possibility of supernatural goings on, the horror of just being lost and not having any chance of escape is terryfying. The isolation just adds to that perfect tension. Although it is creepier if you look into some of the expanded universe documentaries and books that delve deeper into the lore. Especially the serial killer Rustin Parr stuff. Long story short, a man named Rustin Parr was influenced by the Blair Witch into killing kids, and when he was executed, the people of Burkittsville burned down his house. The house that Heather and Mike go into is the Rustin Parr house that's supposed to have been destroyed. Great reaction, as usual 🙂

[@MrInuhanyou123]

This movie is one of the greatest movies of all time. Literally genre defining. Without this movie there would be no found footage genre of movie period. So ground breaking even for today

[@ahmadadzrin6536]

you guys have to watch The Ritual (2017) now. Similar horror in woods vibe, but without the shaky cam.

[@sgmlokior9507]

Thanks guys for your reaction. I love the ending the dude just standing in the corner cause the story one of the people told 'em earlier was like "one of the kids had to stand in a corner while a second child got murdered..." Its awesome

[@uncommon_niagara1581]

Keep going downhill until you find running water. Follow the water until you reach a large lake, river or ocean. People will likely be nearby.

[@MrInuhanyou123]

Unfortunately that wouldent work since the witch was manipulating space around them so they were simply walking off the right side of the screen and ending up on the left side again

[@trajancanada]

I like the thought of the directors and crew shadowing the three actors over a week through the forest, making noise, leaving notes, batteries and film. Apparently they only actually saw one crew member, during the day, scurrying away when spotted. Well, apart from a little hiatus for a few days.

[@kaojinn]

When I saw this in the theatre... people were actually running out throwing up from the shaky cam.

[@Sloofdme]

I'm so glad you guys liked this. I saw it at the cinema when it came out. I knew it wasn't real. But still it freaked me out. As you now know. So many thought it was real. Imagine how terrifying that would have been for them. Love it.

[@caffeineadvocate]

Legit terrifying in theaters. This film is truly best experienced if you have a time machine.

[@julianleft4662]

This movie created a whole new genre. And it still is unmatched in that genre. The reason why this is still not topped to this day is because it's not trying to be a movie. It's very realistic. There's a reason why people thought it was real back in the day. It has that gore videos look to it. Like one of those snuff movies. Everything that happens and the acting... it's not about "hey, this is a scary movie" rather it's about "hey, what if this actually happened?". The simplicity of it and how relatable it is in some ways, makes it so fucking good in my opinion.

[@Anders010]

'not trying to be a movie' that's a perfect way to describe it.

[@stephw1702]

Exactly. This is one of the few found footage films to me which really feels like someone discovered the tapes and did their best to put them together. There is no expert character to tell us what is happening along the way but rather clues which we need to put together. I know many hate that we never see the witch, yet with the premise set up at the beginning it likely wouldn't have worked if they did.

[@Hortonfantastic4]

16:10 I read somewhere that when they run out of the tent and she screams “what is that!” They were supposed to pan the camera over. Apparently one of the filmmakers was dressed as the “witch” so we were supposed to see it. They just forgot in the panic to pan left as they ran

[@urmintrude]

Man, this film was so close to being shit.

[@evilscary]

How this movie was filmed was amazing. The cast were literally dropped off in the woods as a trio and left with rough instructions. A lot of this is improv based on minimal direction. The crew were also scaring them during the night, so some of their terror is genuine.

[@rickhobson3211]

I think this is one of those movies which benefits from being seen on a big screen in a dark theater. Not sure it would have the same impact on a smaller screen!

[@jasonbeatty831]

Hard agree.

[@Peg__]

Agreed! It's science behind the experience! In the theater, my eyes and ears are focused on the movie. While my brain is interpreting those 2 senses... SNote- I saw this movie in theater as a teenager. What I was not aware of in the moment, was the body is physically reacting to the sense of smell that is given off by all the people in the theater. We know about pheromones regarding attraction, we forget about the ones that sense danger, fear, etc. So, The people in the front row of the theater experiencing symptoms of fear. The 2nd row unconsciously are picking up those scents of fear from the 1st row.. As the movie plot intensifies, so does the scents among the group of movie go'ers, which intensifies your movie watching experience. People watching the movie at home and alone, will not pick up the scent of another scared person. It's a fascinating rabbit hole of science to explore!

[@hendrsb33]

Actually, it can if you watch it alone at home with all the lights off, as I did.😬

[@ThreadBomb]

​@@Peg__​ It is not scientifically accepted that humans produce or can detect pheromones.

[@stephw1702]

First saw it on my laptop with headphones in the dark which gave it great atmosphere.

[@tomlewis7898]

I've been lost in the woods before, when the sun goes down the change in atmosphere is terrifying it feels like being taken millions of years back in time

[@sheens43]

This is one of the few movies I wish you guys had researched before watching. When this first came out and people actually thought it was real b/c no one had seen a found footage movie like this before, such a wild time.

[@joshuazerbe5777]

Why would them knowing that have improved anything? It was much better that they knew nothing going into it. If they know what you said, its infinitely less creepy and unnerving for them. Their reaction was so much better because they went into it blind.

[@MrInuhanyou123]

​@@joshuazerbe5777and they already obviously never thought it was real. I think people don't give blair witch credit on its own merits assuming it's only scary because of the marketing campaign. But the movie itself is unnerving and scary enough even knowing it's just a movie due to how it was expertly produced, acted and shot

[@3DJapan]

16:48 We didn't have digital cameras when this came out. It was either film or VHS tape. I used both for my film classes at the same time this came out.

[@jjkcharlie]

When this came out, it was marketed as real. I watched it once. This recap is the second time I've seen scenes from this. I'm still jumpy.

[@JasonNaas]

Yeah, same here. I saw it in the theater, and that was that until watching this. I forgot about the sounds.

[@simoliz03]

I still can't go in the woods!

[@SHATX1111]

This is a classic. It was a gamechanger. The first time a film like this used the internet to build the lore and the meta of the story. It might not be the best of all the found footage horror, but it was the first, and that means something. I'm loving your channel. I love your reactions, been binging all different kinds of movies today. Love your banter and nervous giggles and commentary. Thank you for the entertainment and the laughs

[@positivelynegative9149]

This film is ruined in an age of everyone knowing found footage is not actually found footage. The reason this film worked when it was released is that many people thought it could be real.

[@richardb6260]

Yes. Many people paid to see what they thought was footage of terrible things happening to real people. Says a lot about people, I guess. It was marketed to the Faces of Death generation (which also wasn't real, but people believed it was).

[@djlp2212]

When this came out, there was a web site all about this movie. It had interviews with the man who brought the children to the cabin and he kept saying that the witch made him do it. They also had extra footage and said that there was over 9 hours of footage that wasn't used. They really tried to make it seem real.

[@SickSticks666]

I might be the only person suggesting the 2016 Blair Witch sequel but I do think it's a fun and underrated follow up despite being a more theatrical style horror movie

[@robertjacques4117]

Honestly I'd have to agree, it's not amazing by any stretch or even as good as the original but it had some very interesting ideas and id say its rsther okay-good overall, again the marketing was genuis, they brought people to a screening of the movie with a fake title and of course people finally realized what it was but when they left the theater they had the true film banner out saying Blair Witch

[@draken0499]

Fun fact: When heather says “WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!”, the directors were just ahead with a white sheet. The idea was that a white figure was to be seen but she didn’t have the camera. Her reaction was legitimate and it works so fucking good. Also…”what if the woods are shifting…”👀 boyyyyyyyyyyyyyy you are onto something.

[@anthonycoleman3749]

This movie had a budget of $50,000. Ended up pulling in over $200MILLION!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Trepanation21]

One of the best things about watching this movie this long after it debuted is that it subverts so many things that you're anticipating to happen _because it came before all those movies that taught you to anticipate those things!_ *Blair Witch Project* is the OG. It's basically the founding inspiration for the found footage craze that included Cloverfield, Paranormal Activity, VHS, etc.

[@alexhaas9653]

I enjoyed this movie back then in cinema. Even now many call it not scary, it was scary to me back then. Wouldn't have walked home through some woods right after. The marketing was really great, new and unheard of at that time. It wouldn't work no more nowadays. And maybe that's why it's not as scary to many anymore. Different times. But I really enjoyed this then all-new found footage and now modern classic. Combined with method acting and lots of improvising and unknown actors, this really was an experiment that paid of. Also financially. The follow-up movie didn't try to copy this recipe and did something completely different. And pretty much failed to win over critics and audience. But I always felt it was a pretty decent sequel, especially in the footsteps of this strong movie here.

[@lawrencefine5020]

No music, no seeing the Witch, just stark terror. I think the actors should have been given some kind of awards for realism. Great acting. Made for next to nothing and killed it at the box office. Brilliant. I rented this at Blockbuster the day it came out on VHS. Lots of people made fun of the up-the-nose-snot shot. But it was a well crafted, well directed, well acted, and the PR campaign had people believing this actually happened...including me. Bravo! Fun reaction, guys.

[@leixiang]

So many people I know tell me they hate this movie and it isn't scary. To them I say, "Then you have never been alone in the real woods at night. " This movie is terrifying.

[@TheNowhereMan0]

Yes, totally agreed.

[@intothestorm1394]

ah yes. i am one of those. it's totally not, e.g. when you used to play in the woods as a kid every know and then, as we did. when we saw it in the theater it was just unbearable, how the protagonists acted. "there are noises in the woods" so scary - we were like "it's a forest! perfectly normal." "it sounded like little children" - "yes, that's how it is. animal noises. again, normal." oh man, i am still triggered (that's why i reply), how upsetting (to us) the bonkers behavior of the protagonists was. i mean, everyone is free to like/love the movie and be terrified, totally ok, fine, really. but in my book it went down as one of the worst (not in the good sense) movies i've ever seen.

[@aceldamia9114]

Definitely nervous at this reaction. It's one of my top 10 movies of all-time, and I don't like to see people dislike this masterpiece. Now to actually watch it...

[@joits]

I worked in a theater during this movie's release and it was interesting to say the least. The shaky cam really affected a lot of people and I definitely cleaned up quite a few popcorn colored vomit puddles...

[@toddjones1480]

I was starting to feel a little sick by the end when I saw it in a theater. It doesn't bother me at home, even on my 130" screen. The one that actually made me throw up was Speed 2 in a theater, but I made it to a toilet. (Barely, because other guys were in there throwing up.)

[@willcool713]

One of the scariest things I ever heard at night camping was a big pack of mice passing around us. It did not sound like small animals, and they never came into the light, but we were surrounded and could hear leaves crunching and sticks breaking. We finally spotted a few jumping over a log when we started looking around with flashlights for eye-shine. I was ready to run for my life. My imagination totally ran away. The same thing happened to my ex-wife once, when we camped by a stream. The babbling-brook thing made her hallucinate all sorts of terrors. Took a few years before we went camping again.

[@aidanfarnan4683]

16:14 The tent was rustling because the director and assistant director were legitimately shaking their tent while the actors tried to sleep, and the actors grabbed the camcorders to see what it was, and it was the director crawling around on all fours in a skintight faceless white suit in the distance: Rei Hance screaming "What is that?" and running was unscripted and she was so startled she didn't catch it on camera. The reason everyone seems so tired, scared and cranky, is because they were tired, scared and cranky: there was almost no script, just them legitimately reacting to weird things the director left for them to find in the woods.

[@Liofa73]

If I remember rightly, the final scene is the guy standing in the corner with his face to the wall... like the myth killer did with the kids, because he didn't want them looking at him when he was killing the other kids.

[@warpath1911]

I think this was the progenitor of the found footage genre. If not the most groundbreaking. I saw it in theaters and when the screen went black literally nobody moved or said anything for about a minute. Everyone thought it was real. It's kind of funny remembering it because George and Simone are doing what we did back then which was to make ourselves feel better by making random jokes.

[@bill8856]

The whole "everyone thought it was real" thing, isn't true. I became sort of a popular thing to say, and everyone kept parroting each other, but it never actually happened. The actual number of people who thought it might be true was really tiny. I lived through it and saw the movie on release day and no one was fooled into thinking it was real. Some people probably thought it was for a second then looked it up, or asked someone, and immediately figured out it wasn't. It's one of those overblown pop culture sayings that holds very little truth to it.

[@rexmundi2986]

Haven't seen this for 20 years, but rewatch reminds me of something I read about astronauts recently; apparently, 3 is the worst number of people to have in an isolated, prolonged high-stress situation. That certainly plays out pretty quick in this movie.

[@DomIstKrieg]

Saw this in the cinema. Nearly threw up twice. The guy screaming in the night scared me real bad.

[@Do0msday]

There were so many people that thought this was real and others that weren't sure. It was one of those instances where...nobody really knew. It was hyped up beyond belief and I remember seeing stuff about missing posters for the "actors". This movie really used internet hype to get people to see it. This may have the best marketing for a movie in cinematic history. As a movie it's......ok. But it's essentially a time capsule and is the type of movie that probably wouldn't be able to be made again today because it was a product of the era. It's one of those movies that I hate/love at the same time because I normally hate found footage stuff, but this one is just so chaotic without even showing anything of substance that I love it.

[@NathanJasper]

I think this is considered as the beginning of the Found Footage craze and Paranormal Activity reinvigorated it. Shreco Bakari has made a lot of fantastic indie found footage horror, Maniacal Night being one of his best. I do love how this film really made this look like a student documentary and as real as possible. The only thing I hate about it is the ending. That's one thing that I think Cloverfield and Paranormal Activity did better. If you want more found footage, check out Quarantine. It's more in the vein of Cloverfield just way more intense.

[@DKSean]

I enjoyed Quarantine a lot in cinema, but would have liked it more if the trailer didn't include the literal final shot of the film in it, completely giving away the ending. It's based on the Spanish film Rec, apparently it's a pretty close remake.

[@chappie_nottherobot]

REC is one of the best found footage films, whereas Quarantine felt more Hollywood in its approach to me. Quarantine isn’t bad, just more generic.

[@citric1]

I actually saw this movie when it was just a screener in los angeles at a small theater and no one knew anything about it, the audience was flippin the f out not knowing it was fake at the time, quite the experience.

[@owalover]

When this came out, my parents went to see it, and when they got back, they said it was the scariest movie they'd ever seen. Wouldn't let my sis and I watch it until I was an early teen. When they finally let us, I thought it was incredibly boring and hard to watch. My dad swore that we were scared but I find it to be kinda awful.

[@NoiseFetish]

Funny story #1: This movie had an official "soundtrack" which was sold as "Josh's Blair Witch Mix" and contained the music that was supposedly on the tape left in the car stereo. Which is kinda hilarious cause the movie has no music. But... It came with tons of GREAT tracks from Skinny Puppy, Lydia Lunch, Public Image Ltd. Laibach, Bauhaus, Front Line Assembly, The Creatures, etc. and was my introduction to the first three artists. I kinda miss that era where you could discover new music this way cause all the "music from and inspired by" compilations they were putting out had tons of alternative, metal, rock, electronic, goth and even industrial music. Sidenote: this is why first Tomb Raider movie is better than the 2nd one (even though 2nd one is better in terms of plot/structure), it simply has tons of great tracks in it whereas the sequel was more of a "cinematic score" kinda deal. Can we go back to having The Prodigy or, dunno, something more modern like Electric Callboy suddenly pop up in the middle of an action sequence? :D Funny story #2: This came out on the very SAME night as Southpark The Movie in Poland and that's how I watched them. Blair Witch and then Southpark. Couldn't have been different moods. I wasn't really scared though. I was more freaked out about the fact that I was (for the first time) sitting in the front row of the cinema's balcony which had really short railing, so short that if I tripped I'd fall over into the chairs below and my mind was more focused on what would be left from my body and would I survive etc. than the movie. Although I do feel the movie did contribute to that feel. Anyway, I made sure to always sit in 2nd or 3rd row of the balcony since that day (up until they closed that old cinema... which is a shame cause I have fond memories of that place). Anyway, while not impressed initially, the movie did grow on me over the years (partly cause the related merchandise helped me discover more good music and partly due to what the movie actually achieved and how it was made and promoted).

[@henrymccoig2440]

One of the most disappointing experiences I've ever had at the cinema. About as scary as eating in ice cream.

[@BillTheScribe]

I'm effectively immune to supernatural horror. My wife loves/hates being scared. We rented this, which makes the shaky-cam much less intrusive. Not long after, we had some friends rent a house with a basement. They invited us over for a tour, but my wife had already been there. I started down the stairs and found that the people who lived there before "decorated" the walls by letting their three kids dip their hands in paint and putting hand prints all along the wall. I called up, "Has been down here?" I heard from the top of the stairs" "Half way."

[@melvasaiel]

This is one of the only movies to genuinely creep me out, because it never *shows* the scary thing. And also I do go camping in the woods alone sometimes, and the way they filmed this in the actual woods means that the sounds and the imagery are very authentic. PS, I love your shirt, and I'm actually baking cinnamon rolls right now while watching this reaction.

[@jkp41978]

This was filmed close to my house. The house was an actual abandoned house, not a set. They demolished it soon after because it was in bad shape and people were trespassing on the property from what I remember.

[@DerangedCoconut808]

this movie made so much movie with such a small budget. it was impressive what this did and how it held the audience in awe.

[@wolfman-up7dh]

Super underrated acting. This movie is ALL acting, and it sells everything so well.

[@coffeefan]

"If my mother had wheels, she'd be a bicycle" I got the reference! Poor Geno, don't mess with an Italian man's recipe by suggesting bacon.

[@3DJapan]

Gilligan's Island only ran for 3 seasons but the reruns lasted for decades, all through the 70s and 80s. 6 people on a tour boat get stranded on an island. Ridiculous hijinks ensue while they live on the island for years.

[@deadstellarengine]

I was actively working in the movie business in Hollywood when this film came out. It worked perfectly. At a BBQ someone told us about a rumor about finding footage and so, when seeing it in a theater, it was sooooo real. We only found out later it was fiction. Regardless the cast was not aware of the crew screwing with them at night, etc. really well done.

[@txlyons2937]

Blair Witch Project and Schindler's List are the only two movies I've ever seen where there was _dead silence_ in the movie theater throughout the whole runtime. You could have heard a pin drop in the theater.

[@juantwotree5710]

I wish I was old enough when this first came out. The marketing of it being a real "found footage" documentary. Watching this with that in mind must've been awesome.

[@ThistleAndSea]

Fun one, you two! I remember when this came out, it was all the rage. Nobody had seen anything like it before. Thanks for sharing it. 🙂

[@jimihart9391]

Yeah I remember watching this on either VHS or when it aired on TV. So even though it was a while after it came out in theatres (back in the day it used to take longer for films to be released on VHS, and even longer for TV) … so even tho it was a while after initial release, such was the infancy of the internet and “viral campaign”, I was still under the impression it was real footage. Did not sleep well for a while after.

[@scottpoyer5678]

There's another great found footage film that came out about a year before this called The Last Broadcast about a group of filmmakers searching for the Jersey Devil. It seemed like The Blair Witch people saw that and thought 'We could do that better'.

[@jonwright6472]

I remember this coming out as it was pre-internet and VHS. People really did think this was real since it was much harder to reach others. I think people also kinda wanted it to be real.

[@chuckh4077]

I wanted it to be real because me and my friends were going to pack up and go hiking in those woods to hunt that witch.

[@TreyBlythe]

I saw this first show opening day so I had all day for this movie to stew in my head. When I went to bed that night and closed my eyes all I could see was Mike standing in the corner. I slept with the light on for a couple of days.

[@xenontouchstone]

A year before the Blair Witch another film was released called The Last Broadcast, similar premise about a group of documentary people going out into the woods and only the camera footage being found later. That film only made 4 mil world wide, but then they didnt do the genius marketing that Blair Witch did.

[@BB13131313]

This film is all about the theater of the mind.. it was truly a groundbreaking film at the time..

[@MikeMozzaro]

Don't worry Simone; I knew who you were talking about at the start~ Philomena is a wonderful interviewer XD

[@offworld_coop]

"Omg wtf is that? Wtf is that!" That my friends is the sound of the incomprehensible. Seeing something there are no words for. Gnarly af lmao.

[@johnmaynardable]

I know everyone behind the camera on this film. I am an actor born and raised in Orlando, FL, and everyone went to film school in Orlando. So I worked with them on their student films and their independent projects. I moved to Los Angeles in 1996 to further my film career and 3 years later they put this movie out. I did get a piece of it when they sold the film to Showtime and agreed to make 2 side films exapanding the myhtology. I had the lead in the film called The Burkittsville 7 which you can watch on KZbin. It was directed by the guy that made all of the stick figure totems for the film. His name is Ben Rock and he's a really cool guy.

[@TruthDojaShow]

I knew one of the guys that was involved in this from full sail University in orlando. This was one of if not the first major found footage film which paved the road for every one since, but the marketing was so well done that even news outlets were reporting it as real. It was real found footage from a missing persons case. It was in the 90s but it was amazing how it took everything by storm. If it wasn't for the fact that I knew the people making it I would have also believed the hype because it hadn't been done before.

[@Peg__]

Pre-internet pre mobile phone, marketing was genius! As a teenager, for the first time, I was scared of the forrest that's on my farm after this movie. Then my friends who've never been in any woods before, wanted to come over to my house after going to the movie, cause they knew I'd be able to find them if they got lost. They wanted the experience without the risk. 🤭Except I sent my farm neighbor friends to keep an eye on them. 🤫 I never told my schoolmates. Their stories circulated the hallways at school, and I figured they were freaked out by the unseen noises the farm kids made walking the fence- line. - Only 2bffs from my current school at the time, knew of and interacted with my other friend group of my farm friends that I used to go to rural school with, prior to my new school. I accidentally created a "catch the flag" game between Public vs. Private school teens in the woods that night. The stuff we did for entertainment 😅