The Moment of Truth: The Blair Witch Project

[Purge]

One of the very few movies that actually scared me. Great filmmaking.

[JDFP]

BWP, great movie if you're a 12 year old girl. Scariest thing since The Exorcist, what a crock of dookie. Maybe the lack of a payoff would've mattered to me if what led up to it would've been interesting. Guess you can figure how I voted on this poll. I saw it once, that was enough for me. What kind of 'payoff' would you expect though that wouldn't destroy the suspense of the film? In the last minutes as Heather is running around screaming all the sudden you see a CGI-looking witch floating across the ceiling? That would be cheap. You see a bunch of rednecks kill them and then lift up the camera and turn it off -- oh, so the whole thing was just rednecks then? Again, cheap. Anything other than the 'keep you guessing' at the end would seem cheap to me and would have completely ruined the experience of it. I agree with H.P. Lovecraft and others on the issue of horror -- showing too much of anything really cheapens the final product because it can't compare to what could be in your imagination. How could it have ended with satisfying those who were expecting some type of 'payoff' without being cheap Hollywood drivel that's a dime-a-dozen? j.p.

[rongravy]

How could it have ended with satisfying those who were expecting some type of 'payoff' without being cheap Hollywood drivel that's a dime-a-dozen? j.p. Maybe with that naggy beeotch being offed while the guy she nagged for losing the map watched and giggled? I dunno. I just found nothing remotely suspenseful, chilling, freaky... at all leading up to the earlier stated nonpayoff. My hats off to whoever made it for doing it cheap and raking big bucks from it, but that's about it. Didn't like it, and wasn't alone by the end of it. I didn't hear one person gushing all over it like you do, lol. And not just for being gypped out of the payoff, everyone was pissed over the whole enchilada. Seriously, if this hadn't been made, then Paranormal Activity would be my low bar for shitty movies. Pardon my French but je deteste Blair Witch Project.

[DjfunkmasterG]

I personally hate the movie... all the hype and what a complete let down. The last 3 minutes of the film was the only thing worth while but it can not make up for the other 90 minutes of boring melodrama.

[Danny]

loved it then, love it now. but im one of the viewers who can put myself into the shoes more easily- being a film student whos been out filming in the woods and the 'locals' didnt take kindly to it for some reason. i think it was a groundbreaking example of the culmination of a grand digital ARG that has only remotely been replicated in anything similar in marble hornets. for my money i don't think the filmmakers had any concrete definition of what was going on, it looks to me like someone was angry about out of towners making the documentary and fucked with them in the ways the killer rustin parr did in the 60's and the psychos kept escalating it. but in the mindset of a filmmaker i can see the guys started with a novel idea, decided its easier to just leave if obscure and open for the public to decide on the ending so the pay off required little work. that doesnt mean its not good though. i love the ending. it just leaves you going 'what in the fuck?' in the right way and the increasingly tense nature of these 'city kids' so far out of there element, paranoid someone is stalking them day and night who knows the terrain like the back of there hand is really creepy. sure people argue its a witch because the fucking abysmal book of shadows sequel but honestly i never saw this as a supernatural movie. locals fucked with out of towners and went way too fucking far and the preconceptions of the supernatural in the students minset made them all the more terrified and partially the engine of their own demise. but lets face, whats more likely to scare you, running into a ghost or spook in the woods? or a few homicidal "good ole' boys" who made it their business to learn a certain banjo ditty from deliverance?

[Rancid Carcass]

Cannibal >cough< Halocaust >cough<

[SymphonicX]

I thought it was OK. It's worth casting an eye on all the movies made since which draw influence from it. OK so the idea of mockumentary stuff has been around since the War of the Worlds broadcast by Orsen Welles - but this film did bring about a massive slew of "pov" movies....Might I also cast your mind back to....(and I'm sorry for this) Diary of the Dead... What they have all failed to do is deliver a real pay off at the end - but the best of them all, The Blair Witch, has the most satisfying pay off of all these POV movies. All I should have to do is cast your mind back to Paranormal Activity for a let down of an ending. The ending of that movie felt like it should have been ending Act 1, not ending the movie. It had just ramped itself up to be interesting, spending a long time building up tension in clever ways - but it totally lost the plot in the last minute or so, and became a real let down. These POV movies do tend to have shitty endings. But I have to say, for sheer "imagination running wild" moments, TBW beats them all hands down. Truly leaves your mind to fill in small blanks which lead to big tension later on - films like Paranormal Activity don't have that level of making your mind work overtime.

[MoonSylver]

Have to say I preferred the original ending of "Paranormal Activity". While not quite the same level of "payoff" as BW I thought it was up there.

[SymphonicX]

Not seen the original ending myself....don't think I'll ever get round to it either!

[bassman]

I was honestly confused over whether or not Paranormal Activity was a comedy. I was sure that something that funny HAD to be intentional....

[LouCipherr]

I personally hate the movie... all the hype and what a complete let down. The last 3 minutes of the film was the only thing worth while but it can not make up for the other 90 minutes of boring melodrama. This, although even the last 3 minutes wasn't even worth watching, at least not for me. I went to the theater and wasted my money on this film, and I was not pleased. The wife wanted to see it, so we went - what a disappointment for both of us. That being said, what the filmmakers did with this film and what they accomplished is something to commend, however, that doesn't mean it's a good flick.

[blind2d]

I was honestly confused over whether or not Paranormal Activity was a comedy. I was sure that something that funny HAD to be intentional.... This.

[tkane18]

Good but not great for me. The best part was when my wife walked in and asked what I was watching. I started it from the beginning but didn't tell her much about the film. She thought it was a real documentary. About 2 weeks later, we went to a party. She started telling people about the film and that she couldn't believe it really happened. I quickly moved to the other side of the room. When I looked back at her, I could see the daggers flying my way. Needless to say, I did not win Husband of the Year. That's how I'll always remember The Blair Witch Project. I tried this again with her while watching Paranormal Activity on DVD but she caught on when it said Alternate Ending on the DVD menu.

[Doc]

The end keeps you guessing -- there's no clear cut "Oh, it was a bunch of rendecks" or "Oh, it was the witch!" moment. There's no 'big reveal' and I applaud the film for this reason -- I think revealing too much would have destroyed the film for more than one watch. And I especially commend the film on not doing any stupid CGI-looking 'Blair Witch' floating above people or something -- this would have completely destroyed the film. j.p. I personally loved it as well! it managed to do what no horror film has in a while. it actualyl sacred me! I never found the 3 leads particularly annoying, the camers walking up every morning to find something amiss was always interesting, and I personally freaked when the tent was shaken and they run being chased by an unseen entity.

[acealive1]

I was honestly confused over whether or not Paranormal Activity was a comedy. I was sure that something that funny HAD to be intentional....