In October of 1994, three student film makers disappeared in the woods near Burkittesville, Maryland. One year later, their footage was found.
Well. This movie was not especially scary. Of course, I've been waiting to see it since I was thirteen and the hype this received was so intense there's almost no way it can actually be as scary as everyone clams it is. It employs psychological terror rather than the visual irons modern horror brand on the dreams of viewers.
The acting is magnificent, or rather, the lack of acting. The three actors were given only a 35-page outline of the background of the story and then set off with their cameras. Most of their lines are completely improvised and their more intense reactions are genuine. Their directors took full advantage of their power and convinced the actors the Blair Witch legend was real, and then proceeded to surprise them on-camera numerous times with stick people, shaking tents and eerie night noises. There may not be monsters jumping out of trees, but the fear in our heroes' eyes are quite haunting on their own.
This movie is interesting to me because it's been copied so much, most recently with Paranormal Activity and to a certain extent, The Fourth Kind. It relies on the raw human emotion of fear that is born in isolation and an unseen threat, not glossy computer effects and a big-budget. It's amateur film making at its best.
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