Bubble Bubble Toil and Trouble. Has Anybody
got any fork of adder going spare? I'm clean
out. After the usual ritualistic ads and trailers,
The Blair Witch Project started.
A bleak title appeared telling us that film
footage, shot by three documentary makers who
had GONE MISSING a year before, had been located.
It was all very unceremonious. No flashy 3D
titles whizzed about the screen. No fancy graphic-designed-to-death
names of famous actors in tower block-sized
letters to match the tower block-sized egos
of said actors. Just jittery, amateurish, white
letters on a square black background.
Tedious background info:
The Blair
Witch Project's budget would buy you
two average cars. At the last count it made
several quadrillion dollars in profit. The film
was made in the most part three young actors
filming one another in an improvised and deliberately
amateurish fashion in the woods.
The Blair Witch Project is an
ultra-cheapo independent film. And it works
surprisingly well. The whole thing was shot
in low-res formats, naturally the formats that
the characters were filming themselves with,
for this is that footage. And in the context
of the film the home-video quality footage was
perfect. The very disadvantages that a nonexistent
budget usually bestows on a film actually works
to its advantage. The camera becomes the viewpoint
of the characters themselves. The rough nature
of the film renders a gravelly edge to all the
emotion.
The protagonists consist of a very loud woman
- we all know the type :) who is the leader
of the pack, a taciturn straight chap and an
(initially) laid back, liquor-suppin, long-haired
beardie. The caboodle kicks of in a jocular
enough fashion. But gradually the crew crack
up, which is pleasing, as I didn't like them
at all when they were full of themselves. Now
he thinks about it, watching their grievous
misfortunes lent a certain guilty pleasure to
the proceedings. After all, we know from the
opening title that they're doomed, never to
return. Poor kids. Hehehe. Hahahahaaaa.
The Blair Witch Project is a horror
film that eschews the empty and increasingly
teen-driven Hollywood mentality. It wouldn't
have worked if made by a studio. It's an independent
film and is free from the increasingly tiresome
self-reference and ridiculous wanna-be-cool
approach of the studios. It's rawness worked
for me. The caveat is that it would probably
be a mistake to venture into the cinema expecting
too much. Something that cost peanuts is always
going to be a bit ragged round the edges and
so not to everyone's liking. Also this film
is much too quirky to be pleasing to everyone's
tastes. It definitely helps if you have an overactive
imagination. But for something so far from the
beaten track as
The Blair Witch Project,
all I can say is that it intrigued me and left
an impression. If nothing else, I suspect that
The Blair Witch Project would
work extremely well on video because of the
rough way it's been shot. It would be perfect
if seen all alone, after midnight, with all
the lights out. Witch is nice. Sorry, wrong
SPELLing.
The better half's preferred ending: The
petrified hikers hear odd noises somewhere in
the woods. Cautiously they approach. Huffing
and puffing, exhausted and fearful and they
stumble across...
the teddies bears having
their picnic.
As
above but then a female bears eat the hikers.
Then the film would then be called "The Bear
Bitch project". Sorry.
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