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[SapphiCine]

These impressions are not encouraging. I found The Guest to be kind of weak and You're Next has some noticeable flaws despite really liking it.

 

[GhaleonEB]

I'm reading reviews now, which I avoided before seeing it. So far, I think the Vox review nailed it on the head, for the most part. (I thought they did a good end-around the problem of why characters would keep filming, by using the cameras they wear.)

The author uses the drone as an illustration of the film's overall failings, a potentially interesting and compelling element that is underutilized and ultimately pointless in the story.

I didn't hate this film, in the sense that I don't regret seeing it. But it was frustrating to see so much potential wasted, so many unforced errors. Oh well.

It showed it

Spoiler

sticking out of her wound and resembled a stick or piece of wood, or even a weed. That's just what I saw anyway

.

Interesting. It's one of the things I want to see better when it hits video.

 

[EmpressInYellow]

The author uses the drone as an illustration of the film's overall failings, a potentially interesting and compelling element that is underutilized and ultimately pointless in the story.

I feel sort of vindicated at how many people keep pointing that out. It really was a missed opportunity.

Incidentally, Mark Kermode's review is up, and I think it's pretty fair. He's on the record as being basically done with found footage stuff, but he LOVED the original, so it's interesting to see his reaction.

 

[msdstc]

So let's start this shit off. I will spoiler this review, and by that I mean it will spoil the entire film. It's not coming out until September, so be warned.

I went with an audience that was probably 80% newbies and 20% Blair Witch fans. I was surrounded by newbies, and so the whole experience was like seeing the original film for the first time. The olden fans lost their shit at EVERY reference and the newcomers were just scared shitless.

Spoiler

We start on a black screen. Then, the original legend of the first film appears, but with an altered ending telling us that this happens in 2014. Now, we all expected the Blair Witch connection to come in maybe halfway, maybe seep in earlier, but no. the VERY FIRST THING WE SEE is the film going "Hi, it's a fucking sequel".

Then the film slams into the first scene, which deeply resembles the last scene of the first film. We see the old, familiar architecture of the cabin, we see the handprints on the walls. We hear Heather as she frantically runs up floor after floor, scared out of her mind over what we can only assume is what happened in the basement.

The audience at this point - look, if we were allowed to jizz on the movie screen, we would have, okay? Here we were, expecting a film with storytelling and atmospheric connections at best, and what we were seeing was a direct continuation of our beloved first film. No Jefferey Donovan bullshit where it starts as a fauxmentary and then shifts, this was fucking Heather being chased by the Blair Witch back in 1999.

Then.... THEN.... she runs into a room and locks the door. Something begins tearing the door down. She quickly turns.

And that's when we see her.

The Blair Witch.

A blurry shot in a mirror, but we see her.

Now, I'm going to come back to this whole segment later, because it is important in the later context of the film, but all you need to know right now is that the camera shifts and then we realize that we're really just seeing a YouTube video, an upload of the original footage. But wait, you ask, how can their be uploaded footage if the camera was in the house?

PATIENCE, MOTHERFUCKERS.

The protagonist, Josh (no, not that one), turns to the camera and starts rapidly talking about how he thinks that is his sister. We are now filming in HD. Josh (I forget exact names so I'll be telling you when it's only an assumed name) has been mounting an expedition for days, and his friends Lily, Ashley, and Peter are going to help him find his sister in the Blair Woods.

It's going to work out fine.

All four of the friends have completely realistic characterizations, and I really like the friendship between Peter and Josh. Lily has a weird subplot of actually making a movie about the Blair Witch that really goes nowhere, but at least the scenes revolving around it serve to flesh out the character relationships. Ashley is clearly the most underdeveloped, but she's just meant to be Witch Fodder anyway.

They have Go-Pros. They have a Drone. They have headsets with mini-flashlights. The tech in this movie gives it an entirely different feel, and allows the film a lot more freedom in "cutting to the next scene" that the original did not have nor need. But this being clearly a new Blair for a new generation, the added contextual cinematics work.

We get to Burkittsville. We get backstory as to what actually happened after Heather's crew vanished. Turns out, Peter's dad was in the sheriff's department and took a young Peter out to the woods on one of the searches. So Peter, above everyone in the group, refuses to believe in the Witch simply because he's camped out in the woods before.

Peter actually has the best lines in the entire film. "Was I out drinking a lot of alcohol the night before filming? Because that's exactly what I feel like".

First stop: the house of the people that found the tape. Enter Lane and his girlfriend, Tara, who is completely drugged out but is fairly intelligent when she's not a flower child. Lane is one of those Blair Witch Fanatics that we met in Book of Shadows. He's basically the Jeff Donovan of the group.

Also, has a HUGE confederate flag draped across the living room wall. Peter takes one look at this and gives the camera the best "fucking really?" look of exhaustion.

Lane basically wants to go out to the woods with them. He wants to find - wait for it - the BLAIR WITCH. The only time the creature is name-dropped in the film. Josh's group talks about it for a bit, and they agree. Lane makes a joking comment about how maybe he's "bringing you out there for the Witch". Lane, you're not Petyr Littlefinger. This isn't Game of Thrones. Stop it.

Peter makes another comment about how he's still alive even though he's spent a night in the woods. Lane responds that "you're going back, right?". Seriously, Lane, take a fucking class in deception. Jesus.

We get to the woods, and pass a tree with a sign that reads "NO ENTRY BEYOND THIS POINT AFTER NIGHTFALL". So, here's my thing: it's pretty clear that the residents of Burkittsville believe in the Blair Witch, but it's still nice to see things like this where we are reminding of that.

Lane shows them the tree where the tapes were found. Yeah, we know that's bullshit.

They get to a river that they need to cross. Tara retells the story of how a hand came out of the water to drag a girl in. This time, as they are crossing, Ashley sprains her ankle on a rock, with the implication being that the Blair Witch grabbed her.

Campfire scene, where we get a brief recap of the first film's legend from Tara. Lane pipes in with some weird theories about how the woods actually work, and then goes on in detail to describe how Elly Kedward was actually killed - by having rocks tied to her limbs. So now we have the second idea of what Kedward looks like.

Josh wakes up to branches snapping and echoing throughout the woods. Then far-off wolves howling. Just like in the first film. I can't tell you how awesome that was. Josh gets out of his tent and is gonna break all them rules of horror films. He asks Peter and Ashley if they want to help look for Lane, as he is apparently missing, and they both say no. Lily will help him though. After a fun trek through the woods amid all the branch breaking and howling (which seems to only get more constant the deeper they go), Lane comes walking out of the woods, saying that he was trying to find out where it was coming from.

Josh and Lily go back to their tent and decide that sex will stop the wolves from howling.

The next morning, as he is dressing, Josh skillfully evades a dick pic. Walking outside, he notices that there are weird stick figures everywhere. Now, it's almost like the Blair Witch couldn't get enough stick figures and just went to town. It was like she had JUST finished art school and was not yet settled into complacency of the real world. Ashley is freaked out, and her foot keeps inconsistently going from good to FUCK IT HURTS. Lily uses the Drone to fly up as high as possible.... only they can't see anything. They don't see their cars, they don't see the walkway back, they don't see a cabin. Just trees. Suddenly, the Drone short circuits and falls, landing in a tree some ways off.

The gang wants to get the fuck out of there, so they do. Lily, however, isn't buying it. She finds rope and sticks in Lane's backpack, and Tara is more than willing to confess that they did it just to scare them all away from the woods. This leads into a fairly comical scene in which Lane is pleading to find the Witch, and Peter keeps chasing after him each time the guy tries to turn around. After Lane and Tara are gone, Peter goes "okay, so I'm far less scared about camping out in the woods now".

Back at the campsite, they find that all the stick figures are gone. All of them. The group thinks this is weird, but doesn't really ponder it too much. Ashley's foot goes shitty again, so they decide to stay in the general area. Peter looks at Ashley's wound, and watches as something tries to exit the flesh.

Night two. Peter decides to take a piss, which is not the best idea, as it is also the first night that the Witch decides to be a little more active. Peter goes out to pee, when he hears twigs snapping. Then he hears pounding. Then the ground starts shaking like it's an earthquake. He bolts. And a tree falls on him. Leading into one of the best sequences, which is a series of quick cuts between Peter's Go-Pro and Josh's, as the latter runs frantically to him and the former hears.... growling. And something slamming the ground. Hard. It slams again. Again.

We cut to Josh, who gets to the tree, only to find Peter's Go-Pro and flashlight. He calls out to his friend, and his walkie-talkie bursts to life with static. Then it goes silent.

Back at the camp, Lily is watching a Go-Pro that she has attached to a tree. In the background, we see Ashley's tent. This scene is so effective because the entire time, we're expecting to see something happen, such as Ashley get up or for her to die or something. Nothing.

Josh returns, and they decide to go to sleep. Lily and Josh do some couple cuddling.

7am, but it's still dark as fuck out. Now there are stone formations around the camp. That's when they see Lane and Tara wandering around in the trees. Turns out, Lane and Tara have been going in curcles for the past five days. FIVE DAYS. When, for Josh and the rest, it's only day three. Lane and Tara both look like they have been through some shit. Tara wants to stay with the group, but Lane, ever the Master of Whisperers or whatever Varys does on Game of Thrones, screams at her "THEY ARE ALL GOING TO DIE". He then adds "AND THEY WILL NEVER LEAVE".

That last part is interesting to me, as it is never brought up again and could also explain the child voices we hear in BWP1.

Ashley does not like Tara. She thinks it is all a joke. This doesn't go so well when she snaps a stick figure in two - a stick figure that Tara was just looking at, since it seems to have a piece of her sweater wrapped around it.

So Tara's dead. Tara's like, she's on the floor in two pieces like a dead cheerleader. Everyone is freaking the fuck out - but even more so when Ashley's tent decides it is time to fly to the moon accompanied by a rather loud T-Rex roar. Everyone bolts as the geround shakes, wolvs start howling, and we get ground slams all over. It's like the Witch just went "okay, yeah, then I can do this and this and this - FUCK IT WE'LL DO IT LIVE". Ashley is trying to run one way but her tent slams down in front of her, seemingly failing in its attempt to escape the Earth's stratosphere.

The group splits up: Ashley running one way, Lily and Josh running the other because they can still bone if neither of them die.

Ashley falls over and her leg is now producing maggots. She also begins to pull something else out that looks like hair, but we cut right as she screams and it is coming out. Josh and Lily are running, but then the walkie-talkie flares up. They hear Peter, but then they hear.... growling.

Ashley is walking along, and she sees blinking up ahead. It is the Drone! She begins climbing the tree on one leg, and almost falls. She gets to the Drone, but something PULLS her out of the tree. The Go-Pro lands and her feet, as we then see her get pulled out of view.

Josh and Lily find Rustin Parr's cabin. They SEE HEATHER at the top corner window. Lily, now fully understanding that they are being led to the cabin, tells Josh not to go, that they are being played. Josh runs into the cabin - only for the door to slam shut behind him. He chases someone that looks a fucking lot like Heather Donahue through the cabin, which never seems to end. He just keeps running through hallways. Then, it becomes clear to him that something is chasing him, and he barricades himself in a room upstairs.

Then he sees her.

The Blair Witch.

But only for a split second, and this time not as the blurred image of the opening, but as a stereotypical old, long-haired woman.

Cut to Lily, who hears growling and decides to take her chances in the cabin. This time, there is a doorway that was not there when Josh walked in. It leads to the basement. She walks down the steps.

Peter is facing the corner.

Then someone attacks her - it is Lane. Peter is no longer there. Lane, Hand of the King, begins shouting, like a Goonie, that he got further than Rustin Parr ever did. That he knows how to stay alive, and he shoves Lily down a trap door. Looking for an escape route, she enters a moss-covered tunnel and ends up getting stuck. Hearing something enter the room behind her, she forces herself to continue, and eventually gets out into another portion of the basement. She begins to pull plywood over the hole so the thing following her can't get out. Then Lane runs down some stairs and attacks her, to which she buries a pair of scissors into his neck.

He should have just fled across the Narrow Sea.

This obviously pisses Kedward off, as Lily is then pursued by something screaming bloody murder. She looks back for a split second.

And sees her.

The Blair Witch.

Only this time, it is the form that Lane talked about, with the rocks having extended her limbs.

Now the segment begins to look A LOT like the beginning of the film. Lily runs into a room, locks the door, and passes a mirror - where we briefly see the form from the opening.

Josh grabs her. He's still alive. They run up some more stairs, and are now in the attic, where some really trippy shit happens. The room brightens, almost as if they are both in a living time-lapse. Then the light vanishes, and we're in a lightning storm. Josh screams some stuff about "confusing" the Witch by both standing in two corners of the attic, so they try that. Josh dies. Lily uses the video camera to try to "see" the Witch as she slowly backs out of the room.

She dies. Credits roll to the sound of rain pounding the roof.

And with that, I'm going to download BWP on Amazon.

That's my review of a scary movie.

Sorry to quote this wall of text... but a ton of what you wrote is simply not what happened in what I saw. I'm assuming they either re-edited parts and changed some stuff, or you just forgot some details for instance.

Spoiler

-Ok so as you mentioned you couldn't remember the names so that explains that, however the first shot you see of the "witch" at least in the cut I saw is never thought to be the witch, he freezes the video and points to the girl and says it looks like heather.

- There was no sex scene in the movie...

- When Lane and the group first split off from eachother, Lane talks about him putting up those figures to help prove that the witch exists and stop people from pretending it doesn't. They kick him and his gf out of the group, but he doesn't keep coming back to plead to find the witch, he's coming back to ask them to go with him, because he needed their GPS to get out of the woods. Another detail is that they slept until 2 PM, which they blame Lane drugging them somehow.

- In the cut I saw they end up at the camp by accident similar to the first movie, they end up walking in a circle and ending up at the camp. WHen they do end up at the camp the stick figure things are still hanging they're not all gone. They're pissed they went in circles, but camp because of Ashley's foot.

- You mention peter walks off to piss, but he actually left in the movie to get firewood to keep it going over night, because Ashley was feeling sick from the infected wound on her foot. Might just be a mix up not a re-cut though.

- When Lane shows up with his GF at 7am with it still dark out they're relieved at first, but then when they talk and say it's been 5 days they start yelling and whatnot. Lane begs his GF not to go with them because it's a trick. She is desperate to stay with them only because it's implied they hadn't eaten in 5 days. She stays for the food. Lane runs off saying that everyone is going to die in those woods, but he won't fall for the tricks and he was going to get out alive.

- When Lisa finally gets to the house with James they go in seperately. James goes in and ends up in the attic not sure of how he got there. Lisa waits as long as possible but is basically forced to go in since she says the witch (slender man thing), behind a tree and runs in. She ends up in the basement where Lane knocks her out with something and drags her to a pit of some sort dug in the ground. She wakes up as he's pushing her in and he pleads for her forgiveness and that he has to do what the witch asks if he wants to live. It sounds like in the version you saw he was playing them from the get go. I think he was in our cut, but it never explicitly says that.

- Also in the cut I saw lisa also escapes through the tunnel stabs Lane in the throat,runs upstairs and ends up in the attack with James. They stare at the same corner of the room, james explains that she can't hurt you if you don't look at her. you say that they were in seperate corners to "confuse her".

- james ends up hearing something lisa can't which is presumably heather talking to him because he's saying "is that you heather", lisa tells him not to turn around, but he does and gets snatched away. She freaks out and uses her camera to see behind her. She can see the room and pans over to see the "witch". She is slowly making her way over to the stairs when she hears what sounds like james saying "I'm sorry Lisa" and she turns around where she gets grabbed, her camera drops and cuts to black.

basically I'm just wondering if you saw a different cut, or if it was just misremembered.

 

[Dabanton]

I think that thing outside of the house was more an illusion than the actual witch used to scare and force the chick inside the house.

I like the idea of the whatever that force is as it seems more powerful than a simple witch just uses proxies like lane to do the physical work while also forcing illusions of things.

 

[Achamian]

Saw it last night and really enjoyed it. Sound design was amazing and for me who didn't find the original scary at all this was scary and a much better made film.

For me paranormal activity is still the scariest film I've seen, original blair witch probably one of the worst films I've ever seen.

 

[msdstc]

I really hate the idea that "if you don't see the witch she can't get you". Like, the filmmakers retroactively are trying to say that Mike sitting in the corner in the original movie was actually just hiding from the witch.

The worst way to ruin tension in a horror movie is to offer explanations when mystery is a thousand times more effective.

I was talking about this, and to be fair I didn't follow the lore as extensively as others... but in the first movie

Spoiler

don't they explain the corner thing? I thought Parr would have the kid face away, because he could "feel their eyes" on him.

You simply disagree. Not everyone was going to love this, just how not everyone loves the original.

I guess... the reviews were unbelievable. A few quotes even had this being a horror game changer, which nothing about this is a gamechanger. There is not 1 unique idea in this movie.

Also can someone tell me what Lane said before he

Spoiler

knocked the girl out and threw her in the hole?

I didn't quite catch it.

Spoiler

he said you like exactly as I remember. It implies that he was in his own timeline and that a lot of time had passed.

 

[brandonh83]

I guess... the reviews were unbelievable. A few quotes even had this being a horror game changer, which nothing about this is a gamechanger. There is not 1 unique idea in this movie.

I loved the movie but that was from Brad Miska who runs Bloody-Disgusting, which also produced V/H/S, of which Adam Wingard did a segment for the second film. He's a fucking hyperbolic tool. I thought it was awesome but it's not some "game changer."

 

[Rumblebones]

Saw this on day of release. I don't remember much of the original and haven't seen the sequel, but I really enjoyed seeing this one with friends. I don't scare easily and hardly ever with horror films, but despite not being scared or jumping once, I do think it's a legitimately scary film and very creepy.

The unknowns in this are also quite good, and as some have pointed out, the sound mixing in particular was very good in building up the suspense and creep factor.

It's rare for me to enjoy horror this much but I'm of the mind to see it again before it leaves theatres.

 

[msdstc]

I loved the movie but that was from Brad Miska who runs Bloody-Disgusting, which also produced V/H/S, of which Adam Wingard did a segment for the second film. He's a fucking hyperbolic tool. I thought it was awesome but it's not some "game changer."

Either way, the initial reviews were very very positive. I know not to take initial reviews too seriously, because more often than not initial viewers don't give themselves time to digest it. Hell even M nights last airbender had a lot of positive thoughts on social media the night of release.

 

[brandonh83]

Either way, the initial reviews were very very positive. I know not to take initial reviews too seriously, because more often than not initial viewers don't give themselves time to digest it. Hell even M nights last airbender had a lot of positive thoughts on social media the night of release.

I agree with the positive reviews (obviously) and can just say up-front Miska's is extremely over the top and maybe even somewhat dishonest.

 

[Citizen_Insane]

I fucking loved this movie. Just got back and can't stop thinking about it. The only legitimately scary movie I've seen in years. I've hated the last few horror movies that I saw based on positive gaf impressions (Babadook, Lights Out), so I guess I'm not surprised that most of the impressions here are negative now! After the scene with

Spoiler

Talia

(you know the one), I was on the edge of my seat until the very end.

Spoiler

Lisa being the tape from the beginning was fucking crazy too.

I'm a big fan of the original and I think you definitely need to have seen that to fully understand what goes on in this. Still, I loved this movie and it blew all my expectations. I thought this would be "okay" at best, but holy shit.

 

[DeathyBoy]

I loved the movie but that was from Brad Miska who runs Bloody-Disgusting, which also produced V/H/S, of which Adam Wingard did a segment for the second film. He's a fucking hyperbolic tool. I thought it was awesome but it's not some "game changer."

I think I'd have enjoyed this more if The Witch had never come out. Then again, I could probably figure out a way they're canonical.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Sorry to quote this wall of text... but a ton of what you wrote is simply not what happened in what I saw. I'm assuming they either re-edited parts and changed some stuff, or you just forgot some details for instance.

Spoiler

-Ok so as you mentioned you couldn't remember the names so that explains that, however the first shot you see of the "witch" at least in the cut I saw is never thought to be the witch, he freezes the video and points to the girl and says it looks like heather.

- There was no sex scene in the movie...

- When Lane and the group first split off from eachother, Lane talks about him putting up those figures to help prove that the witch exists and stop people from pretending it doesn't. They kick him and his gf out of the group, but he doesn't keep coming back to plead to find the witch, he's coming back to ask them to go with him, because he needed their GPS to get out of the woods. Another detail is that they slept until 2 PM, which they blame Lane drugging them somehow.

- In the cut I saw they end up at the camp by accident similar to the first movie, they end up walking in a circle and ending up at the camp. WHen they do end up at the camp the stick figure things are still hanging they're not all gone. They're pissed they went in circles, but camp because of Ashley's foot.

- You mention peter walks off to piss, but he actually left in the movie to get firewood to keep it going over night, because Ashley was feeling sick from the infected wound on her foot. Might just be a mix up not a re-cut though.

- When Lane shows up with his GF at 7am with it still dark out they're relieved at first, but then when they talk and say it's been 5 days they start yelling and whatnot. Lane begs his GF not to go with them because it's a trick. She is desperate to stay with them only because it's implied they hadn't eaten in 5 days. She stays for the food. Lane runs off saying that everyone is going to die in those woods, but he won't fall for the tricks and he was going to get out alive.

- When Lisa finally gets to the house with James they go in seperately. James goes in and ends up in the attic not sure of how he got there. Lisa waits as long as possible but is basically forced to go in since she says the witch (slender man thing), behind a tree and runs in. She ends up in the basement where Lane knocks her out with something and drags her to a pit of some sort dug in the ground. She wakes up as he's pushing her in and he pleads for her forgiveness and that he has to do what the witch asks if he wants to live. It sounds like in the version you saw he was playing them from the get go. I think he was in our cut, but it never explicitly says that.

- Also in the cut I saw lisa also escapes through the tunnel stabs Lane in the throat,runs upstairs and ends up in the attack with James. They stare at the same corner of the room, james explains that she can't hurt you if you don't look at her. you say that they were in seperate corners to "confuse her".

- james ends up hearing something lisa can't which is presumably heather talking to him because he's saying "is that you heather", lisa tells him not to turn around, but he does and gets snatched away. She freaks out and uses her camera to see behind her. She can see the room and pans over to see the "witch". She is slowly making her way over to the stairs when she hears what sounds like james saying "I'm sorry Lisa" and she turns around where she gets grabbed, her camera drops and cuts to black.

basically I'm just wondering if you saw a different cut, or if it was just misremembered.

A lot of that is just you and I phrased things differently.

Spoiler

And there was no sex scene, but they definitely did it. She's naked in his bag.

I based my desire to see this opening night fully on the near universal praise that came from that show, so I just don't understand how there were no voices of dissent.

"Dissent"?

It's a movie, dude. People are allowed their opinions.

 

[-Stranger-]

The way i see it as the Witch isn't a physical force as such.
I think the Woods itself are the Blair Witch and are completely haunted and/or in another dimension of time and space.

 

[HiiiLife]

Spoiler

All you had to do, was not turn around CJ!

Also the amount of loud bangs every time a character touched somebody's shoulder got annoying after the second time.

And I was confused on how the purple haired girl died. Was her stick figure a voodoo doll?

 

[-Stranger-]

All you had to do, was not turn around CJ!

Also the amount of loud bangs every time a character touched somebody's shoulder got annoying after the second time.

And I was confused on how the purple haired girl died. Was her stick figure a voodoo doll?

Spoiler

I interpreted it as because Ashley was infected in the foot with that thing (by the Witch) because she snapped the stick figure Tara died.

 

[msdstc]

Might wanna tag those

 

[HiiiLife]

Spoiler

I interpreted it as because Ashley was infected in the foot with that thing (by the Witch) because she snapped the stick figure Tara died.

I see. If you could remove my quote from yours I'd appreciate it. Figured we could talk about spoilers in a spoiler thread lol.

 

[Badlucktroll]

Huge fan of the original, it's my favorite horror movie. I just saw this one and....



It was fucking horrible, absolutely everything I hate about 95% of horror movies. No subtlety, leaves nothing to the imagination, horrendous unlikable characters, constant loud noises and crappy jump scares.

Spoiler

THEY SHOW THE FUCKING WITCH, FUCKING AMATEURS. She literally looks like the swap hags from Witcher 3. lol

What a garbo movie.

They should've just brought Geralt into the woods with them.

Haha i was thinking about that. I bet Geralt could have stopped the witch.

 

[Oni Jazar]

Saw it and honestly I was expecting worse after the reviews came out this week. It was enjoyable. Not as good as the original of course.

Spoiler

So was the video that led them to the forest the same as the one they were in at the end?

 

[ugoo18]

Good grief this movie was bad, a literal tire fire of hot trash. Literally loud noises and shaky cam the movie, its not only the worst horror movie I've seen this year it's the outright worst movie I've seen this year period. Jump scares for the sake of jump scares and literally no tension throughout the entire movie.

The shaky cam is damm near Taken 3 levels of bad and arguably worse, i came out of this with a headache from watching it. A movie that went for an hour and a half felt like a solid 2 to 2.5 hours+ from how much it dragged and dragged. The antithesis of something like Don't Breathe which while i didn't consider it a horror movie certainly didn't make me feel like i was sitting through a 2/2.5+ hour slog only to have it devolve into a screaming match in the middle of an earthquake.

In a year where something like The VVitch exists and sets such a high bar imo for atmospheric horror and tension, this is simply terrible not only in comparison but as a movie on its own. Is the original Blair Witch like this? I had been planning to watch it before seeing this but time didn't permit. After seeing this though i'd rather not waste my money if the original is basically this but less "modern". I haven't considered walking out of a movie as seriously as i did for this.

 

[DeathyBoy]

Good grief this movie was bad, a literal tire fire of hot trash. Literally loud noises and shaky cam the movie, its not only the worst horror movie I've seen this year it's the outright worst movie I've seen this year period. Jump scares for the sake of jump scares and literally no tension throughout the entire movie.

The shaky cam is damm near Taken 3 levels of bad and arguably worse, i came out of this with a headache from watching it. A movie that went for an hour and a half felt like a solid 2 to 2.5 hours+ from how much it dragged and dragged. The antithesis of something like Don't Breathe which while i didn't consider it a horror movie certainly didn't make me feel like i was sitting through a 2/2.5+ hour slog only to have it devolve into a screaming match in the middle of an earthquake.

In a year where something like The VVitch exists and sets such a high bar imo for atmospheric horror and tension, this is simply terrible not only in comparison but as a movie on its own. Is the original Blair Witch like this? I had been planning to watch it before seeing this but time didn't permit. After seeing this though i'd rather not waste my money if the original is basically this but less "modern". I haven't considered walking out of a movie as seriously as i did for this.

I don't see how this is even close to how awful Friend Request was.

 

[ugoo18]

I don't see how this is even close to how awful Friend Request was.

Haven't seen Friend Request, if it's worse than this then i'll steer clear of it. From what i've seen this year so far this was the worst though.

 

[Badlucktroll]

I know this movie solved alot of mysteries, but, about the blair witch symbol, i kind of got the impression that the symbol is actually

Spoiler

the makeshift rack that elly kedward was put on

Anyone else get this impression?

 

[TLS Lex]

The original came out when I was 9/10 years old and young enough to believe/ be scared of all the marketing. The stick figure symbol used to freak me out so much. When I eventually watched the original when I was 13 or so, I thought it was excellent. I've always enjoyed people's interpretations of what happens and why to the original three characters.

Honestly, I was terrified while watching this. A big part of that is being a fan of the creep factor and general atmosphere of the original. An annoying part of that is the fake-out jump scares for the first third or so of the movie. It gets good when shit actually goes down but I had trouble actually looking at the screen - the sound design was terrifying enough.

Things I liked (I'm terrible with character names so I'm not even guessing them):

Spoiler

- How connected it was to the original
- Some of the characters were interesting and actually likable
- The house was pretty faithfully recreated
- The "trapped in a time bubble" stuff has always been a popular fan theory for the original, it was neat to see that canonized
- The iconic hanging stick figures became super meaningful after a bit of a fake-out
- I feel like the last twenty or so minutes of the movie are genuinely terrifying. It pretty much felt like it was never safe to actually look. The only "breather" you get is the moment she's trying to crawl through the tunnel, and that's a super tense scene for claustrophobic reasons. Reminded me of some of the better done moments from The Descent.
- "It's been 5 days!"
- One of the things I liked about the original was the ebb and flow of "shit goes down at night so it's safe during the day". I was genuinely horrified when they woke up at 7am and it was still dark. I was like "but I'm only halfway through the movie and now there's not going to be any tension release!"

Things I did not like:

Spoiler

- Fake-out jump scares. They're cheap and everyone hates them. Stop it.
- It lacks the subtlety of the original in building tension. It's very in your face rather than allowing the creepier moments to speak for themselves
- While I was impressed with the faithful recreation of the house (and what they did with it), I didn't get the same impression from the woods themselves. There's something that feels very different about these woods vs. the original. It might be the time of year it was filmed, which obviously makes a massive difference to how a forest looks.
- Why does it end in the attic rather than the basement? The mythology in the original makes it clear that shit goes down in the basement, not the attic. Also for some reason I was under the impression that the house didn't have an attic from the original.
- The girl's foot thing. I thought that would go somewhere more interesting than it did. It feels like a dumb contrivance with little pay-off.

Overall it's a weird one, but I did really like it. If you're a fan of the original I'd say definitely see it, but there's no guarantee you'll like it because it lacks the ambiguity the original was known for.

 

[Badlucktroll]

Can someone possible find a screen grab, or take a picture of the witch? I want to study it. I haven't found anything. I think the

Spoiler

hallway

scene would be the most detailed.

 

[fart town usa]

I thought it was great.

Real surprised at the negative reviews, alot of them are coming off as holier than thou film critic stuff.

It's a film about people going into a haunted forest. Of course it's going have certain tropes that cause viewers to question the intelligence of the characters.

I thought it was filmed really well, great sound design, and some really spooky environments.

Snuck into the theater and saw the first as a teenager, I'm 31 now. I much prefer this new one over the first.

Anyone who truly enjoys horror movies should check it out.

Also, the cameras were always on because of the GPS function. The characters established that in the beginning.

Solid film, haters gonna hate.

 

[fart town usa]

Someone asked why it ends in the

Spoiler

attic

and not the

Spoiler

basement

.

The character, layne (?) Said the mythos concerning the witch and the specifics regarding that area haven't been confirmed and there are folklore pointing to both areas.

I thought it was neat.

Also, the way the witch looked, there's also clues to explain that as well if you paid attention. That's my theory at least.

Spoiler

Witch was weighed down with stones on her limbs. That's why the thing in the attic had elongated features.

 

[brandonh83]

I think I'd have enjoyed this more if The Witch had never come out. Then again, I could probably figure out a way they're canonical.

Well that right there is the most severe case of apples and oranges that I could possibly think of.

 

[Riptwo]

Spoiler

I interpreted it as because Ashley was infected in the foot with that thing (by the Witch) because she snapped the stick figure Tara died.

Spoiler

The stick figure had been bound with her hair, which is why she was freaking out. Because of that, it seemed to work like a voodoo doll.

 

[DarkChronic]

Just got back. Let me preface by saying The Blair Witch Project is my favorite horror movie of all time. Spoilers will be blacked out:

Holy shit. What a massive fucking disappointment. It does the EXACT OPPOSITE of everything that made the first film so damn good.

The best way I can describe it: in the first movie, the witch felt smarter than the trio. In this movie,

Spoiler

she feels stronger. She no longer is a witch - she's just a monster in the woods. There is no intellect - it's all brute force and stomping around and loud noises/shrieking and knocking down trees. There is nothing eerie. There is nothing sinister. There is nothing off. It's just some alien looking monster hunting prey.

Don't get me started on the amount of lame jump scares. Just awful.

There is no subtlety at all to this movie. It brute forces its way down your throat the entire time. What a bummer.

 

[Levito]

Is the original Blair Witch like this? I had been planning to watch it before seeing this but time didn't permit. After seeing this though i'd rather not waste my money if the original is basically this but less "modern". I haven't considered walking out of a movie as seriously as i did for this.

Well if you look at the responses from fans of The Blair Witch Project, most of us are saying this was like an awful Hollywood remake of the original. This new film had no subtly whatsoever.

 

[Megalosaro]

I saw it yesterday. My friends made an event out of it. We left LA in the early afternoon, drove up to Big Bear and set up camp, then went and saw it at a local theater.

I consider the original Blair Witch to be a masterpiece. I think it's the only found footage movie that has actually felt genuine, probably because of how low budget it is. To me, what made that movie work so well was how well it captured true and utter despair. I've to this day never seen anything like that.

Regarding this movie: I liked it. I'd give this a 7/10. I'm going to get my issues out of the way first though. There was definitely some things I didn't like.

First and foremost: I don't think they were out in the woods long enough. There should have been another relatively normal day of them being hunted and fucked with. Instead, there was one chill day, a fucked up night. A half day, and then the second night when everything hit the fan. Because of this, I don't think the tension built as well as it did.

My second problem is Ashley's fate. To me, this felt like something they changed last minute. There was something they were building up there, with her foot and the body horror stuff. Then you have the moment where ... I think her name was Lisa? The main girl... She was setting up cameras on a tree and she could see the stuff behind her and then Ashley pops up behind her without any warning. Then you have the moment where Talia sees her and starts freaking out. Anyway, there was..something going on there that was potentially interesting, and then they ended up giving her a pretty dumb death. It's like they had a focus test watch the movie, they didn't like what they saw so they came up with something else last minute. A shame. All that build up with no pay off IMHO.

There was minor instances of bullshit. A few too many times where someone will run into something else, but otherwise those are my major gripes.

Things I did like... The "time distortion" stuff was pretty cool, conceptually. The "endless night" stuff was pretty cool. Just wished it happened on day 4. There was also other little moments that I thought was pretty neat too, like the voodoo doll fate. In fact, I really liked the characters of Talia and Lane. It was a good idea having locals come with them, I felt. And with regards to Lane, it was especially neat having a throw back to Rustin Parr.

Regarding showing the witch... I would have been okay with them not showing the witch, but I can see why they did. After 2 (or 3 if you count the one sequel that sucks really bad), I can't blame them for succumbing.

One thing I thought was a neat idea was the very last moment, with Lisa using the camera as a way to navigate without looking at the witch. It kind of reminded me of the Medusa story a bit. Kind of cool. I think they should have had the witch fuck with her more though. Not given in on the first try.

One thing I have a question about though. When Lane attacks Lisa.. I thought I heard him say "She was going to let you go. She only needed 5" or something of that sort. Did I hear that right?

 

[User 479360]

I really liked the

Spoiler

time distortion element

as well.

It's a solid 6.5-7/10 which is a B here, but I was hoping for a bit more with the 9/10 review(s).

 

[scoobs]

Thought this movie REALLY sucked ass. Director took zero chances here, super disappointed pretty much across the board.

Really can't believe the amount of completely unnecessary jump scares. Any horror movie that resorts to that shit better have earned it, and this one most definitely did not.

 

[brandonh83]

Since we're doing open spoilers now, to address them showing the witch... to me they really didn't. I don't know how canon those PC games were, but those had other creatures in the woods. I kind of liken it to Silent Hill, where... you just don't really know what the fuck you're seeing. There's a few moments in the cabin where you see someone clambering around a bit very briefly, to me it looked like an old woman with a hunchback while walking around. I thought that was the brief glimpse at Kedward, and the monster(s) you see aren't necessarily her. Or it could be her taking on those more intimidating forms.

Either way, yeah, they show stuff, but I don't really feel as though I saw too much. I saw things that I can speculate about but I don't think it's as simple as "welp there's the witch all spoiled for us now." I felt like things were still ambiguous enough and I can't help but appreciate that. It's not like they went full on camera with the witch proper.

Sidenote: I usually hate cheap jumps and yes this movie had them, but in this case I thought that since the movie was incredibly dark and brutal that the fake scares were meant as fun little ways to alleviate tension and there certainly was not a lack of the real deal. So I give it a pass. IIRC it was mostly in the first half with a few more occurrences later. Not really a big deal to me. If the entire movie were that with nothing else going on, I'd have been pissed but that wasn't the case for me.

I think it's definitely a movie I'm going to buy and revisit, as I thought there were a lot of interesting details and the narrative wasn't too explicit by what was actually happening. There was a lot of ambiguity as I mentioned and that's all I really wanted from it.

 

[Junior Asparagus]

A lot of that is just you and I phrased things differently.

Spoiler

And there was no sex scene, but they definitely did it. She's naked in his bag.

Was she? I totally missed that, if so. I didn't notice any kind of sexual overtones in the movie at all.

Anyway, for all that everyone is talking about how they showed the witch, I feel like it was done pretty effectively. It was only for a split second each time--I don't even remember what it looked like it my head, since it's was just a quick flash and there was so much going on.

 

[msdstc]

Was she? I totally missed that, if so. I didn't notice any kind of sexual overtones in the movie at all.

Anyway, for all that everyone is talking about how they showed the witch, I feel like it was done pretty effectively. It was only for a split second each time--I don't even remember what it looked like it my head, since it's was just a quick flash and there was so much going on.

She wasn't from what I remember as well.

Spoiler

I thought there was some "tension" they address a few times, like when she first ends up in his tent and she wants to make it clear to peter she had only just got in there. Then there was when he was leaving the tent he told her to wait in his tent for him. Then there was the part where he was telling her to calm down and they were just staring at eachother.

 

[CharminUltra]

Finally saw it.

The final 10 minutes were actually not bad, but overall it was disappointing. Like a sloppier, louder, more bloated BWP sprinkled with jump scares.

 

[Bustanen]

Just got back from the theatre and it was disappointing to say atleast. It was okay till

Spoiler

the tents start flying and trees come crashing down left and right.

The latter part felt rushed and too samey to the original. The ending was just lame,

Spoiler

why make the girl go through tunnels and shit when you know she's going to die anyway? The witch.. why even show her if she looks like a generic video-game monster.
And the black guy dieing first, what is this? Scary movie?

5/10

 

[brandonh83]

Just got back from the theatre and it was disappointing to say atleast. It was okay till

Spoiler

the tents start flying and trees come crashing down left and right.

The latter part felt rushed and too samey to the original. The ending was just lame,

Spoiler

why make the girl go through tunnels and shit when you know she's going to die anyway? The witch.. why even show her if she looks like a generic video-game monster.
And the black guy dieing first, what is this? Scary movie?

Spoiler

Lisa had anxiety. There's a scene where James has to take a minute to calm her down because she's about to pass out from it. When you have panic attacks your heart starts beating out of your chest and you can't breathe very well. Putting her through the tunnel was meant to evoke a strong sense of claustrophobia which is pretty much the single most ruthless thing you can do to someone with anxiety. It was both building tension as she had anxiety, as well as not having any appearances or anything happening as she's crawling through-- but there could have been. It was unpredictable, which added to the claustrophobia and anxiety. Something could have come around the corner or behind her, and she couldn't really see shit. I can't imagine how horrifying that must have been and I pretty much felt it along with her.

And I can tell you up front, as someone suffering from anxiety, that shit was effective and personally an endurance test for me.

I don't think the "generic video game creature" was the witch. It could have been her taking on another form or something, but you also see an old woman in the cabin that was very short and hunched over. I think that was the witch proper.

To your last point, that's racist. is it a horror cliche? Yeah, but I don't think that just because he was black that he wasn't allowed to die first, and on top of that, he didn't die first. We saw him in the cabin at the end. It could have been visual trickery or this or that, but we didn't actually see him die when the tree fell. You could argue about it either way I guess, as like many other things in the film, it's pretty much left up to speculation and personal deduction. The first legit OKAY THAT JUST HAPPENED death was Talia

 

[Bustanen]

Spoiler

Lisa had anxiety. There's a scene where James has to take a minute to calm her down because she's about to pass out from it. When you have panic attacks your heart starts beating out of your chest and you can't breathe very well. Putting her through the tunnel was meant to evoke a strong sense of claustrophobia which is pretty much the single most ruthless thing you can do to someone with anxiety. It was both building tension as she had anxiety, as well as not having any appearances or anything happening as she's crawling through-- but there could have been. It was unpredictable, which added to the claustrophobia and anxiety. Something could have come around the corner or behind her, and she couldn't really see shit. I can't imagine how horrifying that must have been and I pretty much felt it along with her.

And I can tell you up front, as someone suffering from anxiety, that shit was effective and personally an endurance test for me.

I don't think the "generic video game creature" was the witch. It could have been her taking on another form or something, but you also see an old woman in the cabin that was very short and hunched over. I think that was the witch proper.

To your last point, that's racist. is it a horror cliche? Yeah, but I don't think that just because he was black that he wasn't allowed to die first, and on top of that, he didn't die first. We saw him in the cabin at the end. It could have been visual trickery or this or that, but we didn't actually see him die when the tree fell. You could argue about it either way I guess, as like many other things in the film, it's pretty much left up to speculation and personal deduction. The first legit OKAY THAT JUST HAPPENED death was Talia

Spoiler

Yeah I get that they wanted to invoke claustrofobia but the whole struggle felt unnecessary in the end. Must have missed the old woman completely lol.
And was it really Peter at the end? He vanished split second later as the other guy turned around.

 

[brandonh83]

Spoiler

Yeah I get that they wanted to invoke claustrofobia but the whole struggle felt unnecessary in the end. Must have missed the old woman completely lol.
And was it really Peter at the end? He vanished split second later as the other guy turned around.

Spoiler

I thought it worked as it's a horror movie and the scene was scary. Maybe it didn't do anything for you and that's okay, but I thought it was pretty horrific. That's going to differ between people. I also thought it was a great character thing, like instead of the witch and this or that, it played on her basic fears. You could even go to the extent of thinking that maybe the witch knew she had anxiety/claustrophobia and had Lane throw her in there to force her through the tunnel as a way to keep fucking with her. More than just being supernatural, these movies are also very psychological.

 

[SlasherJPC]

My thoughts from facebook:

"Alright... so Blair Witch... first, I enjoyed the first film, the blair witch project, especially at the time. It was effective in scaring me with the idea and at the time, was touted as real, so it's lack of pay off or resolution felt right. Part 2, meh, sorta interesting but really felt seperate from the first and didn't hold a candle to it.

That said, I walked out of Blair Witch almost having a full blown panic attack. Let me preface that, I do indeed suffer from anxiety disorder and panic attacks are nothing new to me, but there came a point and time where I literally wanted to run out of the theater to collect myself and just breath. I managed to calm down a bit even though by this point the movie was in full gear forward.

I can't say this movie resolved any better then the original but what it did do was effectively retain the spirit of the first and collectively push it into over drive by about 2/3rd in. One of the biggest issues I've heard of with the original is. It didn't show anything. Well this one totally does but I don't think it over does it. I'll say nothing more on that so I don't spoil it for people.

I know these flicks are an aquired taste and I have a soft spot for this genre, but this was entertaining for me all around and made me almost flee the theater. Which I've never done to this day, but this is the closest I've ever got to it."

I'll add, this movie truly makes me feel the woods have a strong evil presence, who's to say it's the witch that did it, or the woods simply using that horrific moment to spread the lore. That's what I find so fascinating. There is no rules, aside from the corner, don't look. Who knows why the trees fall, what the roars are, why tents go flying, why sticks can kill, it's fascinating.

 

[brandonh83]

I'm sure it's gonna sound like hyperbole to some, and we're not saying that the movie is so scary that it gave us panic attacks, just that certain situations can be a trigger for that and I totally felt it too.

It was also the motions of the cameras and the sound design that greatly contributed. Most people complain that shaky cam makes them motion sick, for me it added to the disoriented nature of it all.

I'll add, this movie truly makes me feel the woods have a strong evil presence, who's to say it's the witch that did it, or the woods simply using that horrific moment to spread the lore. That's what I find so fascinating. There is no rules, aside from the corner, don't look. Who knows why the trees fall, what the roars are, why tents go flying, why sticks can kill, it's fascinating.

I agree with this. The only answer I need is that those are some fucked up woods. That's good enough. It's like how I don't need an answer for everything that I see or that transpires in Silent Hill. It's also a psychological journey where the evil permeating the location is just doing whatever it wants to with it, and makes people see different things. Like you have the time vortex stuff, the characters that went missing for weeks but it was only a day or two to the other characters, etc. It doesn't explain much and certainly doesn't put anything on a silver platter.

 

[Inuhanyou]

Uhhh....ok. This is my first time hearing about a Blair witch sequel, so i load up the trailer and......my god.

Its like the blair witch has essentially become a parody of itself. All of the modern shitty movie tropes that movies like Blair witch actually came up with and were kinda novel at the time because nobody else was doing them are on full display.

We got inception music and horrible dubstep, bad acting, shakey cam, fast cuts, complete shameless rips of scenarios direct from the original movie("we've been walking in a circle!")

Just why

 

[brandonh83]

Its like the blair witch has essentially become a parody of itself. All of the modern shitty movie tropes that movies like Blair witch actually came up with and were kinda novel at the time because nobody else was doing them are on full display.

We got inception music and horrible dubstep, bad acting, shakey cam, fast cuts, complete shameless rips of scenarios direct from the original movie("we've been walking in a circle!")

So it was wrong for them, in a direct follow up, to carry some of those things on. Horror movies of this ilk are always going to have things that you've seen before, but here I thought they were handled well enough and they put a spin on certain things. It's a straight up continuation. It's like how people complain about The Force Awakens being full of Star Wars tropes. If it didn't have them going in circles or other things established by its predecessor, I'd have been bummed, and honestly them going in circles is by no means some huge part of the movie. They do, but there's a lot more to it.

There's also no Inception music in the film Actually speaking of the music, there is a score in place, but it's so very subtle like in the first one. At most you'll get a low-key note being held out but you kind of have to listen for it.

BUT, if you're already being that hard on a trailer, and a lot of trailers suck especially horror movie trailers, there's zero chance in hell you'd like the movie regardless.

 

[Inuhanyou]

So it was wrong for them, in a direct follow up, to carry some of those things on. Horror movies of this ilk are always going to have things that you've seen before, but here I thought they were handled well enough and they put a spin on certain things. It's a straight up continuation. It's like how people complain about The Force Awakens being full of Star Wars tropes. If it didn't have them going in circles or other things established by its predecessor, I'd have been bummed, and honestly them going in circles is by no means some huge part of the movie. They do, but there's a lot more to it.

There's also no Inception music in the film Actually speaking of the music, there is a score in place, but it's so very subtle like in the first one. At most you'll get a low-key note being held out but you kind of have to listen for it.

BUT, if you're already being that hard on a trailer, and a lot of trailers suck especially horror movie trailers, there's zero chance in hell you'd like the movie regardless.

That's just my initial impression having not even known a second sequel to BW even existed before i happend upon this thread not 5 minutes before i posted in it.

I generally dislike sequels of stand alone material, as it takes all the uniqueness and 'first shock' out of it.

Much of the fear factor of the original was that you could not originally tell it apart from actual footage left from a VHS tape, with no explanations whatsoever given inside the movie, or conclusions given about the Witch herself or the invisible force that was taking out these people one by one. Hell most of the original movie wasn't even about the witch, but them getting lost, freaking out about how they lost the map and the subsequent descent into panic and fear as the witch closes in.

You don't even see her anywhere and at any point, and most of the hype and fear was based on the fact that we didn't know if it had really happend or not, atleast until the movie had come out and was a big success.

By putting a face and CG effects on this property, it kinda takes everything out of it, compared to a few students going off in the woods and improvising a lot of the lines and dialogue for a lot of the time.

In the end, they could have just as easily pulled a 'cloverfield' or 'paranormal activity' and made a 'spiritual successor' type work and not brought back the original name just for cynical money and name recognition.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Well that right there is the most severe case of apples and oranges that I could possibly think of.

One is traditionally shot, and the other is found footage, sure. But they're also two films that are about people in the woods, all alone, being terrified by a witch that they at first don't think is real, but is in fact terrorizing them. They are about isolation, sanity, fear and hopelessness.

The Witch leverages its setting to create a strong feeling unease, which rises as the story progresses. It eschews jump scares for atmosphere and tone, letting character relationships fray as tensions rise. The forest itself feels menacing, used an an oppressive, constant presence. The scenes of Caleb alone in the woods are harrowing, for example, because of how it's shot. People try to do the right thing and fail because they are doomed, and simply don't know it.

Blair Witch fails to make use of its setting. The woods themselves never become frightening, which is important since the woods are in part what is contorting around the characters. It resorts to constant manufactured jump scares, as characters defy logic and reason to crash into one another while loud noises come from nowhere and the soundtrack shrieks to accent the moment. Over and over. It fails to build tension, and we don't care what happens to people as their relationships are thinly established. People repeatedly do stupid things despite knowing the danger they are in, making hard to root for them.

The ironic part is, the original Blair Witch Project shares as much in common with The Witch than it does with the new Blair Witch film. It's a different style of film, but one that also takes time to establish its characters and setting. It has enough patience to let its story play out, free from jump scares, instead focusing on slowly rising panic, confusion and dread. It declines opportunities to unnecessarily explain itself. It trusts in its material and setting to frighten. Blair Witch does none of those things, while The Witch did.

It's a fair comparison.