Le Projet Blair Witch

Un des films les plus innovants et sophistiqués de son genre. Sans même le savoir à l'époque de sa création, il est devenu un succès. Si vous aimez les films d'horreur et que vous voulez avoir peur, vous aurez tout ce que vous souhaitez. (17/05/2003)

Sam Raimi taught us over twenty years ago in Evil Dead that nothing good hides in the dark forests, and The Blair Witch Project adds that the biggest carriers of fear are people themselves. If this film is taken as a pure cinematic experiment that a "serious" filmmaker would avoid, it can be considered a "serious" spectacle. Otherwise, it can be seen quite off because as a whole, this film offers nothing beyond the trio of scared students, plenty of cursing, shaky handheld "eights" and "sixteens," and absolutely nothing else, not even music. Indeed, it's hard to believe that the cracking of branches, unknown giggling, or children's screams can evoke a sense of horror that makes one's hair stand on end. Just as the presentation of The Blair Witch Project is very personal, so too will each viewer's perspective be as personal, because everything there is to love about it can be criticized without any inhibitions. I’m giving it four stars for the original idea and also for the fact that in the final ten minutes, I almost crushed the remote control that I was holding in my hand. (14/08/2005)

This is how a cult is created. With a good idea, a well-thought-out campaign, and an ending that will be discussed long after the credits. I recommend watching it for the first time alone at night, you will never forget it. The final three minutes are still the peak of horror for me. However, even after years, I have no intention of testing the effectiveness of the situation. (24/12/2004)

I didn't find it scary at any point, and let’s not talk about the atmosphere and the actors. But I'm fascinated by how much the filmmakers, on such a non-existent budget backed up by the brilliant website of its time, caught naive people out with a fable about a real documentary. When I was at school, almost everyone believed it. (12/04/2005)

I avoided this movie back when it came out with the thought that it wouldn't be my cup of tea. If I had listened to my instinct, I wouldn't have wasted a few bucks and almost 90 minutes of my precious time. But as years go by, as they say, people become foolish. So I was expecting many things, but I have to admit that I was equally shocked. While watching it, I had to constantly remind myself of the fairy tale "The Emperor's New Clothes", for which I have a personal version based on my own experiences. Once upon a time, in the 80s, a friend came up with the idea of teasing others and pulled out genuine marijuana, when he mixed used tobacco with several terrifying ingredients (yes, even just thinking about it now makes me feel sick) and let others smoke it. Everyone felt incredibly sick, but they all spread rumors that it was an incredibly beautiful experience, and not only that, they even believed it because, over the years, when at least some of them experienced the real taste and effects of marijuana, they still reminisced about their first experience with it. It's a bit like that with this movie, which is one of those that aren't interesting from a cinematic perspective, but rather from reading enthusiastic reviews. This sort of awkwardness isn't even seen in the works of film school students, and the desperate absence of anything that could be called an atmosphere with a large dose of imagination is unbelievable. This film doesn't contain a single interesting shot, a single cinematically interesting moment, or a single acting performance, and the only thing commendable is the marketing, which cleverly utilized the emerging phenomenon of the internet in the 90s to launch its advertising campaign and build a reputation as an independent cult film. After watching it, I had a night shift and climbed up the ladders of the technological shafts of a power plant block, where I didn't encounter a soul all night and only listened to the monotonous sound of fans and operating technological units. Sporadic lighting, insulation, and giant machines. If this film even had a hint of horror potential, I should have at least felt a breeze of fear. But it was nonexistent. This cult completely passed me by, and truth be told, I understand it the least out of all of them. Overall impression: 0%. (14/04/2009)