"The Blair Witch Project" (1999)

[jaragon]

The original found footage horror movie was brilliantly marketed by Lionsgate.  I first saw as bootleg copy that had been leaked to the internet watched it late at night and it did scare the hell out of me. Yes I was fooled into thinking that this was real footage from the trio of doomed young filmmakers that vanished while making a documentary about a legendary witch.  Writers/directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sachez made a a very convincing film. It works better than other found footage movies because the characters do have reason to keep filming even when running from horror.

[Phil Packer]

I liked it and actually saw it in the theatre when it was released. My friend actually believed it was a true story and that it was real found footage. To this day, that last scene haunts me. I remember after seeing this film that I was so jazzed up, I had to put on The Exorcist to relax, lol.

[mrzek]

I consider this an excellent horror movie. Simplistic and extremely effective, it proves that you don't need extravagant Hollywood budgets to pull off a great horror movie. As the days grow long, the feeling of impending dread creeps up on you, knowing the group once again must spend another potentially terrifying night lost in the woods, hunted by something unknown, and regardless of the antagonist being either natural or supernatural, the threat is palpable. It kicked off the found footage genre, of which my favorites include CLOVERFIELD, EXISTS, LAKE MUNGO and WILLOW CREEK

[LuckyDan]

I didn't see until it 2013 or so when I first got streaming services, so I already knew a lot about it. I wish I could have seen it cold, without knowing what was coming. Yes it is seriously creepy. I even liked Blair Witch 2. 

[mrzek]

I have the remake form a few years ago and it's actually pretty good too. So the sequels could have been worse, but none rise to the original BLAIR WITCH, which fits the normal pattern about sequels and remakes. The others I mentioned above are my favorites from found footage, and I recommend them. EXISTS had a lot of good reviews, where as WILLOW CREEK ones seemed more negative, but I really liked it.  They're both based on the bigfoot mythology, so that might turn off people from the start, but I think they're both worth watching.

[jaragon]

On 8/18/2021 at 9:58 PM, mrzek said:

I have the remake form a few years ago and it's actually pretty good too. So the sequels could have been worse, but none rise to the original BLAIR WITCH, which fits the normal pattern about sequels and remakes. The others I mentioned above are my favorites from found footage, and I recommend them. EXISTS had a lot of good reviews, where as WILLOW CREEK ones seemed more negative, but I really liked it.  They're both based on the bigfoot mythology, so that might turn off people from the start, but I think they're both worth watching.

"Willow Creek" has a very shocking ending- I find most of these found footage films just lazy  film making- but having done one myself it's not as easy as it looks