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Whatever Works
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Blair Witch Project, The
EMAILPRINTArtisan Entertainment
Universal acclaim
Based on 33 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 66 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Daniel Myrick
Eduardo Sánchez
Directed by:
Daniel Myrick
Eduardo Sánchez
Release Date:
Theatrical: July 16, 1999
DVD: July 11, 2000
Running Time: 80 minutes, BW / Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for language
Starring Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Joshua Leonard
On October 21, 1994, Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael Williams hiked into Maryland's Black Hills Forest to shoot a documentary film on a local legend, "The Blair Witch." They were never heard from again. One year later, their footage was found. The Blair Witch Project is their legacy. (Artisan Entertainment)
Also On Metacritic
GAMES: Blair Witch Vol. 1: Rustin Parr Blair Witch Volume 2: The Legend of Coffin Rock Blair Witch Volume 3: The Elly Kedward Tale
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Tribune Marc Caro
Many of us may have thought that with the world offering so much vivid horribleness every day, movies had lost the power to give us a good cathartic scare. It's a shock -- and a pleasure -- to discover we were wrong.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
At a time when digital techniques can show us almost anything, The Blair Witch Project is a reminder that what really scares us is the stuff we can't see.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
It breaks so sharply from the practice of contemporary horror film that it requires us to return to the most basic understanding of what it is to be frightened by a movie.
Washington Post Lloyd Rose
The Blair Witch Project is terrifying. It's also an exuberant prank of genius.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
An intensely imaginative piece of conceptual filmmaking that also delivers the goods as a dread-drenched horror movie.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson
It might be the scariest movie ever made.
Dallas Observer M. V. Moorhead
Easily the scariest horror picture of the '90s, a movie that can take a place among the most potent and inexorable of modern shockers.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Elvis Mitchell
A nifty example of how to make something out of nothing. Nothing but imagination, and a game plan so enterprising it should elevate its creators to pinup status at film schools everywhere.
Read Full Review >Film.com Gemma Files
Man, I just can't recommend this enough.
TNT RoughCut Christopher Brandon
The what-you-don't-see element makes this an excellent film for people with overactive imaginations, and if that's you, it will scare the living crap out of you.
New York Daily News Jami Bernard
The inexplicably terrifying ending is good for a month's worth of nightmares -- no small thing for a movie in such a saturated field.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris
Blair Witch forgoes a literal boogeyman in favor of the unseen, which, in this case, is as scarily bone-chilling as anything they could show you.
Read Full Review >New York Post Jonathan Foreman
May be the creepiest and most original horror film since John Carpenter's classic "Halloween."
ReelViews James Berardinelli
Caused a major stir with Sundance, and for good reason -- it was perhaps the most offbeat, energetic, and eye-opening motion picture to screen there.
Read Full Review >USA Today Susan Wloszczyna
The suspense becomes so unbearable that it's easy to overlook questions about whether anyone in such circumstances would continue filming.
Salon.com Mary Elizabeth Williams
The most inventive and genuinely frightening horror movie to appear in years.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ernest Hardy
It's a small film whose power is derived from its stripped-down scale.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
It's as chilling as Algernon Blackwood's elegantly unnerving "The Willows," played absolutely, unsettlingly straight.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
A truly scary horror film, something akin to a lost art these days.
Read Full Review >Village Voice J. Hoberman
Paranoid, hysterical, and programmatically subjective, the movie is in every sense a psychological thriller. Although the payoff is ambiguous, the experience remains in the mind. It's an absolutely restrained and truly frightening movie.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
As a horror picture, Blair Witch may not be much more than a cheeky game, a novelty with the cool, blurry look of an avant-garde artifact. But as a manifestation of multimedia synergy, it's pretty spooky.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
An ultra-cheap movie, ingeniously promoted through the Internet -- is notable primarily as a model of guerrilla-style niche-marketing.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
As amateurish and fumbling as it is in every department, the sum total of the movie is pretty darn scary.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann
Certain to nauseate a portion of its audience.
Read Full Review >Film.com Ernest Hardy
The great power of the film lies in its simplicity, in the slow-building tension and psychological melt-downs that are the result of stark, bare-bones film-making.
Newsweek Jeff Giles
A fairy tale reminding us that childhood fears are deep and tangled as tree roots.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
The movie would be better as a 30-minute short, though, since its shaky camera work and fuzzy images get monotonous after a while, and there's not much room for character development within the very limited plot.
Read Full Review >Film.com Peter Brunette
While it has its scary moments, and while its central conceit is refreshingly imaginative, there's ultimately not much there there.
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.8 (out of 10) based on 66 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
mitchell K gave it a10:
This is one of only two movies I've been truly scared by, the other being "Ringu" (original Japanese "The Ring"). Despite everything you've heard and the amount you already know about the plot, still utterly terrifying. It serves as a reminder of the fact that we really do enjoy being scared by film.
Kyle T gave it a10:
Scariest movie of all time because of its reality. Look the movie is not real but the story is. This is what producers did, They took 3 film makers though them in the forest and then made noises and scared the hell out of them! They pretty much said here is a camera go make a documentary. They took eah person 1 by one and told them about, (the guy who acted like he died.) Not true but still if you don't know that, it is brilliant.
S D gave it a10:
The Blair Witch Project is the only movie that I can say has genuinely scared me in my adult years. There’s a lot of people who dismiss it because there are no visual scares - but that is the true genius and why it IS scary. My only complaint is the over-use of bad language. Without intending to spoil the movie: it is filmed using handheld cameras by three students documenting the mythology of a witch, and separately, tales of a murderous hermit who both apparently haunt a woodland near the town of Burkittsville. It takes little time before you’re sucked into believing what you are seeing, as the students interview residents of the town who are often too scared of the ‘fairytale’ to talk about it. After embarking deep into the foliage of the notorious westerly woods, soon the students are lost and find themselves victim to ‘something’ inexplicable. It’s true: you see nothing intended to scare you: no CGI monsters, no costume-clad goons. Had we actually seen the witch or the hermit or whoever it actually was stalking them, immediately all suspense and mystery would be lost. And here we do not have Hollywood’s typical faultlessly beautiful (no offence to the actors!) students with zero acting ability - they are REAL people with NO script. Apparently, they actually subjected themselves to malnourishment and sleep deprivation, making the whole experience even more believable. The Blair Witch Project used similar tactics to the old War Of The Worlds radio broadcast by using fake news reports, etc, to suck people into believing that everything really happened. The official website is laid out with ‘evidence’ in the form of recovered items from the lost students and shows police photos of their car - stripped down to the point that it looks inoperable, so even if they had made it back to the car, they still could not have escaped. It’s a deeply haunting movie and profoundly original - nothing really compares. I can only hope that the recently announced development of a proper sequel (i.e., not Book Of Shadows) can freak me out in the same way!
Sam G gave it a4:
One of the most over rated movies i have ever seen. Some of the night scenes were genuinely chilling and the acting was generally decent but this film left a lot to be desired. The scenes ended up becoming very similar and it felt like the film makers lacked imagination when shooting the final 20 mins of the movie. The film would have been great if they focused more on the mystery element as the ending is really disappointing. A good film for young teenagers or anyone who scares easily.
Chris B gave it a10:
I remember seeing this as a 6th grader in my friends house at night in the dark with some candles lit for ambiance. Granted that that was nine years ago (ugh I feel so old) I still think this movie has merit even in its VHS incarnation which is still on my shelf to this day. I think the most offensive part of the film is the amount of swearing and profanity that the characters use, but the result is a haunting masterpiece that feels as honestly scary as it is realistic. I really tapped into the home video B&W and color variations and the camping trip gone wrong vibe. Though I can understand why some people are turned off to the whole affair. Expectations of a scary movie often include more violence, monsters, and special effects than this film can muster. This video does however, deliver grade "A" psychological horror, and stands as a testament as to why I love the survival horror genre. I feel particularly married to this film because after my best friend and I watched it for a second time in 9th grade he couldn't sleep at for a week. I felt guilty, but this reassured me that the Blair Witch Project wasn't to be taken lightly. This month is its tenth year anniversary. Do yourself a favor and give it a play. In the dark. With candles.
David S gave it a7:
A well made horror film with a very original concept. Although I wasn't freaked out by this movie, it certainly has an atmosphere to it, and when you really examine it, it has some very well-executed moments. Especially the last 10 minutes. The dialogue was too over-the-top at some points, but was almost always convincing, even if the characterization of Josh adn Mike seemed to switch midway through. If you want to watch a movie alone some night, this si a good pick. If you want to watch a movie with firneds, it probably isn't such a good pick. But then again, what true horror buff watches horror movies with other people?
Norman D gave it a10:
Such a minimalist and overwhelming scare-the-crap-out-of-you thriller! I was sleepless for two nights just imagining what that odd sound in the water pipes might be.
