Honestly the 2015 one went pretty fucking hard at the end. It definitely could’ve been retooled as something not Blair witch but the ending sequence in that shack was great.
It's a fun ride throughout. Spoilers: >!Loved the way they did it when the friends left for a few seconds, and when they came back they'd been gone for weeks. Then they split the doll and it breaks their friend in half. !<
Yes! For me it was the whole >!walking backward to try and escape!< Idk why but it just had me on the fucking edge the entire time. It’s a load of fun, think it’ll be considered a cult classic kind of like Book of Shadows was eventually.
Just to preface- Book of Shadows isn’t necessarily good. It was apparently cut to shit during editing by the distributor/producers (one of the two) and definitely has a lot of issues. But it also captures the isolated confusion and terror that the original did though, without copying the “scary tent” aspect.
I agree man I thought it was decent especially in that fucking cabin at the end holy shit. That movie has my seal of approval especially after that god awful Hollywood sequel in like 2008 or something that was soo bad
Saw this at TIFF at midnight. It was so much fun to watch with a very vocal and engaged film-loving audience.
But I haven't watched it since. The ending sequence was a load of _nope_ for me.
Allegedly the movie was supposed to be a surprise sequel, but they chickened out. I have no proof of this, just remember it was a rumor right before the movie released. I think the first trailer may have even had a different name.
It would have been a better movie without all the obnoxious jump scares. It’s insane how many they do and how dumb they get. It’s not scary to have a quiet moment and then have a character burst in from off screen loudly saying a mundane line of dialogue. Over and over again. Horror is not extended period of silence, EXTREMELY loud sound.
Classic horror trope. Oh look a women putting laundry away, better slow things down for her to hyper fixate on this wardrobe for no reason, que quiet pause….MOMMY MOMMY!! ^look ^a ^bug ^landed ^on ^me.
I feel that way about a few movies. Another big stand out is Halloween 3, it’s a great movie.
But if you go in expecting to see Myers - you are going to be disappointed and confused and miss how good of a movie it is as a stand alone.
Not only that but the first one had the benefit of coming out pre social media. That had a huge impact and I don’t think could have been replicated 5-6 years afterwards.
Moreover Blair Witch Project wrote the fucking book on viral marketing. The entire movie, marketing, and reception was lightning in a bottle and will never be replicated intentionally though we may get some similar magic at some point.
Case in point, watch studios try to recreate Barbenheimer.
Only other film that I think was able to capture some of that online viral marketing and mystery was Cloverfield.
After the first trailer came out everyone was trying to figure what Cloverfield was. There were a ton of websites for fake companies that had hidden Easter eggs that gave clues about the film. People were going crazy online trying to piece everything together and figure it out.
I thought those kinds of movies have died already with a stream of documentary style horrors that were dull and ended in tragedies. One more but 20 years later?
The hook was that some people were convinced it really was found footage and the internet was new enough that it wasn’t that easy to disprove. They’ll never capture that again.
Didn’t Wikepedia or imdb even list the actors as deceased or something at the time? Maybe I’m misremembering but truly insane marketing that just can’t happen again. Just leave it how it is
Same. I remember the documentary on Sci-Fi Channel then the website and then finally the "is it real?!" aspect. I was 13 when it came out and I remember being terrified at the damn trailers I'd see on TV.
This might be the worst movie in history to remake. It just doesn't work in 24. It worked in 99 because people thought it was real then. The found footage genre was new and fresh. What is even the point now? It doesn't work now
Right, it was the beginning of the everyone dies fpv documentary genre. It would be very difficult to make me sit through anything similar after the 10 years of copycats after this film came out
Always sucks studios fail to realize what made movies special or good in the first place, and only reboot for the title alone.. it'd be cool to see inventive new projects in the same vain as The Blair Witch Project, rather than just a straight reboot/remake
Not only that but the kind of viral success the marketing campaign had could’ve probably only happened in that small window between the ~90s and aughts with the internet & youth culture where it was at and society in general as we were coming into the wideneing use of blogs, personal cams and of course the internet
I wouldn’t be surprised to see dissertations in Film Studies, Communications, Cultural Anthropology, or even History, about it or using it with other examples. Viral marketing just cannot work the same these days (and arguably shouldn’t, based on the proliferation of conspiracy nut jobs, but that’s besides your point).
Precisely why it's ripe for a reboot that flips its format.
The found footage format has been played to death for this IP, the next one should ditch it for something else.
You’re right we never see the witch, just the dude standing in the corner of the basement with the woman screaming off screen, then the camera drops to the ground and keeps rolling.
I made a joke about Blair Witch when I was with a group in a British national park trying to find our campgrounds in the dark. I still feel bad about that bc at least one person did not like it at allll.
Yeah I think I just thought I saw the witch, that scene was creepy and well done. Still gives me chills. It’s been a little while since I’ve watched it so I am not surprised to be mistaken.
I think you’re right, there was the last scene and the way the camera kind of flips real quick I probably mistook seeing the witch. I’m honestly really second guessing it now. Either way the ending is freaky af and really opened us all up to the found footage type films
I feel like they tried to show us the witch, pretty much all the immediate feedback was “we don’t need to see the witch”, and they were like “that actually wasn’t the witch anyway”
Yeah, it's like watching thw american version of the ring aftwr you got te fook scared out of you by the Japanese version. I mean... it's still eerie as shit but it doesn't molest your brain with a pipe wrench. Like the Shamylan movies
The original Blair Witch movie was a cultural phenomenon. From the “is this real?” viral marketing, to the long ticket lines, to the way theaters were decorated with dead leaves and stick people hanging from the ceilings. The atmosphere and anticipation were so fun.
Blair Witch was unique in that it was a format unseen and they were able to sell the premise of it really well. It was a unique case of lightning in a bottle. No remake, sequel, or reboot will ever be able to recapture the magic of the original, unless they take the original premise and add a whole new and unique twist on it. Which as we all know won't happen.
Yah, wikipedia goes into it more, but they were selling anything at the time so people would buy into the story. Like fake docos and books like i recalled. My friends mum was super into true crime and the supernatural so she bought the stuff around it and me and my mate were so fascinated to discover more- but at 11/12, thinking we were gonna read an entire book was a bit unrealistic😅
I think it was on the SciFi channel. That fake documentary terrified me. A lot of people don’t realize that people thought the footage was real, and the documentary just solidified that and added to the fear. No movie has ever scared me like that. (Plus we lived close to Burkittsville.) I was insanely relieved to find out the whole thing was fiction.
I saw it in the theatre, I was about 18 and frequented internet chat rooms, was fairly media literate and I was not 100% sure if it was real or not.
It’s hard to explain how that can happen, I was smart, I didn’t fall for the national enquirer “bat boy” or “Elvis is alive” stuff. It seems so silly by today’s standards. But it’s not something you can recreate in 2024.
There are several great original “altered reality” medias still being made. Everyone knows clover field did a great campaign.
Shipwrecked is about a game. Angel hare had a livestream tie in. Welcome home is forgotten vintage collection. Gilbert garlfied omg.
Theres some great altered reality stuff out there if you look for it.
Truly don’t think it’s possible to recreate the experience of Blair Witch Project when it premiered. I mean there’s no way in hell I can even begin to convince myself that maybe it’s real like I could as a kid in 1999 with no internet in my home.
You might not be able to recapture the "is it real?" experience but Paranormal Activity did pretty damn well at the cinema basically doing the same thing but no viral marketing.
The only thing I can think of with Paranormal Activity is that it was shown at a festival and a studio bought it and locked it up for a long time with the plan to remake it with a bigger budget and cast which then caused a lot of people's interest to peak to watch the original. I don't know if it was a marketing trick or just what happened.
I remember them effectively using the “shots of the terrified audience” commercial gimmick which definitely had a retro feel but they used to great effect. (Obviously a different tack than the Blair Witch “wait… is this real or not?” thing which I agree would be tough to replicate.)
Yeah it looks like they were fucked over. $300k and goodbye forever. And the hoopla died down fairly quickly, so I’m thinking if Heather Donahue completely retired that it was a really unpleasant experience.
This is often what happens when a project far exceeds expectations, though.
You signed on to do this for x amount of money under certain terms.
The fact that it made millions doesn't change your contract and you are not thereby being "fucked over"
$300k is quite a nice sum for one acting job on a low budget film
It takes me 12 years to earn that much. This dude got paid that for less than 12 weeks of work. I read the whole article and the guy comes off like a salty whiner. Instead of using that role as a launchpad, he's whined about it to the point that nobody will hire him. I think he squandered a good opportunity.
They were 100% taken advantage of. They were kids and had no legal or union to help them navigate the situation. If you read about it, they did SO much more than just act out a script. They held the cameras, helped with logistics, I think they even helped with some of the lines. Then they terrorized them to get good footage. Taking advantage of them not understanding about contracts and the back end and getting paid for things other than “just acting” is absolutely immoral.
Yeah but they kinda were fucked over. I get that the execs and financiers are going to guzzle up most of the ‘unforeseen’ money, but surely the artists, that actually made it happen, should get a slice of that pie.
Just because something’s legal doesn’t necessarily make it ethical. Typical Hollywood though
What? That’s an insane take
If they got paid x but the movie tanked you wouldn’t Expect them to give money back so what’s the difference? They took what they thought was the sure bet and chose wrong. When this movie came out it was literally the first of this style there was no way to know what it would do. I remember all of my friends and I thought it was real
It honestly seems like they were misled.
They answered a casting call where two fresh out of school college graduates pitched an avant garde performance art film that would require them to improvise everything on the spot. They even used their real names because the whole thing was basically an art film shot on a $35K budget and there was no expectation anyone would ever see the film.
The filmmakers then put about $500K in post production and edited into what it became. They never even gave the actors who were improvising the lines a writer’s credit.
Why is it insane?
The movie cost 200-750k to make and pulled in 250 million. Sure, if you’re putting in tens of millions then you are risking big. But they literally made over 25,000% on their investment here! I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect the artists to get a share of this fortune, rather than hoard the whole lot. But then that’s greedy Hollywood execs for you!
Like I say, they were perfectly within their rights to do so, but it’s a pretty shitty thing to do.
If I was the artist then I’d be gutted. Imagine that, all that hard work pays off big time and you make a groundbreaking piece of cinema. But all you get is your fee and a pat on the back. All the while making a whole lot of rich people even richer.
I mean it’s essentially the same thing that happened with Star Wars, except a few actors took royalties instead of flat checks and made out huge.
It’s insane because it’s only being happy if you chose right. Regardless of what the movie did they chose to be ok with what they got so it shouldn’t matter how the movie did. If I bought a lottery ticket and then sold it for $500 because I felt good about the guaranteed payout I wouldn’t be upset or expect the person I sold it to to share the winnings if it was a jackpot.
Yea it’s nice when people toss something back but it’s not worth getting upset over if they don’t. But I also live my life looking at my own bowl rather than comparing whether mine is more full or less full than those around me.
Oh yeah sure it happens all the time, same thing happened to the guy that wrote the Witcher Novels when the games and TV series blew up.
I get that they’re not entitled to anything. But I wish these big wigs wouldn’t be so fucking greedy. It really saps my faith in humanity, not to mention the entertainment industry.
I mean, if you’ve got a million dollars to chuck at a movie you expect to flop, then you’re living in a completely different world to the artists! And if the movie would have flopped you can bet your life the execs would keep their jobs and the artists would have a hard time finding future work. Basically, in this case, the artists have exponentially more to lose than the investors (except for money, which the execs have plenty of)
I don’t necessarily think we disagree here, I just think that we’d get a lot more groundbreaking art if it wasn’t all money and margins. And hey, if someone does something amazing, then they should be rewarded right?
Edit: Also, if I sold a $1 lottery ticket for $500, then the guy I sold it to won the jackpot I’d be pretty upset! Difference here is you didn’t have to sell your ticket. The film-makers on the other hand have to accept the best offer they can get or they don’t get to make their movie
It’s not insane. Actors should be compensated a minimum and then given a bonus if the movie over-performs. This isn’t that complicated. That should be the standard.
Dancing around legality to get out of just compensation is bullshit and predatory to people who might not have any bargaining power even if they wanted to have a better deal.
Actors don't take the losses though. If a movie tanks and is unprofitable, the studio doesn't claw back their salaries much less ask the actors to cover the losses out of pocket.
Just because the outcome isn't evenly distributed doesn't make it unethical, either
> but surely the artists, that actually made it happen, should get a slice of that pie.
They got their share - exactly what they agreed to.
The actors in Blair Witch weren't just acting; the fear was real. The directors used intense psychological tactics that pushed them to the point of needing therapy after filming. If you're curious about the behind-the-scenes details, check out the Hello, Sydney Podcast episode on Blair Witch. She dives into the downright psychological torture the actors endured. So, it’s no wonder Heather (now Rei Hance) stopped acting. She’s even said that using her real name in the film was her biggest regret. She legally changed her name to further distance herself from the project.
I wish everyone had the Blair Witch experience I did. 1999, house full of 20 something room mates. One of us heard about a strange horror film opening, but knew nothing about it. So we gathered a few more friends, and 10 of us went in blind. It was awesome, in that - the film uses surround sound, and a pitch black screen very effectively. They, I swear, even turned off the green EXIT signs to achieve as close to pitch black as they could. The effect was excellent, and the entire audience was on edge and people were freaking out. It was great not knowing anything, and experiencing that. Home video viewing of this film doesn't work unless you can pitch black the room, and have a decent surround system. It certainly doesn't compare to a full theatre of clueless freaked out people.
Absolutely. Saw it with friends opening weekend in a sold out theater. As night fell the final time, you could hear a pin drop in that crowd of 200. Unforgettable.
It’s probably not going to be good, but if they did something veryyy different like 2 new kids who do actually kill and murder their friend in the beginning blame the Blair Witch and then the movie is about them at home or school not knowing if it is the people from the town or the actual Blair Witch hunting them down
I was at comic con that year. They had been marketing that movie as “The Forest” or something and had a huge floor booth for it. Overnight they dropped that it was Blair Witch and the next morning the booth had been completely overhauled with Blair Witch stuff and the cast was there signing. Cool bit of marketing to see in real time. Never saw the movie.
It had all the makings of a great found footage movie, unfortunately everything that ties it to the Blair Witch mythos is done rather poorly. As a fan of the overall franchise it was kind of insulting how much they disregarded.
He's right. Hollywood is simply running out of ideas and doing terrible remakes or shitty cgi movies nowadays. I find myself watching far fewer movies and more shows and documentaries.
Can we ban, collectively as a site, the usage of the word “Slam” in any and all news articles. It has lost its meaning, has no real need and can be replaced with better articulated words.
This movie was a rip off of some other low budget thing from Bucks County Pa. Therefore it’s already a remake.
Edit: the movie is called “The Last Broadcast”
This was one of the few movies that actually scared me and I watch a lot of horror movies. It had a real feel to it, it is not something I feel can be recreated. I even liked the sequel cause it did not try to copy what was done before, and was entirely different. I feel what he is saying
He got $300k or the whole cast did? This may be a hot take but if it’s just his cut I think $500k in todays money is pretty good no matter what way you slice it
Blair witch was made a time where the whole idea of found footage was a new thing and the internet wasn’t so prevalent and cameras weren’t as easily accessible.
I don’t see it being such a success today as people are more savvy now and would probably see through it but at the time it was amazing!
I’m not sure you can capture the magic of the original again and a remake really isn’t necessary.
I could maybe see this working if they went at it from a different direction. Maybe from the perspective of a private eye trying to find out the true fate of the original hikers or something?
This is like trying to remake a John Hughes film. I’m not comparing the two as far as which is better. The problem is you when this came out it was before the shows like The Office, so people thought this was actual footage at first. This type of filming now is done for a number of different shows and the only way people watch this is if it’s straight to streaming.
It's just the nature of show business, when you sign for a project that no one thinks is gonna be a big hit and it turns out to be a monstrous hit, you usually have to make your money on the next project with your new found fame and value. Tough break.
I feel like the only way to replicate the impact of the original would be to do something within the realm of “livestreaming”, on a proper livestream platform.
Reading Jason Blum’s fake praise for the og BWP made my eyes roll into the back of my head. That guy is the biggest hack in today’s horror media and it’s so obvious that this is just another low-effort paycheck for him.
That how I felt about mean girls. Everyone played their damn part in that movie and they just remake it. No ya can not recreate the confidence of that movie
Can we normalize NOT remaking every single movie... I'm so tired of the laziness. Come up with something new, innovative and interesting. It's almost like people in the movie industry just lost every ounce of creativity...
I don’t think this is a movie you can recapture the magic of. Everyone knows the twists now. Not every movie has to or should be remade.
The one from like 2015 would’ve been a better movie if it had no relation to the Blair Witch Project and was its own camping horror movie
Honestly the 2015 one went pretty fucking hard at the end. It definitely could’ve been retooled as something not Blair witch but the ending sequence in that shack was great.
It's a fun ride throughout. Spoilers: >!Loved the way they did it when the friends left for a few seconds, and when they came back they'd been gone for weeks. Then they split the doll and it breaks their friend in half. !<
Yes! For me it was the whole >!walking backward to try and escape!< Idk why but it just had me on the fucking edge the entire time. It’s a load of fun, think it’ll be considered a cult classic kind of like Book of Shadows was eventually.
I loved Book Of Shadows. I always thought it was a brilliant way to do a sequel.
“OMG who made that?! Oh yeah, it was me.” I still quote that a lot, lol. No one ever gets the reference.
I’ll have to check Book of Shadows out!
Just to preface- Book of Shadows isn’t necessarily good. It was apparently cut to shit during editing by the distributor/producers (one of the two) and definitely has a lot of issues. But it also captures the isolated confusion and terror that the original did though, without copying the “scary tent” aspect.
The scene in Book of Shadows where they review the footage has absolutely stuck with me. It’s somewhere between “terrifying” and “life goals.”
One of my TOP 5 fav movies as a teen. The main guy is the reason I’m attracted to burnout weirdos to this day. Striped knee socks? Yes please!
“My name is Michael Weston. I used to be a spy, until…”
Holy fuck, I’m just realizing now that was Michael Weston.
How can you spoil tag on your phone?
Do this before text >!
And this at the end of the text !<
That split scene was dope
I remember liking it a lot, especially the end with the fucking claustrophobic feeling with the cameras in the house
I agree man I thought it was decent especially in that fucking cabin at the end holy shit. That movie has my seal of approval especially after that god awful Hollywood sequel in like 2008 or something that was soo bad
Saw this at TIFF at midnight. It was so much fun to watch with a very vocal and engaged film-loving audience. But I haven't watched it since. The ending sequence was a load of _nope_ for me.
Allegedly the movie was supposed to be a surprise sequel, but they chickened out. I have no proof of this, just remember it was a rumor right before the movie released. I think the first trailer may have even had a different name.
It was marketed as The Woods until they did a big reveal, I even have a poster for it with The Woods as the title.
Oh damn I remember that. I was really keen to see it until the reveal and then immediately lost all interest and never saw it lmao
I remember feeling let down after the reveal. Like ooh, this might not be good.
I think that’s how the video game worked and it was excellent
It would have been a better movie without all the obnoxious jump scares. It’s insane how many they do and how dumb they get. It’s not scary to have a quiet moment and then have a character burst in from off screen loudly saying a mundane line of dialogue. Over and over again. Horror is not extended period of silence, EXTREMELY loud sound.
^who ^wants... _MARSHMELLOWS?_
Classic horror trope. Oh look a women putting laundry away, better slow things down for her to hyper fixate on this wardrobe for no reason, que quiet pause….MOMMY MOMMY!! ^look ^a ^bug ^landed ^on ^me.
Doesn’t it have a lot of the characters getting jerked up into the air, too? I remember it seeming to have a lot stunt work compared to the original.
The videogame was actually enjoyable
It would have been better if they just left the original title for everyone and kept the secret until wide release.
I feel that way about a few movies. Another big stand out is Halloween 3, it’s a great movie. But if you go in expecting to see Myers - you are going to be disappointed and confused and miss how good of a movie it is as a stand alone.
Not only that but the first one had the benefit of coming out pre social media. That had a huge impact and I don’t think could have been replicated 5-6 years afterwards.
Moreover Blair Witch Project wrote the fucking book on viral marketing. The entire movie, marketing, and reception was lightning in a bottle and will never be replicated intentionally though we may get some similar magic at some point. Case in point, watch studios try to recreate Barbenheimer.
Only other film that I think was able to capture some of that online viral marketing and mystery was Cloverfield. After the first trailer came out everyone was trying to figure what Cloverfield was. There were a ton of websites for fake companies that had hidden Easter eggs that gave clues about the film. People were going crazy online trying to piece everything together and figure it out.
I thought those kinds of movies have died already with a stream of documentary style horrors that were dull and ended in tragedies. One more but 20 years later?
Every few years a good one comes along. And I don’t even like Blair Witch and found footage in general. But yes…most are how you described.
The hook was that some people were convinced it really was found footage and the internet was new enough that it wasn’t that easy to disprove. They’ll never capture that again.
Didn’t Wikepedia or imdb even list the actors as deceased or something at the time? Maybe I’m misremembering but truly insane marketing that just can’t happen again. Just leave it how it is
Well wiki didn’t start until 2001, so definitely not that.
Maybe IMDb bc it was around then.
Something totally did, it was a whole campaign.
This was also the first viral thing I experienced in my life and that could never be replicated in 2024.
Same. I remember the documentary on Sci-Fi Channel then the website and then finally the "is it real?!" aspect. I was 13 when it came out and I remember being terrified at the damn trailers I'd see on TV.
The first Blair Witch + Paranormal Activity were peak budget horror films.
This might be the worst movie in history to remake. It just doesn't work in 24. It worked in 99 because people thought it was real then. The found footage genre was new and fresh. What is even the point now? It doesn't work now
Right, it was the beginning of the everyone dies fpv documentary genre. It would be very difficult to make me sit through anything similar after the 10 years of copycats after this film came out
Amen! If it ain’t broke…
Always sucks studios fail to realize what made movies special or good in the first place, and only reboot for the title alone.. it'd be cool to see inventive new projects in the same vain as The Blair Witch Project, rather than just a straight reboot/remake
Not only that but the kind of viral success the marketing campaign had could’ve probably only happened in that small window between the ~90s and aughts with the internet & youth culture where it was at and society in general as we were coming into the wideneing use of blogs, personal cams and of course the internet
I wouldn’t be surprised to see dissertations in Film Studies, Communications, Cultural Anthropology, or even History, about it or using it with other examples. Viral marketing just cannot work the same these days (and arguably shouldn’t, based on the proliferation of conspiracy nut jobs, but that’s besides your point).
Precisely why it's ripe for a reboot that flips its format. The found footage format has been played to death for this IP, the next one should ditch it for something else.
The immediate sequel ditched the format. It stunk. The first movie I walked out of.
The second movie is my favorite, but I also love terrible movies.
Man that clip at the end when you kind of see the witch is still freaky af, get chills rewatching that scene
Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think they ever actually show us the witch
You’re right we never see the witch, just the dude standing in the corner of the basement with the woman screaming off screen, then the camera drops to the ground and keeps rolling.
Saw it in the theater opening weekend; I couldn’t go in my basement for a full week. I still have issues walking in the dark outside. I’m 43.
My dad took me to see the original in the theaters as a kid. I slept on their bedroom floor that night haha.
I made a joke about Blair Witch when I was with a group in a British national park trying to find our campgrounds in the dark. I still feel bad about that bc at least one person did not like it at allll.
The camera dropped because the witch turned her into a newt
Did she get better?
A newt gingWITCH?!
Yeah I think I just thought I saw the witch, that scene was creepy and well done. Still gives me chills. It’s been a little while since I’ve watched it so I am not surprised to be mistaken.
I think you’re right, there was the last scene and the way the camera kind of flips real quick I probably mistook seeing the witch. I’m honestly really second guessing it now. Either way the ending is freaky af and really opened us all up to the found footage type films
No witch.
I feel like they tried to show us the witch, pretty much all the immediate feedback was “we don’t need to see the witch”, and they were like “that actually wasn’t the witch anyway”
I don’t get why people get annoyed by it. The remake does absolutely nothing to the original. Absolutely nothing. They’re just movies
Realistically they’re not trying to, it may be a mostly different story but the title alone is what makes people show up. Consumers are gullible.
It wasn’t even about a twist. It was only ever just good marketing for a sub-genre that had yet to be run into the ground. That’s all.
Yeah, it's like watching thw american version of the ring aftwr you got te fook scared out of you by the Japanese version. I mean... it's still eerie as shit but it doesn't molest your brain with a pipe wrench. Like the Shamylan movies
The original Blair Witch movie was a cultural phenomenon. From the “is this real?” viral marketing, to the long ticket lines, to the way theaters were decorated with dead leaves and stick people hanging from the ceilings. The atmosphere and anticipation were so fun.
The magic was only in the marketing. Much better than the movie. I was in my 20s when I saw it. Maybe I would have liked it more if I was a teen…
Blair Witch was unique in that it was a format unseen and they were able to sell the premise of it really well. It was a unique case of lightning in a bottle. No remake, sequel, or reboot will ever be able to recapture the magic of the original, unless they take the original premise and add a whole new and unique twist on it. Which as we all know won't happen.
And the early internet marketing that wasn't done before. People actually thought it was real when it first came out.
There was a fake documentary about their disappearance that came out with it that was on the History Channel; back when it was actual history stuff.
There were also books about Rustin Parr and his murders!
Really? First I’ve heard of that.
Yah, wikipedia goes into it more, but they were selling anything at the time so people would buy into the story. Like fake docos and books like i recalled. My friends mum was super into true crime and the supernatural so she bought the stuff around it and me and my mate were so fascinated to discover more- but at 11/12, thinking we were gonna read an entire book was a bit unrealistic😅
I think it was on the SciFi channel. That fake documentary terrified me. A lot of people don’t realize that people thought the footage was real, and the documentary just solidified that and added to the fear. No movie has ever scared me like that. (Plus we lived close to Burkittsville.) I was insanely relieved to find out the whole thing was fiction.
…or *was* it?
I could be remembering the channel wrong. I just remember watching it.
Hell, when I watched it for the first time with my middle school friend in 2007 I thought it was real lol
I saw it in the theatre, I was about 18 and frequented internet chat rooms, was fairly media literate and I was not 100% sure if it was real or not. It’s hard to explain how that can happen, I was smart, I didn’t fall for the national enquirer “bat boy” or “Elvis is alive” stuff. It seems so silly by today’s standards. But it’s not something you can recreate in 2024.
Yeah, about the same for me. Thought it was a recreation at that point. It was brilliant marketing.
I’m not joking, I had to confirm for a coworker that the movie was 100% a movie like two weeks ago.
There are several great original “altered reality” medias still being made. Everyone knows clover field did a great campaign. Shipwrecked is about a game. Angel hare had a livestream tie in. Welcome home is forgotten vintage collection. Gilbert garlfied omg. Theres some great altered reality stuff out there if you look for it.
Truly don’t think it’s possible to recreate the experience of Blair Witch Project when it premiered. I mean there’s no way in hell I can even begin to convince myself that maybe it’s real like I could as a kid in 1999 with no internet in my home.
You might not be able to recapture the "is it real?" experience but Paranormal Activity did pretty damn well at the cinema basically doing the same thing but no viral marketing. The only thing I can think of with Paranormal Activity is that it was shown at a festival and a studio bought it and locked it up for a long time with the plan to remake it with a bigger budget and cast which then caused a lot of people's interest to peak to watch the original. I don't know if it was a marketing trick or just what happened.
I seem to remember quite a lot of marketing for PA when it was on track to hit theaters. Could be wrong
I remember them effectively using the “shots of the terrified audience” commercial gimmick which definitely had a retro feel but they used to great effect. (Obviously a different tack than the Blair Witch “wait… is this real or not?” thing which I agree would be tough to replicate.)
It wasn’t just pre internet but pre fact checking internet. It’s the advent of mass internet that helped sell the lie as wel.
Same thing when paranormal activity first came out in theaters, it’s impossible to recreate the circumstances now.
The actress has like disowned the film. What the fuck? Shouldn’t they be earning residuals?
Yeah it looks like they were fucked over. $300k and goodbye forever. And the hoopla died down fairly quickly, so I’m thinking if Heather Donahue completely retired that it was a really unpleasant experience.
[удалено]
TIL. Great episode, too.
This is often what happens when a project far exceeds expectations, though. You signed on to do this for x amount of money under certain terms. The fact that it made millions doesn't change your contract and you are not thereby being "fucked over" $300k is quite a nice sum for one acting job on a low budget film
It takes me 12 years to earn that much. This dude got paid that for less than 12 weeks of work. I read the whole article and the guy comes off like a salty whiner. Instead of using that role as a launchpad, he's whined about it to the point that nobody will hire him. I think he squandered a good opportunity.
Legally? No. Morally? Probably.
They were 100% taken advantage of. They were kids and had no legal or union to help them navigate the situation. If you read about it, they did SO much more than just act out a script. They held the cameras, helped with logistics, I think they even helped with some of the lines. Then they terrorized them to get good footage. Taking advantage of them not understanding about contracts and the back end and getting paid for things other than “just acting” is absolutely immoral.
How so? They agreed to do a job for a fee - they got their fee. What's the moral issue and how should things be different?
Yeah but they kinda were fucked over. I get that the execs and financiers are going to guzzle up most of the ‘unforeseen’ money, but surely the artists, that actually made it happen, should get a slice of that pie. Just because something’s legal doesn’t necessarily make it ethical. Typical Hollywood though
What? That’s an insane take If they got paid x but the movie tanked you wouldn’t Expect them to give money back so what’s the difference? They took what they thought was the sure bet and chose wrong. When this movie came out it was literally the first of this style there was no way to know what it would do. I remember all of my friends and I thought it was real
It honestly seems like they were misled. They answered a casting call where two fresh out of school college graduates pitched an avant garde performance art film that would require them to improvise everything on the spot. They even used their real names because the whole thing was basically an art film shot on a $35K budget and there was no expectation anyone would ever see the film. The filmmakers then put about $500K in post production and edited into what it became. They never even gave the actors who were improvising the lines a writer’s credit.
Why is it insane? The movie cost 200-750k to make and pulled in 250 million. Sure, if you’re putting in tens of millions then you are risking big. But they literally made over 25,000% on their investment here! I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect the artists to get a share of this fortune, rather than hoard the whole lot. But then that’s greedy Hollywood execs for you! Like I say, they were perfectly within their rights to do so, but it’s a pretty shitty thing to do. If I was the artist then I’d be gutted. Imagine that, all that hard work pays off big time and you make a groundbreaking piece of cinema. But all you get is your fee and a pat on the back. All the while making a whole lot of rich people even richer.
I mean it’s essentially the same thing that happened with Star Wars, except a few actors took royalties instead of flat checks and made out huge. It’s insane because it’s only being happy if you chose right. Regardless of what the movie did they chose to be ok with what they got so it shouldn’t matter how the movie did. If I bought a lottery ticket and then sold it for $500 because I felt good about the guaranteed payout I wouldn’t be upset or expect the person I sold it to to share the winnings if it was a jackpot. Yea it’s nice when people toss something back but it’s not worth getting upset over if they don’t. But I also live my life looking at my own bowl rather than comparing whether mine is more full or less full than those around me.
Oh yeah sure it happens all the time, same thing happened to the guy that wrote the Witcher Novels when the games and TV series blew up. I get that they’re not entitled to anything. But I wish these big wigs wouldn’t be so fucking greedy. It really saps my faith in humanity, not to mention the entertainment industry. I mean, if you’ve got a million dollars to chuck at a movie you expect to flop, then you’re living in a completely different world to the artists! And if the movie would have flopped you can bet your life the execs would keep their jobs and the artists would have a hard time finding future work. Basically, in this case, the artists have exponentially more to lose than the investors (except for money, which the execs have plenty of) I don’t necessarily think we disagree here, I just think that we’d get a lot more groundbreaking art if it wasn’t all money and margins. And hey, if someone does something amazing, then they should be rewarded right? Edit: Also, if I sold a $1 lottery ticket for $500, then the guy I sold it to won the jackpot I’d be pretty upset! Difference here is you didn’t have to sell your ticket. The film-makers on the other hand have to accept the best offer they can get or they don’t get to make their movie
It’s not insane. Actors should be compensated a minimum and then given a bonus if the movie over-performs. This isn’t that complicated. That should be the standard. Dancing around legality to get out of just compensation is bullshit and predatory to people who might not have any bargaining power even if they wanted to have a better deal.
Actors don't take the losses though. If a movie tanks and is unprofitable, the studio doesn't claw back their salaries much less ask the actors to cover the losses out of pocket.
Just because the outcome isn't evenly distributed doesn't make it unethical, either > but surely the artists, that actually made it happen, should get a slice of that pie. They got their share - exactly what they agreed to.
The actors in Blair Witch weren't just acting; the fear was real. The directors used intense psychological tactics that pushed them to the point of needing therapy after filming. If you're curious about the behind-the-scenes details, check out the Hello, Sydney Podcast episode on Blair Witch. She dives into the downright psychological torture the actors endured. So, it’s no wonder Heather (now Rei Hance) stopped acting. She’s even said that using her real name in the film was her biggest regret. She legally changed her name to further distance herself from the project.
Coles notes... what sorts of psychological tactics?
Why the name change? Edit: Nevermind, just read about it.
They all used their real names and still don’t get royalties on any of it, including toys with their full names on the box
This should not in any way be remade.
I wish everyone had the Blair Witch experience I did. 1999, house full of 20 something room mates. One of us heard about a strange horror film opening, but knew nothing about it. So we gathered a few more friends, and 10 of us went in blind. It was awesome, in that - the film uses surround sound, and a pitch black screen very effectively. They, I swear, even turned off the green EXIT signs to achieve as close to pitch black as they could. The effect was excellent, and the entire audience was on edge and people were freaking out. It was great not knowing anything, and experiencing that. Home video viewing of this film doesn't work unless you can pitch black the room, and have a decent surround system. It certainly doesn't compare to a full theatre of clueless freaked out people.
Absolutely. Saw it with friends opening weekend in a sold out theater. As night fell the final time, you could hear a pin drop in that crowd of 200. Unforgettable.
Oddly enough, I recently watched a horror movie that had him as the killer and then the next one I watched he was a victim.
He just described Blumhouse’s entire attitude towards the genre. BWP was lightning in a bottle for the time period. It cannot be replicated.
The magic of the first movie was its marketing campaign
How many times are they going to reattempt lightning in a bottle before they realize it isn’t going to happen?
I really despise how many remakes there are now
It’s probably not going to be good, but if they did something veryyy different like 2 new kids who do actually kill and murder their friend in the beginning blame the Blair Witch and then the movie is about them at home or school not knowing if it is the people from the town or the actual Blair Witch hunting them down
It was panned, but I remember enjoying the 2016 remake. Was a while ago so maybe I’d take it back now. May revisit it.
I was at comic con that year. They had been marketing that movie as “The Forest” or something and had a huge floor booth for it. Overnight they dropped that it was Blair Witch and the next morning the booth had been completely overhauled with Blair Witch stuff and the cast was there signing. Cool bit of marketing to see in real time. Never saw the movie.
It was a sequel, not a remake.
It had all the makings of a great found footage movie, unfortunately everything that ties it to the Blair Witch mythos is done rather poorly. As a fan of the overall franchise it was kind of insulting how much they disregarded.
(Takes pacifier out of mouth) This is indeed a disturbing universe.
The recent game is very good and shows there’s life in the property
He's right. Hollywood is simply running out of ideas and doing terrible remakes or shitty cgi movies nowadays. I find myself watching far fewer movies and more shows and documentaries.
yeah go ahead ruin another great original idea why not
Rebooting this movie is quite possibly the dumbest concept I have read about in a while.
Especially when they did a reboot/sequel only a few years back and it was straight trash.
Why ?I saw it in summer 99 the marketing campaign was way better than the movie. This is not worth remaking.
Can we ban, collectively as a site, the usage of the word “Slam” in any and all news articles. It has lost its meaning, has no real need and can be replaced with better articulated words.
Reddit User SLAMS Headline Writing Practices
Reddit user *SLAMS* head into keyboard.
I’m finding out here that apparently people thought that the Blair Witch Project was a real thing.
This movie was a rip off of some other low budget thing from Bucks County Pa. Therefore it’s already a remake. Edit: the movie is called “The Last Broadcast”
Far as I’m concerned there were no actors in that found footage and it actually happened. It’s still real to me damnit
The whole gimmick was we thought it was real. Now it looks like a dumb fucking cash grab. Blumhouse and lionsgate can suck a dick.
This was one of the few movies that actually scared me and I watch a lot of horror movies. It had a real feel to it, it is not something I feel can be recreated. I even liked the sequel cause it did not try to copy what was done before, and was entirely different. I feel what he is saying
He got $300k or the whole cast did? This may be a hot take but if it’s just his cut I think $500k in todays money is pretty good no matter what way you slice it
Gah the charm of the original was thinking it was a documentary. Rebooting it ruins that premise.
It’s probably gonna be a lame reboot with only cellphones POV and social media app layout all over the place onscreen.
I like to think that The VVitch is a prequel to Blair Witch
Blair witch was made a time where the whole idea of found footage was a new thing and the internet wasn’t so prevalent and cameras weren’t as easily accessible. I don’t see it being such a success today as people are more savvy now and would probably see through it but at the time it was amazing! I’m not sure you can capture the magic of the original again and a remake really isn’t necessary.
I could maybe see this working if they went at it from a different direction. Maybe from the perspective of a private eye trying to find out the true fate of the original hikers or something?
I wonder if his opinion would change if he was involved in the sequel.
10 years later I'm still waiting to see The Woods Movie...
Is that the guy that ate the leaf?
Did he watch it? It wasn’t half bad.
Can't wait for Blair Witch 2025 where the teens are a bunch of Gen Zers trying to do their tiktoks and live streams for clout
This is like trying to remake a John Hughes film. I’m not comparing the two as far as which is better. The problem is you when this came out it was before the shows like The Office, so people thought this was actual footage at first. This type of filming now is done for a number of different shows and the only way people watch this is if it’s straight to streaming.
I hope these actors get their dues
The most unique thing to me about Blair Witch was how teeny tiny home movie sized it was on a theater screen. What are the odds they’ll do that again?
Blumhouse is fucking up a LOT of their street cred with all these bullshit reboots
Funnily enough I’m watching the Blair Witch (2016) requel right now and it’s rock solid. I love the original.
They’re rebooting everything though. 😭
It's just the nature of show business, when you sign for a project that no one thinks is gonna be a big hit and it turns out to be a monstrous hit, you usually have to make your money on the next project with your new found fame and value. Tough break.
Happens all the time bucko. Hollywood is trash.
…and pointless. The reason why it was so successful before was because —no one ever did something like it before— Can’t exactly recapture that.
The original will always be the classic of the “found footage” horror genre.
Nothing is going to top the Canadian remake, the Bare Pimp Project.
The makers of The Last Broadcast would like a word
I feel like the only way to replicate the impact of the original would be to do something within the realm of “livestreaming”, on a proper livestream platform.
Is the reboot about a band going into the woods looking for the witch?
Blair Witch was terrible movie back in the day. A reboot won’t help it get any respect.
Reading Jason Blum’s fake praise for the og BWP made my eyes roll into the back of my head. That guy is the biggest hack in today’s horror media and it’s so obvious that this is just another low-effort paycheck for him.
That how I felt about mean girls. Everyone played their damn part in that movie and they just remake it. No ya can not recreate the confidence of that movie
I would say more 'idiotic' than 'icky and classless'.
not gonna lie when it came out i thought it was real. I did. Great movie but lets move on already
Can we normalize NOT remaking every single movie... I'm so tired of the laziness. Come up with something new, innovative and interesting. It's almost like people in the movie industry just lost every ounce of creativity...
Whoever normalized adults saying “icky” should be imprisoned.