Did you enjoy the Blair Witch Project?

[xes]

Blair Witch scary? I've had scarier dumps to be honest.

What a load of shit it was, but I expected nothing else from it.

 

[Lord Camomile]

I remember thinking at the end "why is someone having a piss in the corner". Asked someone and they explained something about the witch making people look away whilst he did whatever he did. Must have been out for a piss myself during that bit.

Ft films good, if you enjoy watching people moan about being lost in the woods. That's pretty much all I remember happening, apart from the end.

Ah, you probably also went for a piss for the scene where they unleash a massive hellbeast that makes the worst creations of Lovecraft look like an elderly tortoise named Toby. Tears child upon child asunder, limbs and entrails flying everywhere, and their despairing souls are dragged screaming into the forest dirt.

A lot of people miss that bit, to be fair

 

[Lord Camomile]

Oh, and then they're chased by a confused alligator, but they climb up a tree so they're fine.

Bit underwhelming after the hellbeast, if I'm honest.

 

[xslavearcx]

It was shit..

 

[toblerone3]

There weren't many of these in the film

 

[mentalchik]

never seen it

 

[Reno]

There weren't many of these in the film

The film takes place in the early/mid-90s as the 'found footage' is several years old, so its unlikely that a bunch of cash strapped students would have had mobiles then. I lived in the US when the film came out in the late 90s. Americans took to mobile phones later than the British did and hardly anybody I knew in California then had a mobile, unlike in the UK. Network coverage and service in the US was so poor, it was barely worth it then.

 

[neonwilderness]

I can see how it would be scary if you thought it was real footage, but the film never quite pushed the premise far enough. The best thing about it was that the acting felt very authentic.

IIRC the cast were only given a vague premise of the plot so some (all?) of the reactions in the film were un-scripted which helped make it look real IMO. I liked it but, as has been said already, the main characters were a bit annoying so you didn't really have any empathy for them.

 

[Reno]

IIRC the cast were only given a vague premise of the plot so some (all?) of the reactions in the film were un-scripted which helped make it look real IMO. I liked it but, as has been said already, the main characters were a bit annoying so you didn't really have any empathy for them.

Yes, the film was largely improvised, hence the acting felt very authentic. I didn't have a problem with the characters being annoying, I thought they reacted realistically enough considering the stress they were under. I was reasonably invested in their plight, but while I'm all for horror films suggesting things, this one was just a little too vague for me and never really delivered until the last few seconds. Just as it got scary, the film was over.

 

[Frances Lengel]

I remember thinking at the end "why is someone having a piss in the corner". Asked someone and they explained something about the witch making people look away whilst he did whatever he did. Must have been out for a piss myself during that bit.

Ft films good, if you enjoy watching people moan about being lost in the woods. That's pretty much all I remember happening, apart from the end.

So did I.

I thought the film was alright though.

 

[neonwilderness]

Yes, the film was largely improvised, hence the acting felt very authentic. I didn't have a problem with the characters being annoying, I thought they reacted realistically enough considering the stress they were under. I was reasonably invested in their plight, but while I'm all for horror films suggesting things, this one was just a little too vague for me and never really delivered until the last few seconds. Just as it got scary, the film was over.

Yeah, it did seem that a lot of time was spent setting the scene then once the film finally got going it ended. It might have been better if more had happened in/around the house at the end.

 

[Lord Camomile]

There weren't many of these in the film

The film takes place in the early/mid-90s as the 'found footage' is several years old, so its unlikely that a bunch of cash strapped students would have had mobiles then.

The directors have explicitly said they set it when they did so that it would be believable that none of them had mobiles. Because yeah, otherwise they'd just call for help.

Unless the witch had a jamming device!

 

[cdg]

I of never seen it, where's the pole option?

 

[neonwilderness]

The directors have explicitly said they set it when they did so that it would be believable that none of them had mobiles. Because yeah, otherwise they'd just call for help.

Or spent half the film trying to get a signal

 

[Sirena]

i didn't see it when it first came out, because of all the hype. A few years later, I bumped into it by accident on the telly. I caught it near the beginning and I didn't know what it was but I ended up quite impressed.

 

[xenon]

Yeah. I think if you're the sort of person, who can remain stone cold rational all the time, you will find it teadious. Allbeit I'm fairly rational, creepy old houses and tall tales can make my mind wander, so it worked on that level.

 

[DRINK?]

Didn't float my boat...meh

 

[DotCommunist]

thought it was rubbish. everyone made out it was shit-yourself scary an in the end it was just crap.

 

[rutabowa]

i though it was really great and scary too... but then i found blair witch 2 even scarier and everyone else thinks that is unremittingly awful.

 

[Wolveryeti]

I wonder if the shit/great split is based around having seen it in the cinema or not. I saw it in the cinema and thought it was fantastically creepy but could easily see how in a different context (light, distractions) it could all have seemed rather ridiculous.

 

[Lord Camomile]

Actually, I watched it on DVD, probably on my PC as I don't think I had a standalone DVD player at that point, and I think that added to it - made it easier to get into because you were watching it on a small screen that you're used to watching genuine home videos on.

But, y'know, each to their own, innit.

 

[twentythreedom]

I went to see it at cinema midweek, there was only 4 people including me and the ex, scared the fucking crap out of all of us

 

[toblerone3]

The directors have explicitly said they set it when they did so that it would be believable that none of them had mobiles. Because yeah, otherwise they'd just call for help.

Unless the witch had a jamming device!

Perhaps the Blair Witch Project was the last film set in the pre-mobile era.

 

[Lord Camomile]

Perhaps the Blair Witch Project was the last film set in the pre-mobile era.

Um, Argo...? To name, y'know, one

 

[toblerone3]

Um, Argo...? To name, y'know, one

But Argo came out in 2012 when mobile phones were widespread.

 

[Lord Camomile]

But Argo came out in 2012 when mobile phones were widespread.

So you mean released, rather than set? BWP came out in 1999 (along with a lot of other films, of course), suppose it depends on what you think of as the 'pre-mobile era'.

 

[Fez909]

Yes, the film was largely improvised, hence the acting felt very authentic. I didn't have a problem with the characters being annoying, I thought they reacted realistically enough considering the stress they were under. I was reasonably invested in their plight, but while I'm all for horror films suggesting things, this one was just a little too vague for me and never really delivered until the last few seconds. Just as it got scary, the film was over.

Interesting. I'd never thought about it like that before but you might have just nailed down the reason I did like it: it left you wanting more!

How many horror films have you seen which start off scary and then drop off a cliff as soon as you see the monster(s)? Probably more than those which remain scary and leave you wanting more, I'd guess?

 

[thriller]

I never for the life of me understand how /why people go to the cinema and watch as horror film and find it scary? Especially if it is day light outside. Odd. For me a horror film is best enjoyed at home with the lights off on your own or a group of friends.

 

[Meh O'Naise]

The film takes place in the early/mid-90s as the 'found footage' is several years old, so its unlikely that a bunch of cash strapped students would have had mobiles then.....

Somewhere in the film it dates itself to the summer of '94 or '95. Of course, - continuity error - the 'soundtrack album' (ie alleged to be the mix tape that is left in the car), includes tracks from 1996.

Broke the fourth wall as much as when I noticed some of the synths in the background of 24 Hour Party People during the New order scenes actually post-dated when it was supposed to take place. Might have been a DX-7.

 

[Citizen66]

I waited the whole film for it to become scary. It was certainly hyped as being.