Reagan Ng retrospects on the cult found-footage horror film, The Blair Witch Project (1999), and expounds on the undeniable influence it has had since.

As Heather iconically stares desperately into the camera with tears in her eyes and apologises for everything that has happened in the film, I remember feeling a sense of fear I’ve never felt before. There was something in her facial expressions that felt extremely raw and visceral, conveying an immense amount of fear that I almost believed that what I was watching was real. The Blair Witch Project, released in 1999, has proven itself to be a horror institution for movie fans, introducing the found-footage genre to the masses. 

Contrary to popular belief, The Blair Witch Project was not the first of its kind. The first incorporation of “found-footage” in a film was The Connection, an indie drama film released in 1961. However, horror and found-footage was only combined in Cannibal Holocaust, a film released 19 years later detailing a crew’s encounter with cannibals in the forest. While not directly credited, it is undeniable that it had a role to play in the conceivement of The Blair Witch Project. 

When The Blair Witch Project premiered at the Sundance film festival, it had such a great audience response that its distribution rights were bought for $1.1 million. Its immersive promotional campaign even convinced movie-goers and the general public that the characters in the film (with the same names as their respective actors/actresses) were actually missing and dead from the events in the film. It even led to the main character Heather Donahue’s mother receiving a sympathy letter from a distant relative, further proving how effectively terrifying and convincing the film was to people that they believed what they were watching was not a work of fiction, but a documentary of harrowing events. 

These days, modern audiences do not have the same level of respect towards the found-footage subgenre anymore. A simple Google search reveals a distasteful feeling towards such movies, with some saying that it has to go. This can be attributed to Hollywood’s rapid churning of such found-footage films ever since the release of the first Paranormal Activity film. Paranormal Activity (2009) was proof to big studios that the found-footage genre can rake in massive profits over a small budget as it had a box office of $194.2 million over a $230,000 budget. As a result, Hollywood has been approving such films to be made without ensuring quality since the relatively low-cost investment was not risky to them. This led to multiple found-footage films being released in a short period of time, with many getting bad critical responses. In the dynamic market of movies, this trend led to many audiences getting bored of such movies, with people calling the scares in them “cheap” or “predictable”. 

Looking back on the response to the film in modern days, we can’t help but smirk and wonder how the audiences were so gullible and scared just 24 years ago over something so trivial and otherwise unbelievable these days. We all can’t help but ask, “Is The Blair Witch Project actually as terrifying as people say?”. To answer this question, we must dive deeper into its production as well as Y2K bug paranoia in 1999.

The Blair Witch Project was filmed on Hi8 camcorders in Seneca Creek State Park in Maryland, and consisted of only 3 characters who were cast based on having “strong improvisational abilities” and being willing to film in a “wooded location”. During the filming process, the directors kept each character in the dark about what was going to happen to their fellow actors. In order to reduce their contact with the outside world to make the characters more immersed in the location, the directors maintained contact with them via messages left in 35mm film cans. This led to the actors being unsure of what was going to happen next most of the time, which resulted in their fear sometimes being genuine. For example, a critical moment in the film is the disappearance of Josh. In the film, Heather and Mike had faces of pure fear, and when they heard Josh’s screams at night (also done by the directors hiding speakers around their campsite unbeknownst to the actors), they were actually feeling pure fear that translated very effectively onto the big screen. Unlike modern-day found-footage films with a relatively big cast with supporting characters, The Blair Witch Project’s small cast provides a sense of claustrophobia, making us feel more for each individual while also being more immersed in the events they go through. Furthermore, the actors’ improvisation and steps taken by the directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez to immerse the actors added a whole layer of authenticity that is missing from otherwise-lifeless modern found-footage films. 

In addition, The Blair Witch Project was released in July 1999, when peak Y2K bug paranoia was happening. The Y2K bug was a problem in the coding of computerised systems which led to many believing that the entire internet would crash on the 9th of September 1999, just 2 months away from the release of the movie. As a result, there was already paranoia and fear amongst people about the potential chaos the internet could bring to society. In a way, The Blair Witch Project’s online marketing could be said to act on pre-existing distrust and fear of the internet, as they were led to believe that actual footage of 3 young film students going through hell was actually found and that they were now genuinely missing. As a result, it was reported that many moviegoers went in genuinely thinking they were about to watch a documentary. Considering that the internet then was not as widespread as it is today, it is easy to understand how this film’s premise could terrify audiences before they even watch it. 

In the end, the combination of convincing acting/marketing campaigns and Y2K fears during the movie release ultimately explains why The Blair Witch Project is considered one of the scariest horror films of all times, as well as one of the best found-footage films. It can also be said the reason why horror found-footage films these days don’t scare us as much these days is due to Hollywood not putting similar amounts of effort into their movies, churning out these films rapidly in franchises like Paranormal Activity in hopes of making huge profits. Another reason mentioned by many is that The Blair Witch Project used generally unknown actors, which helped make the movie feel more grounded as compared to modern horror films having stellar casts of famous actors which sometimes ruins the immersion as audiences are less likely to relate to their characters. The Blair Witch Project also pushed boundaries in acting as it relied heavily on the actors’ immersion, which was later considered controversial as many felt that the directors were mentally torturing the actors, with them also admitting they “broke every SAG rule” while filming. While unpleasant for the actors, it is undeniable that this had a massive role to play in making the film as successful as it is today, and is also the reason why it is hard to replicate these days as directors prefer to take safe approaches when making their films. 

However, this is not to discredit some recent found-footage films which have done well critically and at the box office. The Medium, a Thai found-footage film premiered in 2021, had a box office of $27.3 million with favourable reviews, with many agreeing that it was a visceral and terrifying film to watch. Another example is Incantation, directed by Taiwanese director Kevin Ko, which was so successful in Taiwan’s box office that Netflix acquired the rights to distribute it internationally. While horror fans can agree that it is hard to find The Blair Witch Project of our era (excluding the 2016 remake which had mixed reviews), it is undeniable that there are additions to the subgenre that are making waves and helping to improve the rather negative attitude people have towards found-footage films. No matter what the future holds for the subgenre, it cannot be denied the role The Blair Witch Project had in making it so popular, and I’m personally extremely excited to see what will follow in its footsteps.

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