‘Blair Witch’ review [TIFF ’16]

Blair Witch review: 17 years after the debut of the ground-breaking original, Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett attempt to re-ignite the franchise.

Blair Witch review by Paul Heath, Toronto International Film Festival 2016.

Up until just a couple of months ago, Blair Witch looked like it would be just another woods-set horror movie – even though it boasted the supreme talents of director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett – the guys who brought us You’re Next and The Guest. Then the San Diego Comic-Con happened and Lionsgate dropped the bombshell in re-titling the film, calling it the aforementioned Blair Witch. A synopsis followed, and rather than the film being a remake of the 1999 classic, it would actually be a second sequel set nearly twenty years after the ground-breaking original. The Internet went wild.

The film is set in the present day, two decades since Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams ventured into the Black Woods Forest to never be seen again. Now, Heather’s younger brother James (James Allen McCune) has been doing his own research into his sister’s disappearance and has recruited his friends Peter (Brandon Scott), Ashley (Corbin Reid) and Lisa (Callie Hernandez) to investigate her sudden disappearance. Using the latest technology, including GoPros, digital SLRs and even drones, the foursome hook up a couple of locals Lane (Wes Robinson) and Talia (Valorie Curry), who offer them a hand in venturing deep into the woods to see if they can come up with any answers surrounding the vanishing of his sibling and her friends. Of course, things go south pretty quickly, and sinister happenings present themselves shortly after their expedition begins. Will they get out alive?

The problem with remaking a film so fresh in the memory, and indeed so fresh in terms of how it was presented, was always going to be a problem, no matter who was brave enough to step behind the camera. The Blair Witch Project landed at the perfect time – it was the very first found-footage movie and created a new genre in horror. With the birth of the internet, marketing geniuses were able to concoct further content to sell the movie to audience and the result was a huge $248 million worldwide box-office haul – from a $60,000 budget. The second film, Blair Witch: Book Of Shadows, of course, paled in comparison, but the structure of the original is still being rehashed to this very day.

17 years have passed since the release of The Blair Witch Project – technology has moved on, and so has the way in which we all interact, so if a time was right to re-visit the franchise, then I guess that time could be now. Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett are two very brave souls – their un-envious task to redo a classic, but also bring something new for today’s very different cinema-going audience. The fact that they have pulled it off is quite remarkable.

Using the same plot devices as the original and building upon it, as well as choosing the found-footage format, the duo have crafted what is the scariest film in recent memory. Using the obvious jumpy horror tricks, as well as the supernatural, the filmmakers choose to show more than it predecessor. There are genuine scares scattered throughout while they also manage to wind the viewer ever so tight as the plot progresses, gently squeezing until they unleash all of their fury during the intense climax. I genuinely cannot remember a more terrifying experience in recent years – the film actually makes your body ache with fear. It is possibly more unsettling and definitely more intense than the first movie, Wingard and Barrett putting the audience through their paces from the outset.

I love how they have employed new technology, noticeably ensured that the found-footage are adhered to and not just duplicated the experience of the original. In places it truly shocks and those that struggle with claustrophobia may want to look the other way as the chilling climax approaches. I haven’t felt so confined since Neil Marshall’s ball-tightener The Descent.

I caught the film in London, though type this at the Toronto International Film Festival where the film is about to play before a Midnight Madness crowd. The MM crowd is notorious for its interaction with the film playing before them, and already this week we’ve had some crowd-pleasers like Ben Wheatley’s Free Fire and the Indonesian action epic Headshot that truly wow. I expect Blair Witch to top them both. It’s a film to see with an audience, on the biggest screen you can find, with the loudest surround system there is.

A truly memorable cinematic experience and an instant horror classic. No, really. Go see it.

Blair Witch review by Paul Heath, September 2016.

Blair Witch is released in the UK on September 15th 2016.