The Blair Witch Project (review)
Jenny
jennyg@compuserve.com
Fri Aug 13 13:11:42 1999
WARNING:  There may be spoilers ahead.  I don't *think* there are -- this is such an ambiguous movie that I think it would be tough to give anything away except the ending.  But I could be wrong...*p**br****************p**br*I've been fascinated by the hype and hysteria surrounding the movie, The Blair Witch Project.  Now that things have calmed down, I wanted to put my thoughts down in writing.  For me, the BWP incident has been an eye-opener, and I think it touches on a number of issues that are important to the Pagan community.  But before I raise those (in other posts), I thought I ought to begin with a review of the movie that caused all the fuss.*p*The Blair Witch project is a mock-umentary, a fictional documentary like _This Is Spinal Tap_.  Three film students go to Burkettsville, Maryland, to film a documentary about a local legend called "the Blair Witch".  They disappear, never to be seen again.  The movie is supposedly the footage these kids filmed, mysteriously recovered a year after their deaths.*p*I had been looking forward to this film for months.  I'm a big horror movie fan, and I'd been following the excitement on the various bulletin boards set up by people who'd seen the film at film festivals, before it was commercially released.  As the release date approached, I also began following the controversy over the film, as people argued whether or not it was true, and whether or not it slammed Neo-Pagans.*p*So when I went into the film, I had two expectations.  1) It would have something to do with Witches.  2) It would be scary.*p*Neither expectation held up, though I enjoyed the film.*p*#1 would seem like a no-brainer.  The movie's called "The Blair WITCH Project".  The kids are researching the legend of a WITCH.  The legend was supposedly based on the tale of a suspected WITCH who was driven into the woods by her neighbors and left to die.  So, I figured there'd be a Witch in the film.*p*There wasn't.  There was nothing in there that even remotely made me think of Neo-Pagans, Witches, or the Burning Times.  There was only one sentence in the film that related to witchcraft -- a quote from an interviewee who attributed the legend on the witch who was murdered.*p*However, all of the rest of the movie contradicts this.  The Blair "Witch" is clearly not human.  No two people ever describe "her" the same way.  In fact, if I had to explain what happened in the film, I'd say that it was about projection.  There is some force in the woods that reflects people's fears back onto them.  What they fear, comes alive.  The townspeople fear baby-killing witches... they get one.  A fisherman sees a blob-like shape that oozes out of the water he wades in.  A demented Christian sees a thing with a woman's genitalia, covered by fur... like a goat or a horse.  One of the city-born students hears "hordes of rampaging red-necks".  Each "appearance" of the Blair "Witch" tailors itself to its victims fears.  *p*In fact, as people grow more fearful, the "Witch" becomes more menacing.  The students encountered one phenomenon repeatedly.  The more they fear it, the more hostile and dangerous it becomes.  The Blair Witch is whatever people expect it to be.*p*My second assumption -- that the movie would be scary -- also seemed like a no-brainer.  The movie got rave reviews.  Dozens of people I talked to said it was the most terrifying film they'd ever seen.  People sighed about how threatening the woods were, the growing sense of menace, and the absolutely terrifying final 20 minutes.  The middle was a tad slow, some said.  But the final 1/2 hour was some of the scariest footage ever shot.*p*Somewhere late into the movie, I suddenly thought, "Hey!  This is finally becoming a bit creepy!  We must be getting near the Tremendous Last Half Hour.  Cool!"  Two minutes later, the movie ended.  I watched the credits, stunned, thinking, "I sat through 28 minutes of the Terrifying Last Half Hour... and didn't notice?!?"  When I walked out of the theatre, not only was I not scared but I couldn't understand what people could conceivably be scared about.*p*After mulling over the conundrum some more, I think I came up with the answer.*p*Trees.*p*It was the trees.  Americans have some deep-seated psychological issues with trees.*p*It HAS to be the trees, because that's what most of the film is:  pictures of a bunch of kids wandering around lost in the woods, getting more and more ooked out.  I enjoyed the psycho-drama of their ordeal, the way the group cracked under pressure.  But I wasn't scared.  I mean, they were just wandering around in the woods.  Lovely late-fall deciduous forests that made me home-sick for the East Coast.  Watching the BWP didn't make me afraid to go hiking.  Quite the opposite -- I spent most of the film thinking, "Damn, girl!  You gotta get out in the woods more."*p*I would be very interested in hearing from other Pagans who saw the movie.  What (if anything) frightened you?  So far I only know two Witches who've seen it (me and a close friend) and we both found ourselves staring at the rest of the audience thinking, "What is UP with you guys and trees?!?"*p*But two is a terribly small sample size, and I'd love to hear others' opinions. <g>*p*Jenny*br*