Wow, that sure was one bad movie

[yuuago]

I was not aware until tonight that The Blair Witch Project has a sequel. It's called Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2.

There is a reason nobody talks about the Blair Witch sequel. THIS IS BECAUSE IT'S TERRIBLE.

Oh my god. Seriously. This is one of the worst horror movies I've ever seen. Hell, it's one of the worst films I've seen, period.

It isn't the worst, mind you. That honour goes to Uzumaki, which is truly, truly terrible. But, still. Blair Witch 2 is just plain BAD.

Which is kind of disappointing, because theoretically there are some interesting things that could have been done with an additional movie to the Blair Witch story - though a prequel would be far better than a sequel. A movie about the stories that led to the events in the original film, maybe.

Well. The terribleness of sequels don't diminish the good of the original, et cetera. I can't say I'm a fan of the original Blair Witch film - it's not one of my favourite horror films, and I'm actually not a huge fan of the found footage subgenre (even if one of my actual favourite horror films, Trolljegeren, falls into that category). But I find it interesting, partly because of the trends that it started, and partly because there are some moments in it that are actually pretty scary, and it does some interesting things with mood + atmosphere that would just be impossible to do in any other format. Basically - I feel that if you're into horror films, then The Blair Witch Project is worth watching, even if you don't come out of it actually liking it much.

But the sequel? Dear god, no.

Comments

[nanslice]

Oh my god, the blair witch sequel. What a disappointment. I really loved both the original and found footage films in general (although they're becoming somewhat overdone and a lot of directors don't seem to know what they're doing) and that movie was just. Ugh. So awful. Even the parts that might have been interesting - if I recall there's something of a mystery happening right? they don't know who's killing people? - was destroyed because they didn't leave clues for the viewer, they just changed what actually happened instead. Ugh, so dumb.

[yuuago]

I know, eh? It's like... Of all the things they could have done, they chose to do that? You're right about the mystery - and the "reveal" is just one big asspull. No clues left whatsoever as to what was actually going on.

You're right re: more recent found-footage films having directors that don't necessarily know what they're doing. I haven't found a lot of the more recent ones satisfying. Sometimes it seems like they're going through with it without stopping to think of the practical ways to use the format to an advantage. And also not dealing with problems like - character motivation to keep the camera running, why they would keep it on when any sane person would pack up and run away.... That's the big one for me.

[yohjideranged]

FWIW, I loved Trolljegeren more than I loved Blair Witch. :)

[yuuago]

Oh, I didn't know you'd seen it!

I think, in some ways, it's unfair for me to compare those two films, because they're so different - the only thing they have in common is the format, really.