This scene evokes a feeling of undeniable dread. All possibilities are awful in different ways. It is unclear whether he has been possessed, has seen something horrible and is in shock, has given up hope, or is already dead. In the horror movie's final scene, and arguably the most famous, Heather pans the camera onto Mike, who is standing in a corner facing the wall, unresponsive. Scariest of all, perhaps, is the fact that we never actually see the Blair Witch. The believable performances, deliberately crude filmmaking, and detailed story still elicit fear among viewers. There is still something about The Blair Witch Project that feels real. Die-hard fans swarmed Burkittsville, seeking evidence of the totally fictional Blair Witch for themselves (which would ironically form the plot of its sequel). This generated an overwhelming fear response from the audience. The Blair Witch Project achieved a new level of horror never before seen, shattering skepticism and convincing many of a paranormal reality. Heather Donahue's mother even received condolence cards from people who believed that her daughter was missing. The crew put up 'missing' posters at Sundance. The trio didn't find out until later that the creators completely made the stories up and that the 'townspeople' were actors.Īfter the movie's release, IMDB actually listed Heather, Josh, and Mike as missing and presumed dead. To add the anticipation and intrigue, the directors told the trio before filming that the people of Burkittsville believed the legend of the Blair Witch to be true. A year prior to its release, they developed a website with details about Heather, Josh, and Mike's project. The creators framed the project like a real documentary.

In the scene during which Heather is filming herself close up and sobbing, she is actually crying out of real fear, lending to the film's unsettling credibility. In another scene in which the actors are running, we see Heather's face as she's filming herself saying, 'What the f**k is that?' Off-screen, the film's art director is running alongside them dressed in all white with pantyhose pulled over his head. In one scene, one of the directors shakes their tent without prior notice, eliciting legitimate reactions. They really did get lost in the forest three times during filming, and the creators decreased their daily food intake each day to increase confusion, frustration, and agitation with one another. The actors play fictionalized versions of themselves, using their real names for the sake of authenticity and improvising their dialogue what viewers see is alarmingly natural, because it is. At the beginning of the project, the directors had the three main actors sign waivers agreeing to subject themselves to what was essentially psychological trauma. People were horrified as they watched what they thought to be real people experience true fear. Part of what made The Blair Witch Project so scary is that, upon its initial release, people truly believed that the events which occurred on screen happened in real life. Related: The Exorcist: Is the Original Still One of the Scariest Horror Movies? The filmmakers ensured they were delivering something authentic the actors were not always privy to the directors' decisions, creating moments in which the actors experience genuine fear. Audiences truly believed that they were watching three eager students' documentary that went horribly wrong. The creators set the independent film up for its wild success by making it as realistic as possible. The nature of the documentary feels very real, given that many of the lines are improvised and that editors deliberately degraded the film in post to give it a grainier quality. At the beginning of the film, they are interviewing townspeople for information about the lore and documenting eyewitness accounts of strange occurrences, such as a little girl mysteriously disappearing into the nearby forest. Williams, and Joshua Leonard, are filming a documentary based on rumors they have been studying about the town legend, the Blair Witch. Three film students, Heather Donahue, Michael C. The Blair Witch Project mainly takes place in the Black Hills Forest outside the small Maryland town of Burkittsville, which is a very real place.

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