Add Tail Slate
to Your Site/RSS
| Blog: |
| Tail Slate |
Topics: |
| films, movies, television |
Heather Donahue is terrorized in the forest in the low-budget blockbuster, The Blair Witch Project.
All too often, many people equate titanic multi-million dollar budgets with box-office success. Pardon the pun. Some even think an inflated budget yields a better movie.
There’s Kevin Costner’s Waterworld with a budget pushing $200 million. The movie was horrible, though it took in a tad under $100 million. The reason could only be because of Costner’s (then) drawing power. Who could forget The Adventures of Pluto Nash, with it’s $100 million budget? Don’t remember it? You’re not alone… it only earned about $4.4 million. With ticket prices where they are now, basically just the population of Kansas City saw the movie.
Granted, pictures like Spiderman 2 ($200 million budget) are legitimately good flicks. However, it’s these low budget efforts that are poster children for successful filmmaking. Last House on the Left, Clerks, Swingers, American Graffiti, and Dr. No (the first and best of the Bond films) are all examples of moderate to very profitable movies, all with budgets under one million dollars. However, the ultimate in low budget achievement is most definitely The Blair Witch Project (BWP). After spending just $35,000 on production, the film brought back over $140 million. That is a staggering return-on-investment of over 350,000 percent!
Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez did something right.
If you are one of the only ones who haven’t seen the film, its basic premise is three college students head into the Black Hills of Maryland to find evidence of the Blair Witch, a local legend. After interviewing numerous townsfolk, Mike, Heather, and Josh head into the woods. After repeatedly getting lost, the two guys lose faith in Heather, prompting one of them to kick the map into the creek. Meanwhile, each night brings with it mounting weirdness and terror. What was supposed to be a two-night weekend in the woods, turns into a weeklong descent into sheer horror and psychosis.
What made BWP so famous (or infamous) was not the movie, but the amazing hype that preceded it. I, along with millions of others, actually thought this was a true story going in. Sanchez and Myrick blurred the line between fiction and reality so well. There was a really creepy, but authentic-looking website… even a Discovery Channel special about the actual Blair Witch. Everyone believes the Discovery Channel, right?
I won’t dwell on the hype, as it’s been written about ad nauseum by many people. Instead, I want to discuss the very visceral feelings this movie projects. Many say the acting was terrible. Folks, there is very little acting. Most of this is ad-libbed. Have you ever gotten yourself lost while driving alone? Or momentarily lost a child in a large department store? You know that sinking, dark feeling? That is EXACTLY what this film radiates.
The strange sounds the students began experiencing only occurred at night. After a couple of these incidents, YOU begin to dread when the next night comes. You know something weird is going to happen to these people. I still remember sitting in the theater. About 45 minutes into the movie, the three students were forced to spend yet another night in the woods, and you could actually hear the movie-goers groan out loud. Not many films can elicit this feeling of dread.
Like many great horror films have shown, the best scares come from what you don’t show on-screen. When you break this film down to its bones, it basically is just 85 minutes of three college students walking in the woods. Crazy things happen to them, sure, but the actual Blair Witch is never shown. While watching, you expect some sort of apparition to suddenly pop out of nowhere. No dice. Instead, you end up with a relentless journey of terror and confusion.
Many top horror directors say that the best way to get a jump out of the audience is to hit them when they least expect it. In this case, the same effect is produced with the exact opposite approach. The audience anticipates something the entire time. When strange things do occur, the same jolt still occurs. It is unrelenting.
The best part of the film, for me, is the slow descent into madness for our three characters. Granted, Heather Donahue is definitely not Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson in The Shining), her transformation is genuine. She goes from typical college filmmaker… to borderline insane… and then to utterly helpless over the course of the movie. Part of this could probably be attributable to actually spending a week in the woods, completely lost.
There are many complaints about the movie, but the one I have heard the most is “the shaky camera made me sick.” Point conceded: the camera shots are a bit distracting at times. In reality, that actually gives the movie credibility. Right at the beginning of the movie, a screen states that this was the actual footage recovered from the woods. After that, if you continue with a film that has perfectly steady and framed camera shots, you completely lose the effect.
In all, BWP is an extremely polarizing movie. I’ve yet to meet someone who says, “Oh, it’s OK I guess.” People either love this movie, or have a deep-rooted hatred of it. From my experience, most of the people I’ve spoken to who liked the film saw it that first weekend it was released.
I think those who didn’t get out to see it that very first weekend really missed out on this film. There is no way someone can view this film now and get the same effect. Even if someone who has never heard of the movie saw it now, they would have to see it on the big screen to truly let this film work its magic.
Again, I really hadn’t done my homework before going into the theater on opening night. Between work and an internship, I was almost totally oblivious to the hype surrounding the film. It wasn’t until a friend of mine told me about it the day before that I was interested. So I went… and the sheer naivety on my part added to my enjoyment. I later saw Michael Williams on Conan O’Brien and realized I had truly been had.
I still remember exiting the theater: I had the chills and goosebumps, as well as an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was not a pleasant feeling. No movie before this, or since, has drawn that type of reaction out of me. I enjoyed the ride, and the film deserves to be a Halloween favorite for years to come.
Oh, and for those of you who still don’t know... there really is no Blair Witch Legend. It is completely fictional, and was invented by Myrick and Sanchez. The fact that two relative nobodies could create such a buzz is impressive as it is.
Flick Figures: 3 dead bodies; 1 dead mouse; extracted teeth; screams; moans; groans; 1 lost map; hanging stickmen; tent-shaking; piles of rocks; various biting; backpacks slimed; on-camera confessional; circuitous hiking; 0 breasts; 1 really creepy house in the woods.
This Halloween: The Horror Guru offers his suggestions for an all-day horror movie marathon.
Share on Facebook
- 
-