The Blair Witch Project Haunts Globe Cinema With a Rare VHS Screening This Halloween
The Blair Witch Project.
The Blair Witch Project, directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, is one of the most influential found footage horror movies, paving the path for REC, Paranormal Activity, Lake Mungo, Cloverfield, and so many more. When it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival for a midnight screening in 1999, audiences were left wondering: did this really happen?
The realism of The Blair Witch Project is indescribable, and because of that it is still one of the most successful independent films in history. Indiewire, IGN, Collider, Empire, and NPR have cited it as one of the scariest movies of all time for a reason. In an era before internet virality was a commonality, The Blair Witch Project was one of the first films to ever go viral, and that’s due to the genius marketing that took the internet by storm. Missing persons posters for the actors, Heather Donahue (now Rei Hance), Joshua Leonard, and Michael C. Williams, were distributed and posted online en masse, in addition to an eerie website being created. All of these tactics only fueled speculation that three documentary filmmakers who went to the heavily forested areas near the Appalachian Mountains to discover more about the Blair Witch had never returned from the darkness.
The film itself took it a step further, the characters had the same names as the actors who portrayed them, creating more confusion amongst audiences, leaving them asking questions like: is this movie actually real? Does the Blair Witch really exist?
Not only did the characters share the same name as the actors, but The Blair Witch Project was primarily unscripted, and shot by the actors themselves, pushing the realism of the film to its maximum. They genuinely were alone in the woods for 8 long days, subject to the elements and scare tactics by producers and directors used to elicit reactions of fear, panic, and anxiety in the actors. Speculation of its realness among audiences and the general public led to The Blair Witch Project becoming the ultimate sleeper hit at the box office, grossing nearly $250 million worldwide, destroying expectations for how popular an indie film with a filming budget of $35,000 could be.
What makes The Blair Witch Project monumental isn’t gnarly special effects, scary monsters or devious jumpscares, but rather the unknown paranormal, the idea that someone (or something) is watching you as you sleep, the lack of safety within nature, and a sense of being lost without anyone to guide you back home to safety. Throughout the film there is an eerie sense of palpable uncomfortability that takes residence in the deepest parts of the fear centers within your brain, slowly building up with each branch breaking sound in the middle of the night. While journeying into the forest, our main characters have a sense of naivety, not knowing what they’re about to face in the darkness of the woods. The audience experiences that exact same fear.The evil that breezes through the bleak landscape eventually takes hold of the group, and culminates in an ending that will have your jaw clenched and your muscles tensed.
No found footage horror movie has ever come close to recreating the electricity that The Blair Witch Project had, and no film ever will. After 25 years The Blair Witch Project still holds up as one of the scariest found footage horror movies of all time.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Blair Witch Project’s wide release Globe Cinema is putting together a very special VHS screening, something that is rarely done in theatres. By showing The Blair Witch Project in VHS on the big screen you can get fully immersed in the story, and experience it the way it was meant to be seen, gritty and imperfect.
Get the full Blair Witch experience with a one night screening on the scariest night of the year, October 31st, and find out if there really is terror lying dormant in the Appalachian Mountains for yourself.
Get your tickets today at Globe Cinema’s website.