Directed by Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick, “The Blair Witch Project” changed the face of horror cinema. The film is leaving the Prime Video platform and it is absolutely worth (re)watching.
Three actors, eight days in the woods and $60,000. This is how Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick gave birth to what remains, even today, one of the most influential horror films of all time, The Blair Witch Project. A crazy project which, driven by exceptional excitement, became the most profitable feature film in the history of cinema. Worldwide, it grossed $248,000,000, or 4,000 times more than its initial budget – not counting inflation.
At the origin of this phenomenon, there are two enthusiasts. Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick want to pay homage to little-known films such as The Legend of Boggy Creek – mockumentary on the monster Bigfoot released in 1972. The idea is to invent a fictional myth and do everything to make the spectators believe it. They then imagine a legend, that of a witch and Rustin Parr, a man who allegedly killed children in the 1940s.
Actors really missing?
Broke, filmmakers want to bring the genre of found footage popularized in 1980 with Cannibal Holocaust. They hired three unknown actors: Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams. Their anonymity allows producers to create genius marketing: transforming the story of the film into a real news item.
The Blair Witch Project caused a sensation at the Sundance Film Festival and the machine got underway. Everyone is talking about this “documentary” which reveals the last images of three missing people. Wanted posters were then posted in major festivals around the world – including the Cannes Film Festival where the film was presented. Even those close to the actors – forced to hide – believe in the deception.
Artisan Entertainment Heather’s on-camera testimony becomes the emblematic shot of the film, the subject of a thousand and one parodies.
Several American channels play the game and broadcast fake documentaries which return to the so-called “true story”. In 1999, times are different. The Internet exists, but without social networks, it is impossible to ensure the veracity of the facts.
The imagination of the viewer
Well beyond its marketing campaign, the true genius of Blair Witch Project is based on the performance of the actors – who improvised 90% of their dialogues – and on the interpretation. The directors choose not to show anything. No supernatural action confirms the hypothesis that a witch really exists.
This lack of proof forces spectators to work on their imagination and in fact, numerous forums on the Web appear to discuss numerous theories. The most famous would be that Heather, the only girl in the group, is the victim of a joke that goes wrong by her two comrades. To prove it: a beer is placed in the abandoned house at the end of the film.
Infinite source of assumptions and precursor project, The Blair Witch Project continues, 25 years after its release, to be talked about, despite the evolution of technologies.
The film is available on Prime Video.