I got to talk about what it was like to live during the Blair Witch Project phenomenon

I was always told this when I was younger Exorcist was the scariest horror movie ever made. And while it’s pretty scary (it even ended up pretty high on our own list best horror movies of all time), I was a little disappointed when I finally saw it.

And that’s only because it didn’t actually scare me as much as I expected. Although I think so Exorcist series as one of the better horror seriesI definitely think the first movie is a bit overrated…

I’m sure that’s what the younger generation is thinking about the 1999 found-footage horror film The Blair Witch Project. Directed and written by (though we didn’t know it at the time) Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, starring (what we knew Also I didn’t know then) Michael Williams, Heather Donahue and Joshua Leonard, many people today may see TBWP as Just movie. But let me tell you. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced more horror in my life than when this movie first came out. You really had to be there to truly understand the unprecedented hype. With that said, here’s what it was like when The Blair Witch Project turned the horror genre upside down.

Joshua Leonard holds the camera in The Blair Witch Project — (Photo: Artisan Entertainment)

Laugh all you want, but in 1999 found footage horror films were not very common. A cursory internet search will tell you it’s ’61 Connection was the first of its kind, but after that there really wasn’t anything beyond something like, let’s say Cannibal HolocaustAND such a controversial movie that mainstream audiences weren’t as easily known, or the 1992 dark comedy documentary The man bit the dog.

So, when promotional materials for The Blair Witch Project started to unfold, many of us went crazy and completely believed it! Months before the film’s release, we were told that in October 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared while filming a documentary about a local curse, and the film released in theaters was a compilation of footage shot by the trio.

Granted, it sounds really stupid today, in 2024, especially considering BWP it spawned an entire subgenre of found footage franchises like Paranormal activity. But we didn’t know that in 1999. If you looked online at the time, there was nothing online to indicate that this was all fake because the filmmakers hired clever web designers to make it all look legit.

Remember when Spider-Man: There’s no way home it was still in production and there were shots Andrew Garfield on set? People have lost their minds, haven’t they?

Well, we didn’t have anything like that The Blair Witch Projectalthough we did get a Syfy special where we doubled down on the amount of (fake) video evidence we provided. Honestly, the marketing for the movie is probably the best I’ve ever seen because it was fundamental to getting us to see this movie. And by the film’s terrible end, many of us were truly confused (and scared) for people’s lives. Especially since the ending is so ambiguous.

Michael C. Williams speaks to the camera in The Blair Witch Project

(Photo: Artisan Entertainment)

When we found out it was just an act, we were relieved that the actors were okay

You’d think that when word gets out that the entire Blair Witch myth is a hoax, people would be upset. But guess what. We weren’t! Or at least I feel like most of us weren’t like that.

In fact, I feel like the general consensus was that we were all relieved that these three actors were okay. At least at first, before the self-reflective shame of having been deceived took over.

Because, as I said earlier, many of us thought it was these three young people diedbecause the overall terror in the film seemed genuine. But when we found out it was just an act, many of us became really happy, phew. Thank God it wasn’t real.

Ah. Different times.

Run frantically through the forest in Project Blair Witch

(Photo: Artisan Entertainment)

I remember a lot of people getting physically sick watching this movie because it was so shaky

OK, now about the movie itself. Found footage films have come a long way since then The Blair Witch Project. Such a movie these days Late night with the devil (whose meaning we have discussed on this page) uses the found footage concept as a form of storytelling rather than as a budgetary necessity.

Sure, the found footage concept The Blair Witch Project Is essential to the overall plot (again, this is what makes the movie realistic in the first place). However, its use seemed to be mainly for cost-cutting purposes, and in 1999 it was very simple. So much so that the movie is almost hard to watch because this quake made so many people sick. then.

I remember people telling me that because of motion sickness they had to close their eyes in all the places where the characters would be running in the forest. People certainly had similar complaints about a movie like Clover fieldbut even then people knew what to expect from a found footage film.

But in 1999? Man, people were getting sick left and right watching this TBWP.

Heather Donahue sees something terrifying in the woods in The Blair Witch Project

(Photo: Artisan Entertainment)

I also remember people leaving the theater because they were so scared

Now, honestly, The Blair Witch Project he never scared me. I was more upset by the thought of people dying (and watching their inevitable deaths).

In fact, my reaction to TBWP is probably similar to many people’s reactions independent film, Skinamarinkbecause it was a movie I admired, but I didn’t really think it was as scary as some people did.

But speaking of those “certain people,” there are moviegoers who were freaked out by thisThe Blair Witch Projectboth before and after the reality of the situation was revealed.

For example, I remember when I first saw this movie in theaters. When things started to get really intense this famous night scenethere were four or five teenage girls (back then they just let anyone in to see R-rated movies) and they stood up, shaking, and just left.

I thought it was weird that they all went to the bathroom together, but by the time the movie reached its actually terrifying ending, I realized that they had left completely, probably too scared to watch the movie all the way to the end.

I’ve also heard similar stories from people who didn’t see the movie in the theater but saw it at home. TBWP is one of those rare examples where a small screen is probably a better fit for the film than a large one because it makes the film feel claustrophobic. I also knew people in high school who said they had nightmares after watching this movie. And that was it After we all knew it was a hoax.

That’s power The Blair Witch ProjectKid.

A brave soul walking through an abandoned house in the Blair Witch project.

(Photo: Artisan Entertainment)

It sets a whole new standard for independent filmmaking and marketing hype

Do you know what the original budget was for? The Blair Witch Project? About $60,000. Do you know how much it earned at the global box office? Nearly $250 million, more than 4,000 times the original budget.

I recently wrote about Robert Rodriguez and his importance for cinemawhere I talked about how his first film was made, El Mariachiit was made for a paltry $7,000 and ended up grossing over $2 million.

And honestly, I’m not sure which is a more impressive feat. Rodriguez will make a movie for $7,000 and earn over $2 million, that is The Blair Witch Project it costs $60,000 and becomes a global phenomenon. I want to say the former, but I think I’ll have to opt for the latter, and that’s only because of product marketing TBWP was very much a part of the film itself.

There were other interesting marketing campaigns (I especially like the movie Chronicle feat of flying people), but nothing seems to match TBWP’s marketing campaign, which had many of us believing the studio would release a movie where people actually die. The fact that he made so much money doing it is just icing on the cake.

So that’s what it was like to be there when The Blair Witch Project released. Were you there when it happened? More news about everything related to horror moviesremember to check back often!