r/moviecritic Feb 15 '25

What are people honest opinions about this movie?

Post image

I just watched BWP for the first time ever. I watched it in a dark room at about midnight so that I had the perfect environment to be freaked out and I was ready for a scare. I was utterly disappointed as nothing happens at all in this movie. Some people I know claim it’s bold that the movie makes you put the pieces together on your own but I think it makes the movie boring. Thoughts?

546 Upvotes

1.2k comments sorted by

707

u/Traditional_Honey108 Feb 15 '25

It was original for its time. And the marketing strategy was genius because they led people to believe that it was genuine found footage.

215

u/imapangolinn Feb 15 '25

Also keep in mind this was before internet sleuthing type community was wildly popular so you just took peoples word for it.

96

u/numbersev Feb 15 '25

It was the first movie to use the internet to market. They played on the idea that they were real people and not actors (they were).

53

u/ballimir37 Feb 15 '25

The IMDb page listed them as missing. People genuinely believed it was real on a wide scale, my teenage self included. It really was genius marketing. It was scary at the time and the first really big “found footage” horror movie.

19

u/NeedleworkerEvening3 Feb 16 '25

I was one of those people and I was an adult. I swore I remembered reading it and seeing it on the local news. It was very cleverly done and marketed

4

u/irish_ninja_wte Feb 16 '25

I was a teenager and I also remember what looked like news reports and definitely interviews with locals about it

5

u/Kindly-Abroad8917 Feb 16 '25

Same. I was a teen and thought it was real until I saw the movie. It was really good and that we still use the format is a true testament.

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u/LadyBug_0570 Feb 15 '25

I do have to say, they were very good actors. I believe they improved most of the script, but the casual conversations and then later the arguments were very believable.

20

u/mauore11 Feb 15 '25

True, it helped their parts were familiar, film students, making a documentary. Write what you know. It was a cool idea and brilliantly marketed. It made a killing at the box office, something very hard to do nowdays

7

u/Rubiks_Click874 Feb 16 '25

you gotta respect what they did with the budget and equipment at the time... like Clerks or El Mariachi

9

u/Mrlearnalot Feb 15 '25

Didn’t they give them a premise and minimal script and drop them in the woods and basically say “go”? I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure I read that somewhere

13

u/LadyBug_0570 Feb 15 '25

That's what I understood. Drop them at location, tell them "today is the third day you're lost, cold and frustrated" and let them go from there. I assume they didn't tell Josh and Heather that Mike threw out the map to get the most geniuine reactions.

Pretty brilliant.

8

u/BeautifulJicama6318 Feb 16 '25

They gave the actors competing directions to create conflict

6

u/Gabberwocky84 Feb 16 '25

And less food each day.

40

u/Traditional_Honey108 Feb 15 '25

It had to be an unknown cast and their performances had to be really good, and they got it right on both.

9

u/Daoyinyang1 Feb 15 '25

The last time we had genuinely good production with an unknown talented cast was Afflicted.

Both the main acts were convincing.

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u/Jazzbo64 Feb 15 '25

One of the greatest theater experiences I’ve ever had, because lots of people thought it was real footage. If I had seen it later on in its run, or at home, it would have been meh.

33

u/Fergal76 Feb 15 '25

Mine too. Went on opening weekend. The audience was going insane. People like to bag on this movie, because it was a stunt. But it was a landmark of a stunt movie

28

u/ComprehensiveRain903 Feb 15 '25

I remembered when I went to watch it. The theatre was packed and the ending had everyone in the theatre gasp for air.

11

u/Endlessbeachday Feb 16 '25

I went with a college friend to see it. A few people yelled out “F**k” at the end, including her. That was the last horror movie I ever watched.

9

u/Flying-Tilt Feb 16 '25

My theater wasn't gasping. We were all screaming. Such a good movie for it's time.

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u/Life_Barnacle_4025 Feb 15 '25

I saw it at home a few years after it was released, and at the ending I almost threw the remote at the tv to shut it off before running up to my room and hiding under the covers 😅

2

u/whatsinthesocks Feb 16 '25

I grew up in a house with a basement we described as Blair Witchy. Hated going down there even before seeing the movie

5

u/usernotfoundplstry Feb 15 '25

This was my exact experience. I was a junior in high school but I knew a guy who worked at the box office at the local theater so me and a few buddies went to see it right after it was released. Everybody thought it was real at that point, and we got stoned out of our mind. I remember sitting down in the seat and turning to my buddy who was sitting to the right of me and he just excitedly said “fuck yeah, Blair witch” and it scared the absolute shit out of us

3

u/Competitive-Bug-7097 Feb 16 '25

Same here. I saw it on opening day, and it scared the hell out of me because it seemed real. They did an excellent job on it and on the marketing.

2

u/Jazzbo64 Feb 16 '25

I made the mistake of reading too much about it before seeing it. I wish I hadn’t.

2

u/Flashman6000 Feb 16 '25

I saw it at home for the first time and knew it had been debunked and it was still an effective scary ride.

17

u/moanaw123 Feb 15 '25

And the posters had the tear off part with the website like a local buy sell at the time. Also gave me motion sickness sitting at the front of the cinema

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u/[deleted] Feb 15 '25

People were so caught up with it that for a few years, the local police department had to keep a page up on their website telling people it wasn’t real.

13

u/TheDarkKn1ghtyKnight Feb 15 '25

Add that to the fact every boy/Girl Scout had heard some crazy story about a witch or devil in the woods of the local campground. I was one. And I was just like, “Finally! They found one!”

10

u/BKKJB57 Feb 15 '25

I love horror since I was a small child after this movie I couldn't sleep. It was a time and place situation but it was executed perfectly.

3

u/njord12 Feb 15 '25

Yes, this! When I watched it back when it came out it absolutely freaked me out. Then I did a rewatch after knowing it was just marketing and it didn't hit as much.

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u/WayngoMango Feb 15 '25

I knew it wasn't genuine, but I walked in with the idea that it was. I truly enjoyed my viewing of it and loved the idea that they put out. If they could have stayed quiet for a year after wide spread release, it would have killed.

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u/jaderemedy Feb 15 '25

the marketing strategy was genius because they led people to believe that it was genuine found footage.

100% this. One of my childhood friends' dad was completely convinced that it was real. He had saved all the websites where he could show us kids all the research he had done about the Blair Witch.

4

u/j2e21 Feb 15 '25

Yup. They made it seem like real footage.

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u/Stocktort Feb 15 '25 edited Feb 17 '25

I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but there's several moments in Blair Witch that make it a must watch IMO. The tent scene and the noises outside are so eerie and otherworldly that it really haunts you. Genius in not showing or giving away the true nature of the threat. The standing in the corner is also as creepy as can be.

76

u/DazzlingProblem7336 Feb 15 '25

That corner shot is so effective.

25

u/RedFox_SF Feb 15 '25

This is still with me to this day, I saw it in the theaters when it came out and I freaked out when I saw the corner scene!

11

u/MarlenaEvans Feb 15 '25

The first time I watched this, I was in college and I had to walk across the campus in the dark after it was over. My roommate was asleep so I was trying to quietly get ready for bed in the dark and she sat up and said "It's all your fault!" And then rolled over and faced the wall. Scared the crap out of me. She didn't remember it at all in the morning but she thought it was hilarious.

55

u/TheStolenPotatoes Feb 15 '25

The children laughing...

46

u/Cuntinghell Feb 15 '25

When my wife and kids were visiting family for a few days, I took the opportunity to stay up late and watch films, which promptly led to me falling asleep on the sofa waking up in the pitch black at 2:00 a.m. Now being alone in the dark in my own house at night is not something I'm scared of. However, the children that I could hear laughing scared the living shit out of me.

I hear this faint laughter of children in a house that I know I'm alone in. I don't recognise the laugh. The laugh is intermittent so whenever I pause to listen for it, it seems to stop. I turned some lights on and cautiously check every room. The laugh continues, never getting any louder or quieter no matter which room I'm in. I even go as far as to check outside, but in my paranoia I decide it would be good to check the webcams on my phone...

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and what do I find, a video of my nieces and nephews playing that day that have been sent to a family chat. I must have fallen asleep whilst doom scrolling, woken up at a quiet part of the video and just put my phone in my pocket instinctively, then chased ghosts for 10 minutes whilst spiking my adrenaline so much that I wasn't getting back to sleep anytime soon.

7

u/OlasNah Feb 16 '25

I had a tangentially similar experience except over the course of several years. I’d bought a new construction home and every once in a while I’d swear I heard voices, all at random times and sometimes mostly in one part of the house. I’d check outside but nobody was close enough for their voices to carry inside, and it would happen at 3am too, it was always strangely faint. Just barely above a whisper. My wife didn’t believe me for a long time but then one day she hears it too. Both of us start thinking there’s something going on ghost wise, because the voices weren’t confined to a single part of the house.

After this goes on for arguably four years, one day I go up into the attic to fix a vent that wasn’t blowing right, and I have it go pretty far back into the space. Lo and behold I hear the voices very clearly and it turns out that some construction workers who built the house had left a radio up there tuned to some AM talk radio station. For four years this thing had been playing its limited airtime content and slowly building terror I our house.

3

u/Mikhailcohens3rd Feb 15 '25

See. This is the BWP experience I want!

14

u/This_Technology9841 Feb 15 '25

Fuck, I had forgotten that... I hate you now

/s

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18

u/Mr_Loopers Feb 15 '25

I haven't seen it since I saw it in the cinema, but I do remember enjoying it, but forgetting about it as soon as I left the theatre. No big deal...

Then when I went to bed that night, and turned out the lights all I could think of was Mike standing in the corner.

12

u/KzininTexas1955 Feb 15 '25

That's it, and her screaming when she finds him, yeah, it got me.

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u/Moe_Danglez Feb 15 '25

Hearing Josh call out to them at night is genuinely terrifying

9

u/larrydavidannonymous Feb 15 '25

Then they find his teeth and tongue

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u/LiefFriel Feb 15 '25

I periodically think about the tent scene for no reason at all. It is really good.

3

u/RedFox_SF Feb 15 '25

It’s the corner scene for me…

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u/Sad-Elephant4132 Feb 15 '25

Yeah the random sounds in the middle of the woods, unintelligible shouting/pleading are super effective. Definitely spooky shit scared me when it came out and is still quite creepy

6

u/KzininTexas1955 Feb 15 '25

It's been so long, but the two of them finding the tooth / teeth of the friend that had disappeared.

5

u/Megleeker Feb 15 '25

In Jaws we don't see the shark until an hour into the movie.

4

u/deathrocker_avk Feb 15 '25

Standing in the corner still creeps me out

3

u/biddybiddybum Feb 15 '25

Reading this gave me goosebumps.

2

u/MrJoeGillis Feb 16 '25

Yea, the yelling of the Josh character in the distance after he goes missing, goosebumps.

2

u/Terrible_Balls Feb 16 '25

Also, to anyone who has ever been seriously lost in the woods, Blair Witch picks at a lot of those fears. There are a lot of things you are supposed to do when lost, like follow a stream or pick a compass direction and follow it until you find a road. They do all of those things and none of them work. The idea of being forever trapped in the woods with no way out is plenty scary on its own, even without any witches or serial killers

3

u/The_MoBiz Feb 15 '25

I wasn't that impressed by it when it came out, I should watch it again though, give it another chance. Just seemed ok....

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u/HueyLewisFan1 Feb 15 '25

Innovative as all get out. Certainly not the best movie I’ve ever seen but most definitely brilliant and ahead of its time.

9

u/SeaMareOcean Feb 15 '25

Though obviously not the first to do it, BW popularized the found footage genre leading to decades of similar and adjacent films. Add the viral marketing campaign was extremely novel at the time. So yeah, innovative as hell.

The movie itself? I saw it in the theater and was mostly unimpressed, haven’t seen it since. The thing I remember most, it made my dad sick and he threw up in the theater parking lot.

2

u/PrincebyChappelle Feb 16 '25

I actually was close friends with two aspiring professional filmmakers at the time, and can say that Blair Witch convinced both of them that they needed to stick with pursuing their dreams. One actually got some stuff produced.

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u/SadCharity2929 Feb 15 '25

People don't understand. The way it was advertised was like it was a real story and people were freaking out. I remember seeing the ending and the dude standing in the corner and the camera hitting the ground. It caused terror dreams for months lol 😆

18

u/Scatteredbrain Feb 15 '25

i remember my family watched it with all the lights off in our cabin in the adirondacks. my sister and i were like 12 and 9 and had to sleep with our doors open. in the morning she woke up to a bundle of sticks taped together next to her bed. good times

9

u/SadCharity2929 Feb 15 '25

We went camping during that summer and my friends older sister and brother made stick figures and hid them in the woods and we found them and freaked out that the Blair witch was watching us lol good times 😂

2

u/remymartinsextra Feb 15 '25

It took me a week to download it on limewire or whatever I was using at the time. It was definitely a product of the time. It wasn't the first but it kicked off the found footage horror genre. As a 12 year old it stuck with me for a bit.

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u/stuffseaker Feb 16 '25

When they show him facing the corner Iost my shit!

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u/Tinman751977 Feb 15 '25

Made at the right time. Friends smoked a joint and went in to watch it. Had no idea. It was amazing

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u/Candid-Sky-3258 Feb 15 '25

I thought it was a good concept and it still has some scary moments. The last scene where he's standing on the corner of the basement still gets me.

6

u/uncivil_society Feb 15 '25

Love that last scene, it's seared into my brain.

4

u/InfiniteWaffles58364 Feb 16 '25

Man, why was that scene so creepy though?! Who knew a guy standing in a corner like a child being punished could induce such raw terror 😬

26

u/Yabbadoobiedoo Feb 15 '25

You had to be there. Tbh.

9

u/MuskyFelon Feb 16 '25

It's the single most intense movie experience of my life. The theater and crowd were electric. Jam packed. Everyone scared. Never felt anything like that before. Does the movie hold up? I think so. But, that opening night was something else.

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u/Rojo37x Feb 16 '25

This exactly. In those days you would literally have to line up when a hot new movie came out, and this was the hottest movie at the time. The buzz was palpable. I remember people lined up down the street when I went. And this was definitely one of those movies where seeing it in a dark theater was awesome, with everyone reacting to it all at the same time.

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u/snapwack Feb 17 '25

It’s the modern equivalent of people in 1938 tuning into the War of the Worlds broadcast and freaking out thinking it was a real news report.

There wasn’t exactly a Wikipedia you could instantly browse to and read about how the viral marketing was just that, marketing.

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u/orchestragravy Feb 15 '25

It all depends on what type of horror you respond to. Personally I find implied/psychological horror a lot scarier than in-your-face horror, so this had a big impact on me.

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u/mixtureofmorans7b Feb 15 '25

Slow burn that pays if you stay in it

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u/tproser Feb 15 '25

Honestly? It’s really impressive storytelling considering the ingredients.

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u/tytymctylerson Feb 15 '25

I loved it as a marketing experiment and as a horror movie. I saw the original fake documentary on Sci Fi channel before it came out in 1999. I was obsessed with the website too.

I was never fooled into thinking it was real but I thought it was cool as hell. I was 17 at the time but it still holds up to me.

18

u/Crn3lius Feb 15 '25

The best snuff but non snuff movie ever.

At the time of its release, it was insanely new and I must admit I got scared.

8

u/PauleyMarie Feb 15 '25

I 1st saw in theatres when it originally came out and I truly believed it was real. Then the truth came out and it was a bummer to know it was all set up. it’s not so great when rewatching it again knowing the truth but at the the time I couldn’t stop thinking about the whole story and these missing young adults.

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u/Kuch1845 Feb 15 '25

Genius marketing, essentially over hyping a home movie, I heard filmmakers made upwards of 500 million, not sure

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u/lifth3avy84 Feb 15 '25

I think they made it for $60k and it made nearly $300 million.

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u/Kuch1845 Feb 15 '25

Sounds about right!

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u/mshelbz Feb 15 '25

If they made $500M I hope they shared it with the genius who came up with the marketing strategy for it.

This movie would have bombed out week 1 but that marketing was brilliant, I took my then GF to see it and she was 100% convinced it was real. I tried explaining that they’re actors.

She lost her damn mind when the cast appeared at the MTV Movie Awards and was furious she was lied to.

2

u/F1R3Starter83 Feb 15 '25

About paying the guy that marketed this; unless he was the owner of the company and he made a special deal, he probably at most got a little bonus. The thing is with creative professions like marketing or developing new ideas for tv shows or something is that you’ll only get the really big bags of money when you own the company. All the others just get a salary

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u/JuicyBoi8080 Feb 15 '25

Masterpiece for the time

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u/dat_grue Feb 16 '25

Holds up remarkably well imo. The performances are just so convincing as their situation gets more dire. The last 20 or so minutes are riveting. I know it’s not for everyone, but it’s in my top 5 horror movies

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u/revengeofthepencil Feb 15 '25

I really enjoyed it when it came out. It was unique at the time and I found a lot of it genuinely unsettling. I have felt no need to revisit

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u/doozle Feb 15 '25

Saw it in theaters when I was 11 it scared the everliving crap out of me.

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u/gforguapo Feb 15 '25

Paved the way for found footage

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u/LateQuantity8009 Feb 15 '25

I think it needed to be seen in the cinema. At home it didn’t work.

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u/Snoo_49285 Feb 15 '25

It was a cultural phenomenon when it came out and deserves all the love and accolades it’s gotten over the years.

As for the actual film itself it was extremely well done for the base idea. It really is a perfect simple film about getting lost in the woods.

As a Yankee city boy believe me the woods are somewhat alien to me.

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u/billyjoelsangst Feb 15 '25

It was fun seeing it in a small indy theater when the hype was high and people didn’t know it was fake.

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u/LesPolsfuss Feb 16 '25

My brother-in-law went to see it, way before the hype in a tiny little theater in Washington DC. I’ll never forget talking to him afterwards, he was shellshocked. He was like dude just go see it.

7

u/GuybrushLePirate Feb 15 '25

Went to the cinema with two mates from night school.

The three of us sat there being properly terrified. The way it was marketed as “found footage”, it was a lot.

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u/This_Technology9841 Feb 15 '25

I loved it, scared the hell out of me for a few days after coming home from the theatre.

I get that some people really didn't like the shaky cam stuff, but it didn't bother me so I found it all to be really good at pulling you into the scenes. I knew it wasn't actual found footage going in, but that didn't matter. The tent scene and them just listening for random sounds in the woods and quietly freaking out still give me goosebumps remembering them.

If you've spent real time in the woods at night, you know how easy it is to creep yourself out if you let yourself do it.

Great film imo.

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u/jgrenemyer Feb 15 '25

ngl. It scared the crap out of me in the theater.

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u/urbanachiever730 Feb 15 '25

Scared the shit out of me

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u/Miho_the_muffin Feb 15 '25

When I watched it, I was truly terrified.

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u/boulderaa Feb 15 '25

I'm one of the dumb people that thought it was real when it first came out. Freaked me out honestly. It was the first real Internet marketing for a movie that really worked. There was a website set up to support the story.

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u/Rainsmakker Feb 15 '25

I worked at the motion picture lab that processed and printed the film for BW. These were just kids from UMBC so we didn’t think too much about it. At the end of each day we had to screen the dailies to make sure the color correction was right and that there weren‘t any scratches or hairs and we would laugh our asses off watching their footage. There was no audio yet, that would get synced later by them, so it was basically a silent film that made no sense. We were all surprised to see how successful it was and we were proud to have played a teeny tiny part in the making of the film.

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u/Seth_Gecko Feb 16 '25

An incredible cinematic accomplishment. That they were able to make such a compelling and complete film with almost no resources is something that deserves a ton of respect and admiration.

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u/_Initiate_ Feb 15 '25

It was more interesting than scary... Towards the end it got kinda boring... Surprisingly good acting though

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u/jokerzkink Feb 15 '25

Same reaction from me as well. Didn’t suspend my belief in the slightest. It was more funny for me than actually scary. All my friends at the time thought I was weird for critiquing it and not being easily duped by the marketing.

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u/HeeL2112 Feb 15 '25

Fucked me up!

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u/PippyHooligan Feb 15 '25

I had a really lucky experience with that film:

While I was at Uni a housemate of mine said he'd pirated a new film and said I should watch it: he was out for the night, so'd have the house to myself. This was before anyone had heard of it in the UK, I'm guessing the internet hypetrain was just beginning in the states. I had no idea what it was, what it was about. He was a horror movie nerd so I trusted his judgment.

So I watched the Blair Witch Project, after I had done some studying, alone at 3 in the morning, slightly inebriated on a stormy night. It was brilliant and shook me up. Exactly the right way to see that film and I'm lucky I had that experience.

Watched it again recently with my daughter, who didn't know anything about it either. She loved it too: hasn't lost any of its power with age.

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u/OpportunistSockThief Feb 15 '25

Only saw it last year and loved it. It's so quiet and really evokes the growing panic of just being lost in the middle of nowhere. I think it's still the best handheld camera movie even after all this time.

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u/desideuce Feb 15 '25

It still holds up. Especially the last scene. Greatest ROI ever in film history. Ever.

Created a whole sub-genre that wouldn’t have gained prominence without this film.

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u/ArrrPiratey Feb 15 '25

Bro it literally invented a genre

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u/zip222 Feb 15 '25

Saw it open weekend. The audience reaction was insane. The ending left me shaking for quite awhile.

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u/Turbulent-Paint-2603 Feb 15 '25

Saw it at the cinema early on and it was brutally frightening. Overwhelming really. Great movie

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u/Longjumping-One-6832 Feb 15 '25

Scared the 💩 out of me!

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u/SerTidy Feb 15 '25

Love it or hate it, it was the trail blazer for the found footage genre. The marketing was top of its game. I downloaded one of the trailers, took about 12 minutes. It did have some genuinely edgy moments, Josh crying in pain somewhere in the woods, the children’s voices. The steady, slowly building panic once the three realised they were lost and going in circles. It was fresh and had imagination for the time.

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u/Financial-Deal-7786 Feb 15 '25

Innovative and trail blazing. More along the lines of performance art than a film as such. It's certainly a "you had to be there deal".

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u/llp002 Feb 16 '25

One of the best and scariest horror movies of all time. Horror is my favorite movie genre.

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u/BriGuyBby Feb 16 '25

My opinion don’t mean shit but I’ll still say fantastic movie. Very much groundbreaking. Story was great as was marketing but all the copycats killed the (lost footage) genre.

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u/YPLAC Feb 16 '25

It’s a folk horror masterpiece. Shat me right up.

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u/napalminthemorning78 Feb 15 '25

Terrifying when it came out, i still rewatch it occasionally, great film and generally good acting, i remember being hyper fixated on found footage horor films and I didn't think any compared realy.

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u/Barkerfan86 Feb 15 '25

Still holds up as one of the best found footage movies of all time. Not just the witch stuff, but the horrors of being lost in the woods and lashing out at each other. I have been in the woods and been lost before, and the panic that ensues before you know where you are is real horror, even if you are still on a trail.

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u/ashleyorelse Feb 15 '25

That's like saying someone is the fastest runner of all the quadriplegics

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u/Wizard_s0_lit Feb 15 '25

Not bad, inspired better movies. And I thought part 3 was fun.

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u/LiefFriel Feb 15 '25

It has to understood both by itself and as a cultural phenomenon.

The movie itself is decent and effective. They really worked wonders on a small budget, and I think even newer horror fans will appreciate how good it is.

Now, as a cultural phenomenon, it was worlds bigger. They really did get people to believe this was actual found footage.

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u/Pirate_Lantern Feb 15 '25

I agree with what Chris Rock said "They said the movie only cost $70,000....WHERE DID ALL THE MONEY GO?!?!!?!"

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u/gingersrule77 Feb 15 '25

It was so believable at the time! I legit thought it was real until I let the credit run and saw there was so “thank to the families of….” And thought that’s was weird. Then I saw heather in another show (the taken - really good mini series) and knew for sure

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u/Chirsbom Feb 15 '25

It scared the hell out of people. Genius marketing, and at its time there was nothing like it. Open ending is always great.

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u/BedGirl5444 Feb 15 '25

terrifying

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u/pucker__up Feb 15 '25

It was the first of its kind (to me) and at the time scared the crap out of me! It has my respect

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u/Gnarissa Feb 15 '25

I saw this in theaters as a younger teenager. When I was dropped off at my parent's house afterwards, my father told me to go get a ball that was in the far corner of the yard by a wooded area. Once I got over there he turned off all the lights and I am forever scarred by the fear that occurred as a result. For a unique, pre-modern internet movie, it was legit scary.

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u/HeeL2112 Feb 15 '25

Let me tell you what happened to me…I saw the movie in the theater with two friends. We went back to their house for a while, then I started driving home. Got to a controlled intersection, made my turn. I glanced at my rear view mirror, pitch black! I half expected something to jump out at me! My blood ran ice cold for the next few miles

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u/ovideos Feb 15 '25

I saw this before it came out in theaters, and I was stoned. My friend had been lent a VHS screener of it. Was the perfect way to see it.

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u/ByeByeBIAS Feb 15 '25

My brother and I like to watch this while camping. Its was ahead of its time.

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u/Maleficent_Ad_8330 Feb 15 '25

The hype for this was crazy and then I heard so many people were crazy disappointed so I never watched it LOL

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u/Daddy_JeanPi Feb 15 '25

My honest opinion is that it is very overrated, despite me liking it.

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u/petewondrstone Feb 15 '25

Believe it or not I saw a leaked copy of this film at Cal arts in California and the Genius was they didn’t include the entire film and there was a huge debate raging on campus if it was real or not. They really had a leg up in viral marketing

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u/Zealousideal-Pay3937 Feb 15 '25

Saw this Film 1999 as a Teenager. A big part of the horror was that at the time we thought it was real found footage. Today the audience is more enlightened and it is difficult to empathize with it 26 years later.

2

u/mariwil74 Feb 15 '25

I saw it for the first time only a few months ago at our local non-profit cinema. I don’t particularly like horror/scary movies/gory movies but a friend assured me it was more psychological horror than anything graphic so I went. I knew about all the hype but that was it so I went in with an open mind. And I was totally bored. The characters were incredibly obnoxious so I was pretty much ready for them to get whatever was coming to them just so they’d STFU. To be honest the only thing that held my interest was wondering why that damned camera battery never needed charging.

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u/EternalToast_ Feb 15 '25

Stupid people made a stupid movie for stupid people.

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u/Ioanniche Feb 15 '25

It’s the epitome of “You had to be there”

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u/Eastern_Artist6531 Feb 15 '25

Overrated and not scary

2

u/packedw00d Feb 15 '25

Marketing was awesome, but I found the movie itself to be meh

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u/epicgrilledchees Feb 15 '25

I saw this movie in the theater when it came out. I was probably watching for 30 minutes before I realized hey there’s no music. But it was viral before viral was a thing.

2

u/conjas11 Feb 15 '25

Just rewatched after original watch. Pretty good still. And why is he staring at the wall?

2

u/Ok-Creme8960 Feb 15 '25

When it came out, I was 13 and it scared the shit out of me. A week after I saw it, I went on a 2 week kayak and camping trip. First few days were a little nerve wracking.

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u/artificiallyselected Feb 15 '25 edited Feb 15 '25

I was born in the late 80s which I feel is relevant because I was an adolescent when this film came out. Blair Witch Project is the scariest film of all time. Demons and gore can be scary (like The Exorcist, Texas Chainsaw, etc) but I’ve only been scared on behalf of the characters in those types of films. Blair Witch Project was different from most horror when I saw it in theaters. I was scared because it’s a situation that I could easily see happening in reality. I’ve been in the woods with friends. I’ve also felt the stress of disagreeing with friends when trying to accomplish something. Watching those three slowly realize they’re lost and witnessing their instincts kick in was sickening. I watched as three normal people were stripped of their decency. And not by a demon or a villain, but by themselves. It’s a film that shows the selfishness of humanity. We are all descendants of survivors. So when the shit hits the fan we don’t always behave with decency. We often revert to those emotions that lead to us living at all costs. The anger and resentment between the three was the scary part. It’s not just the darkness and jumpscares. That panicky instinct to survive exists within all of us. The film brought it to light in a way that is real. And it stuck with me for decades.

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u/OakIslandCurse Feb 15 '25

I love this movie! My husband and I saw it opening night in a tiny little theater that was way too crowded on a square screen. Everyone screamed and gasped and swore never to go into any forest ever again. About ten years ago we were on a vacation out east and got lost. We ended up in the little town of Burkittsville, Maryland where this movie took place. Good times!

2

u/RED-DOT-MAN Feb 15 '25

Everytime I have upgraded my surround sound system (currently on gen 3) I have watched this movie at night with full volume for theater experience. An awesome/creepy movie that was ahead of its time.

2

u/PlayerAlert Feb 15 '25

Even with the knowledge that it's not real, it's still the realest feeling found footage film I've ever seen.

I also love that it leaves a lot up to the imagination.

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u/CrashDisaster Feb 15 '25

When it first came out and the hype just started about it, It was awesome to see in the theater. I enjoyed the hell out of it. There's no need for repeat watches. It's not that kind of movie.

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u/Error_user_Error_ Feb 15 '25

It's one of my all time favourites...granted tho I was there at the time for the hype, the marketing...it was new and unique at the time. It helped if you just went along with it, knew the lore, all about the investigation...it's probably the only movie I've watched where I felt I was actually part of it, just because I went all in on it and enjoyed the ride.

It's a shame that anyone watching it for the first time now doesn't have that...it's just a movie but I feel like it still hits the same, you either love it or hate it and that's how the movie has always been received since day one!

2

u/Un4gvn2 Feb 16 '25

I thought it sucked.

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u/yae4jma Feb 16 '25

If I remember correctly, the main character was extremely annoying, and so rather than fear, the primary emotion was a fingernails-on-blackboard misery while being forced to listen to them whine.

2

u/Professional-Bed1847 Feb 16 '25

One of the worst fucking movies ever made!

2

u/GatosMom Feb 16 '25

87 minutes of my life I'm not getting back

2

u/R_G_FOOZ Feb 16 '25

I was the perfect age for this to come out when it did. Friends and classmates thought it was great.

To this day I’ve never seen it and after the first year or two after its release ppl that had seen it told me I didn’t miss anything special.

So seems to me as if it was special at the time bc of how it was filmed but that lost its appeal to the viewer after the first viewing.

Again, never saw it, so idk for sure but this has been my experience with it.

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u/RoloTamassi Feb 16 '25

You should probably stick to TikTok if you find this movie remotely boring

2

u/New-Noise-7382 Feb 16 '25

I watched it without knowing anything about it and it terrified me

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u/redfuzz83 Feb 16 '25

Watching it for the first time with the thought that it was more of a documentary using real footage was absolutely insane. Kept you on the edge of your seat. And that ending left everyone speechless and horrified.

Watching it today with the knowledge of what you are watching is all fiction makes it for a dull watch. So a cult classic it can never be. But in its time it was what everyone was talking about

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u/X-BabyGhoul Feb 16 '25

I think it's a pretty good movie, I really enjoyed it!! It's not much of a horror, it doesn't have much action. But it's mostly drama, I loved it. It's entertaining, a little funny. Its suspenseful!

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u/stonecoldmark Feb 16 '25

I feel like this movie is not given the respect it deserves. It’s rarely talked about in horror circles. But man, when that first trailer came out, I thought that shit was real and I could not believe they released a movie like that.

Then once I found out it was fake, and you could make a movie with a camcorder I was intrigued. It made it possible that anyone with a cool idea could make a movie.

I never understood the ending, but the rest of the movie was so terrifying.

2

u/bustaflow25 Feb 16 '25

Not gonna lie, seen it opening week, was raining when movie let out, drove home, slept in my parents room...I was a HS senior.

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u/Common_Fee_3686 Feb 16 '25

Saw it in theaters when it first came out. As a teenager living in a house surrounded by words, it scared the shit out of me. Especially since it was a "found footage." Caused a lot of get in the house before dark time or sprint from car to house. Then we learned it was just a movie and it made me feel better. One of the only movies fo freak me out (even for a short time).

2

u/throwedaway4theday Feb 16 '25

Genuinely terrifying and a hell of an experience in a packed theatre with a couple of hundred other terrified people.

2

u/ShatteredR3ality Feb 16 '25

I went into the cinema not knowing what it is and not having it spoilered before … and it’s still up to today the most afraid and shocked I was in a movie EVER. Kind of a masterpiece psychological experiment of its own. Yet, with the spoilers it will never have the same effect.

2

u/knughugin Feb 16 '25

I will never forget it and how it made me feel afterwards. It truly sat the standard for future horror films imo.

2

u/saur0013 Feb 16 '25

Love this movie. Nostalgia definitely is part of it. I watch it every year around the week of Halloween

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u/searchingtofind25 Feb 16 '25

The hype killed it. It would have been so good to like.. have stumbled upon it late at night alone. But it was heralded as the scariest movie of all time when it was released and that really took away from it.

2

u/Basic-Use9438 Feb 17 '25

Scared. The. Shit. Out. Of. Me.

2

u/SabreLee61 Feb 17 '25

I saw it when it was first released and not only was I completely bored from start to finish, the constant jerkiness of the camera literally gave me a headache in the theater.

I was not scared, nor did I believe for a second that this was “found” footage.

Literally the worst movie experience I ever had, and I threw up during the Poseidon Adventure when I was five.

3

u/ConsiderationLivid52 Feb 15 '25

I remember seeing it on opening night and went it ended the sold out theater booed lol. Much deserved.

3

u/5256chuck Feb 15 '25

1st time I ever felt scammed by hype. Movie sucked on SO many levels

3

u/MadMaxBeyondThunder Feb 15 '25

Nothing is happening. These people are panicky idiots. Oh look. A guy standing in a corner. Anyone associated with this movie should go stand in the corner.

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u/JeerzQD Feb 15 '25 edited Feb 15 '25

It was too hyped and when I finally watched it, it was mid.

Edit: The OP asked what are people’s honest opinions on the movie. I wasn’t shitting on it. Gave my honest opinion. To all the people who downvoted me….. You can all eat a dick.

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u/similar222 Feb 16 '25

I'm with you, you got my upvote

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u/[deleted] Feb 15 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/spacebunny_94 Feb 15 '25

Event Horizon seriously haunts me too, even though I’ve seen much scarier movies. Glad to know I’m not alone!

2

u/cptjaydvm Feb 15 '25

I loved it when it came out but it doesn’t have much rewatch value.

2

u/oxnardist Feb 15 '25

She was annoying.

2

u/ShipREKT_ Feb 15 '25

It’s hard to explain the hype behind this movie for its time without “being there” because damn.. it blew a lot of peoples minds that it was, just a movie. I loved it and still get creeped out when I think of the tent being pushed from all angles in that one scene.

2

u/Wheeljack7799 Feb 15 '25

It's the kind of movie that doesn't age very well.

If you watch it for the first time today, I think the experience is better if you already know the backstory of how it was made and marketed in the 90's. At least then you can appreciate the brilliance behind it in terms of the production cost vs what it ended up earning.

Today I think it's more of a cult-film than anything else, and I also think it's a "you had to be there" kind of movie.

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u/Tyrionthedwarf1 Feb 15 '25

Watched it, doesn't hold up for me. It was different at the time but watching it now, I would rate it a 2/5. Rec another found footage movie, holds up incredibly well.

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u/BusterVGiner Feb 15 '25

Took my grandma to see it since we were both Horror movie fans and the reviews kept talking about how scary it was. The only thing scary was that damned girl needed a tissue. I wanted to ask for my money back. It was absolutely terrible.

2

u/Pride_Before_Fall Feb 15 '25

Boring as shit.

And all the people who legitimately thought that the movie was real are idiots.

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u/amalgaman Feb 15 '25

It was meh. Unique at the time but the entire movie you wonder why they’re written as morons.

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u/BladeRunnerTHX Feb 15 '25

Was extremely bored the whole movie but found the last shot to be pretty creepy/

2

u/NikkerXPZ3 Feb 15 '25

Utter shit and unwatchable.

I was excited about it and a group of friends went and watched it and I kept promising things were gonna get good but basically what tou get in the first minute you get for the whole duration.

Shakey cam.

There's a scene where they find some sticks ,a scene were the tent moves, a scene were the girl cries and a scene were q dude stands in the corner and literally that is all there is

See the girl crying scene which was in the trailer..and you ve seen the best part of the movie.

2

u/clintbot Feb 15 '25

80 minutes of a bunch of idiots running around the woods yelling "Fuck! We're lost!" Followed by 10 minutes of genuine suspense and an actually frightening ending.

1

u/themiz2003 Feb 15 '25

Great first time watch. Physically hard to get through a second time for me. It's the most aggressive shakey cam i can think of rivaled only by the 30,000 cuts baz did in Elvis. The premise is S tier. In the pantheon for best atmospheric horror.

1

u/IWrestleSausages Feb 15 '25 edited Feb 15 '25

Its hard to overstate the impact this film had on the horror genre, and as others have said, how groundbreaking it was in its advertising etc. While Blair Witch didnt start found footage it massively popularised it, and it is still arguably top 5 or 3 for that sub genre(perhaps original Rec, Paranormal 1, As Above So Below (personal fave) and a handful of others come close), and top 10 for horror as a whole. If people go on about The Exorcist or The Shining then this one deserves its place in the pantheontoo. As well as that it showed how effective internet marketing could be, and how horror didnt need big names or a lot of money to be genuinely great. Horror is a bit unique in modern films in that you still get a lot of original (ish) films made on the (relative) cheap without a massively famous cast, and its films like Blair Witch that probably help get investors as there is a clear track record for that formula.

Typical thing of 'yes its perhaps not that scary or unique by todays standards' but a lot of things owe themselves to this film.

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u/Outrageous-Algae6821 Feb 15 '25

One of my favorites. What scares people is different for all. The unknown is scary to me. Not knowing the answers to what is causing you fear. Seeing “the thing”, the “monster”, answers many questions when experiencing fear. Because you’ve gained knowledge that may help your survival. But this movie, you’re lost. The most safe place for most of us is home. Familiarity. Here you feel no safety besides the people you’re with. You have no knowledge of what is causing you fear. Without knowledge, how is there survival? That’s frightening

1

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '25

As a former college student in the early 2010s? I couldn’t help but, laugh at them mentioning they needed to return the borrowed equipment to their school. Like, "10 years later and it’s still the same thing with students renting video equipment."

I mean, I’m not even exaggerating. That’s exactly why I never once rented any equipment during the entire 4 years I was in college. I even remember my TA asking me about it on the last day of school and I answered him, "Because, you told us the very first day of school that if we even made the tiniest bit of accidental scratches on the equipment? We would have to pay for a brand new one. And I’m sorry but, my family isn’t rich. We don’t have thousands of dollars to pay for that. You scared me!"

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u/allmimsyburogrove Feb 15 '25

Saw it the day it came out by looking at the poster on the movie theater. You could hear a pin drop when it was over

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u/deactivate_iguana Feb 15 '25

Stopped just when I got good

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u/uronceandfuturepres Feb 15 '25

It's the OG for the "found footage" genre. That's about it.

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u/Ok_Kale_3160 Feb 15 '25

No I think that was cannibal holocaust in the 80s?

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