by Chris Feil
Revamping The Blair Witch Project for a new generation comes with a lot of baggage. The 1999 horror benchmark delivered unforgettable chills for some, though it's still debated by others for just how scary it actual is. More importantly, the film was the original viral sensation, catching the zeitgeist just as the internet first exploded. Recalling Cannibal Holocaust's faux documentary aesthetic, it also all but invented the found footage genre the moment before documenting our every movement with a recording device became commonplace.
Simply, Project was orchestrated in the right way at the right time. Unfortunately, this Blair Witch is a shadow of the original's terror and cultural relevance...
While Adam Wingard's take has a host of new technological advancements to bring to the revisit (not to mention the seismic cultural shift in our need to document ourselves), the film struggles with finding a fresh take on the lore. The result is something closer to the knockoff's that came in Project's wake, copying smaller plot details to lesser effect. This is more than a bit surprising coming from Wingard, who's dark sense of nostalgia has brought freshness and genuine thrills with You're Next and The Guest.
The film even sidesteps its found footage roots with any overly staged approach. Sure, one of our technological advances in smaller, more accessible cameras - but to give each character access to multiple cameras (in-ear, handhelds, a drone for God's sake!) is overkill that both undercuts the tension and becomes quite fussy. It plays like it doesn't want to be found footage at all, but is too afraid to drop the gimmick.
Perhaps the film feels too manufactured and its energy too drab to really scare you, but it does entertain in its hyperactive, pedal-to-the-metal finale. There's a kinetic and claustrophobic aggressiveness to the conclusion, closer to Wingard's work on the V/H/S series. This bonkers sequence provides so much point of view that the rest of the film is deeply missing, even if it is somewhat entirely opposed to what the original was all about.
Rest assured that the ending is what made the first Comic Con audience so effusive. Once the film finally wakes up, it is ready to throw anything it can at us to finally get some scares - including some myth-expanding ready for future sequels if this entry connects with genre fans. Just don't expect this one to give you more than the horror bargain bin.
Grade: D+