the blair witch project

about 10-11 years ago, if my memory holds, I sat in a movie theater and was soooo intrigued with the trailer for an upcoming movie, called the Blair Witch Project, that I decided when it finally did come out, I would go opening night. This is an uncommon thing, that I get so into a fictional conveyance that costs 40 dollars to go see, with popcorn, drinks, and an extra ticket for a date or friend. But I waited patiently as the hype grew, and critics were terrified (or so reported) of the film.

Opening night comes around, and I fight the crowds to pay to be frightened. The movie starts, to little big cinema previews, and follows the trend that this is an indie release. The plot builds, and having grown up not so far from that area, I am very attentive to the details of the story, although at that time, some of the sets look conceived. I'm not entirely buying the story, but agree to go on with it as it is scary and entertaining, but it is not till the ending of the movie that I am totally convinced that this is real. Hands down, legit scared. I try to figure out how far it is to get to Burkettsville, MD so I can get some thrill seeking friends to go and get a true life feel for this ourselves. (no takers..) I saw the movie again in the theater, this time during the day, by myself, and remained interested in this for a while.

There were constant reports that the movie was produced for next to nothing, and how it had such a great return on investment through box office sales. This is business- make a product for x, sell it for y with the anticipation that y is more than x. This was even more reason to applaud the efforts of the filmmakers. All is well in the mind of Mike, that these kids, or the survivors, are modern day heroes.

It was a fake. A fraud. A scam. I was duped. So was everyone... it was a great scam. The movie made millions, but the Blair Witch Project was a one hit wonder for the movie world, as no one trusted the efforts of these kids again.

I think there was so much interest because you never really knew what the movie was about. During the trailer, there were only screaming, shaky cameras running through a forest, camping scenes, and a title implying a witch.. but this was enough to draw millions to see this opening weekend. There was a Blair Witch 2, but very very little interest.

Even with the original, there was websites and a a whole culture that supported the film, making it that much more believable.

this was the greatest trick the witch ever pulled, make the world believe it existed.