Caution: This article contains spoilers that pertain to the recently released movie "Blair Witch".
Just recently, the movie "Blair Witch", a follow-up to the original "Blair Witch Project", released in 1999, was released in theaters and has seemed to draw a number of both negative and positive reviews and reactions. Some say the movie was scary and was enjoyable, while others find the fear factor to be dismal and the movie itself to be confusing or not so enjoyable.
Released to theaters on September 16, 2016, "Blair Witch" features six young adults, one individual in particular, named James Donahue, played by James Allen McCune, is the brother of Heather Donahue, played by actress Heather Donahue, who was one of the three people that had gone missing in the haunted forest near Burkittsville, Maryland (previously, according to movie lore, was once named the town of Blair). Like the original movie, the entire film is shot through the eyes of the cameras the team uses to give it a first-persona, documentary style, horror flair. Though, instead of a couple of tape camcorders, the group is equipped with expensive tech, from blue-tooth style ear cameras, to a quad-copter with a mounted camera, and even satellite phones to help track their location through GPS. Even with all of this gear, the group finds themselves lost in the forest, unable to get back, like the first movie, and are ultimately drawn to decrepit house in the woods.
The one thing that seems to have confused people who have watched this movie is what terrorizes, captures, and what ultimately gets them at the end; the witch. Now, according to legend in both the first and current movie, Burkittsville, when it was first known as Blair, was an early settlement that was left abandoned after a number of residents went missing and never were found. Back in 1785, a woman named Elly Kedward, was accused of witchcraft and was tied to a tree with heavy stones tied to both hands and feet and was left to die overnight in the forest. The next day, when the townspeople went to check on her body, it had disappeared. Shortly after, the accusers and their families had disappeared from the village and the numbers kept growing, and spawned the legend of the Blair Witch, who cursed the forest forever.
Fast forward to 1941. A man named Rustin Parr had a house out in the woods, isolated from the now establishing Burkittsville. According to lore, Parr took a number of children out to his home, after being tormented by the witch, and butchered them, either in the basement or attic, while having them face the wall or corner. Though, what finally led to his capture was his sparing of one of the children. His home was burnt down, but is somehow revived by forces unknown, with an indication that a fire broke out. The windows all broken, the wood inside and outside the home was well charred and deteriorated, but was the final place for both movies.
What I feel people get confused by this movie is because they do not pay attention to the lore. Keep in mind, they throw out hints here and there, foreshadowing events and even hinting at would could possibly be out there. I've heard people did not understand how the woods were warped so that they couldn't get home, or how it stayed dark for days, or how things were tossed/thrown. Let's look back at the story of the witch. Supposedly, she had heavy stones tied to all 4 appendages and was left tied to a tree. If we think about this, we never see the witch in the woods, except at Richard Parr's home. Yet, a tent is taken into the sky and tossed back down close to the remaining group members while they ran away. A fully healthy tree was toppled over, crushing one of the members, and then was taken with ease. Not to mention, in both movies, the individuals heard stomping, tree branches snapping and breaking, and a variety of other loud noises that could not be seen by the camera. It would make sense that the witch, who seems to come out at night, is as tall as the tree-line, her appendages stretched to abnormal lengths, allowing her to tower over them and seamlessly hide herself amongst the trees. Also, since she is magical, she can manipulate the forest, causing the groups to be unable to find their way back and instead causing them to go back to where they had tried to leave from.
Now, I personally find this movie, as well as the original, to be fantastic. Sure, the original was campy and not too scary, but it was a revolutionary piece that ultimately started the first-person documentary style horror trend that is pretty relevant today. Not to mention, they both embody an original creation of a lore that builds upon itself and ultimately had/has a cult following. Also, watching "Blair Witch" gave me a sense of nostalgia to when I had watched "The Blair Witch Project" when I was younger. It was exciting, thrilling, and kept me interested, hoping that this time around, the group could try to overcome what the forest was throwing at them.
Nonetheless, I understand where people are coming from and everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, mine will stand true when it comes to anything "Blair Witch" related, except for that atrocity Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 released in 2000. For me, it's a creative genious that started a now overused trend.
