2016 seems to be the year of horror and thriller films. How about it or not, this year there will be The Conjuring 2 , Lights Out , The Boy , The Other Side of The Door , and even Ouija 2 and Rings which are also scheduled to air this year. What you shouldn't miss, is the direct sequel to The Blair Witch Project , which has been airing this October, namely Blair Witch.
To refresh your memory, The Blair Witch Project is a film that uses found footage of psychological horror movies . This film tells the story of 3 college students who make a film about The Blair Witch in the Black Hills. The three students disappeared in a forest and their bodies were never found. Meanwhile, their video and equipment were found a year later and it was the video that became the film The Blair Witch Project.
The Blair Witch Project is the most successful indie film and a box office hit after grossing US$248 million (around Rp. 3 trillion). In fact, this film only spent about US $ 500 thousand (equivalent to Rp. 6.5 billion). The success of this film was unexpected. However, the promotion is unique and very convincing. In fact, many people think that the actor is really missing and that the legend actually exists in Maryland. It's only natural, because the director himself was so intent on making a documentary about this legend plus making a websitewhich contains information about the Blair Witch incident and information about the three missing students. Plus, the three actors use their own names in this film. So it feels really real, right?
Unfortunately, the success in the first film was not followed by success in the second film. In the second film, Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows , many were dissatisfied with the project. Well, after the failure, the director tried his luck again in the third film, Blair Witch , which is a direct sequel to the first film. The film is set 20 years after the events of The Blair Witch Project . James Donahue found a video on YouTube that was one of the videos belonging to the three people who went missing 20 years ago. He believes that the cameraman in the video is his sister, Heather Donahue, who he thinks may still be alive and in the woods of the Black Hills.
With Lisa Arlington, a film student who is about to write a final project, James travels to Maryland to find his missing brother. James was also accompanied by Peter Jones and Ashley Bennett. Before going to the forest, they decided to meet the uploader of his brother's video on Youtube. They are two local residents, Lane and Talia. After Lane and Talia asked to come with them to the forest, the six of them finally went to the forest to find Heather. The first location is where Lane and Talia found the video.
Blair Witch still uses the same shooting method as The Blair Witch Project . So, throughout the film, you will feel like actors who see and feel directly what is happening in the film. FYI , in the first film, many viewers complained of dizziness and nausea after watching the film because the camera was really shaking. Well, in Blair Witch , it's guaranteed that you won't feel the same way because the camera is already sophisticated. The picture is clear, especially Lisa also brings a drone equipped with GPS to monitor areas in the forest.
In addition to film equipment that is more sophisticated than the first film, Blair Witch is actually trying to repeat the horrors of The Blair Witch Project. As Viki said before, the first film focuses on three film students who want to document the legend of the Blair Witch. This third film also uses a film student, Lisa, as one of the characters, which makes the found footage method reasonable. Even though James Donahue is actually the main character who makes them go to the forest in Maryland, Lisa's presence makes this film as gripping as the first film.
Tense. That's what Viki felt while watching this film from the middle to the end. This film is 89 minutes long (less than an hour and a half), but the tension is quite imprinted after watching it. It seems that the tension of the four characters alternately makes this film quite satisfying. You won't be allowed to breathe until it's finished.
The fact that the first film was an unexpected success cannot be ignored. Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez really fought hard to make The Blair Witch Project look real. Interviews with local residents, meetings with resource persons, searching for evidence, and pre-prepared documentary films are proof that they had intentions. Plus the actors actually have absolutely no idea what will happen to them. They are only given directions every day and directed to where the pictures were taken using GPS. The 19-hour shooting process that was cut to 90 minutes even made The Blair Witch Project feel very real.
Meanwhile, Blair Witch begins with an unsatisfactory excuse from James who happens to be the sister of one of the students who disappeared in Black Hills, Heather Donahue. After 20 years had passed, a video he believed belonged to Heather was uploaded to YouTube by Lane and Talia. The video led him to believe that Heather might still be alive. His friends couldn't say anything other than going into the woods in Maryland to help James find Heather.
Because it starts from something that is not so strong, Blair Witch is a kind of sequel that "mimics" the first film with a modern touch and the involvement of more characters. The number of characters does make the tension in the film more intense. Especially, in the middle of the film until the last second. But, in the end, this film can't fully imitate the first film whose suspense was built from the start. In Blair Witch , from the beginning to the middle of the film, everything feels flat like a regular documentary.
The most disturbing thing about this film are the sounds in the forest. Viki doesn't know what sounds Viki hears throughout the film because it's too noisy and too weird when viewed from the quiet forest atmosphere. However, the characters were too rational to accept that the voice was strange and sounded like it was in their own ears. Their rationality is also quite disturbing and always makes the characters in horror films look stupid.
Finally, the mystery that Viki tried to instill in the first film can be said to be completely messed up in this film. The Blair Witch Project is a success because it can bring horror when nothing happens. No one knows what happened, no one knows who Blair Witch is supposed to be Elly Kedward, and no one has seen her figure either. When a horror film is made just to show its "ghost", what happens is that the audience is shocked, not afraid. It's tense, but not afraid. That's how Viki felt while watching Blair Witch.
But, despite all that, this film is quite a mental test and makes Viki want to camp in the forest (you know? This, really, has nothing to do with it). This film is a lesson that never underestimate local legends. Legends, as improbable as they may sound, are the result of local experience that may be set in a truly real-life event. Like in Indonesia, if you say don't wear green clothes on the South Coast so you don't get carried away with Nyi Roro Kidul, just avoid it as much as possible, even if you don't really believe it. Don't even challenge it.
For those of you who want to be with a crush at the cinema, this film could be the right film. Viki guarantees that your timid crush will lean on your arm until the film is over. But, if your crush is a horror movie lover; instead of being afraid, your crush will be skeptical. :p
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