The horror film is hands down considered to be one of the scariest movies of all time and it’s only available to stream for free on BBC iPlayer for 16 more days.
The legend of the Blair Witch is easily one of the scariest tales to do the rounds in modern memory — and it all stemmed from a harmless horror film.
The Blair Witch Project (1999), written, directed and edited by Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick, is hands down considered to be one of the scariest documentary-style horror movies of all time.
It not only introduced the ‘found footage’ genre to horror films — seen since then in blockbuster hits like the Paranormal Activity franchise — but it’s also one of the most successful independent films of all time, originally made on a budget of $35,000–$60,000, with the final cost rising to between $200,000 and $750,000 after marketing and post-production.
The pseudo-documentary centers around three students, played by Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael C. Williams, who set off on a hike into the Appalachian Mountains near Maryland’s Burkittsville to film a documentary about the Blair Witch — a local urban myth of the community.
Currently available to watch for free on BBC iPlayer for the next 16 days, the legend of the fictional Blair Witch was conceived by Sánchez and Myrick in 1993. The director-editor duo developed a 35-page screenplay in which the dialogue was to be improvised. Entering production in October of 1997, principal photography of The Blair Witch Project lasted all of eight days in total.
Close to 20 hours of footage was shot for the docu-film, which was then edited and whittled down to 82 minutes. The film first premiered at midnight on January 23, 1999 at the famed Sundance Film Festival and received rousing acclaim, following which its distribution rights were acquired for $1.1million.
It eventually received a theatrical release and went on to become a sleeper hit, grossing close to a whopping $250million at the global box-office. The Blair Witch Project is consistently listed as one of the scariest movies ever, and consistently ranks as the best found footage movie of all time on several prestigious lists. However, despite the movie’s success, the three main actors of the film reportedly lived in poverty till they sued the film studio that acquired its rights, eventually reaching a settlement worth $300,000 in 2000.
With a 86 per cent critics approval rating on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the documentary-style film is widely critically lauded. One reviewer says of the film: “[The Blair Witch Project is] the most effective and unsettling horror movie in quite a long time. Just to clarify: after seeing this, you will not sleep well. Invest in a night-light.”
While another writes: “The Blair Witch Project” is the scariest movie I’ve ever seen. Not the goriest, the grossest, the weirdest, the eeriest, the sickest, the creepiest or the slimiest… Just flat out the scariest.”
A third critic has said: “No sequel or remake will ever match the power of what The Blair Witch Project managed to do a quarter of a century ago.”
While a fourth critic said: “I could tell you the story — give away every detail — and The Blair Witch Project would still freeze your blood.”
Viewers are equally impressed by the film, with one writing: “This movie is pure horror, it’s the scariest movie I have ever seen in my life, at the end, I was terrified. It all connects — the legend and the film. The Blair Witch Project is a masterpiece of pure terror, horror and suspense. Daniel Myrick is a genius!!”
Another audience review says: “Absolute classic, one of the most raw horror films out there.”
The Blair Witch Project is currently streaming for free on BBC iPlayer till November 16.