The Blair Witch Project Movie Review 1999

A Sundance Film Festival favorite, this low-budget horror film turned out to be the most successful indie ever, thanks to heavy (and savvy) market promotion. In 1994, a three-person film crew heads into the Black Hills region of Maryland to document a local legend about a demonic apparition. They vanish, but a year later their film footage is found and this amateurish, black and white footage makes up what the audience sees. Largely improvisational, the film manages a palpable sense of dread and claustrophobia, while being (deliberately) technically crude. However, the herky-jerky camera movements made a number of viewers physically sick and an equal number found the would-be theatrics boring.

Distribution

Artisan Entertainment, 2700 Colorado Ave., Ste. 200, Santa Monica, CA 90404, Phone: (310)449-9200, Fax: (310)255-3730, URL: http://www.artisanent.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 87 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Filmmaking, Folklore & Legends, Top Grossing Films of 1999, Mockumentary, Tale of the Tape, Internet Borne

Screenplay

Eduardo Sanchez, Daniel Myrick

Cast

Michael Williams, Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard

Cinematography

Neal Fredericks

Director

Eduardo Sanchez, Daniel Myrick

Music

Tony Cora

Producer

Inc. Artisan Pictures

Awards

Golden Raspberries 1999: Worst Actress (Donahue).