Blair Witch Project
When this film came out, the commercials gave me chills.
There was just something about the image of that girl, crying into her camera about how scared she was that touched a deep nerve in me and felt so real that it actually produced goosebumps. When I went to see the movie, it was a weird mixture of impressions.
The amateur camera work was somewhat distracting and hard to watch, but ultimately I believe it added to the realism. The story line was a bit convoluted and hard to follow, but it didn't really matter, because it felt like we were really seeing frightened people on screen. But even with all its flaws, Blair Witch Project succeeded where it counts... it was a truly scary film.
I think it worked because it was a cinema equivalent of a campfire ghost story, where everybody gets caught up in the tale, our imaginations work overtime, and we all scare ourselves silly. (I have since seen this approach used in several films and TV shows, most notably MTV's "FEAR" episodes where they equip teens with cameras and leave them in haunted houses. Pretty cool stuff if they don't over-edit.)
This film is an excellent example of what I mean when I say that your imagination can produce more serious chills than any special effect. Go ahead and rent it, but don't expect the same impact you get with the big screen and large audience of a real theater. Keep an eye out for a re-release. (Blair Witch 2 is coming out soon, but I won't get my hopes up.)
