well, i think BWP is not a artistic film. My opinion is near to Jim Van Bebber opinion: is not art! Is a different concept.
I think BWP is a good idea and the marketing is great.
But if you know Cannibal holcaust by Ruggero Deodato you know the different to artistic film and BWP concept...

Francesco Cortonesi

I went to see Blair Witch prepared for a really new horror movie experience. It does give a really new horror movie experience. It deserves credit for being new. So too does Coke Zero. Coke Zero is a unique diet cola experience. The Blair Witch Project is a unique horror film experience. I laughed my ass off when I saw both of them. On the other hand, there's not much like either.

See a doc, Doc.

Didn't you find the DVD extras like the documentary a much scarier stuff than the film itself?

No, not in the slightest.

The point of The Blair Witch Project is the barnstorming effectiveness of the film itself - the hokum surrounding the "is it real?" marketing campaign might appeal to conspiracy nuts, but it's all just pretend at the end of the day.

I agree. The DVD stuff was mere commercial speculation. But at least in similar experiments like Open Water there was some narrative coherence. I just couldn't follow Blair Witch.

I've studied the film intensely - what don't you follow?

I like to see a movie with beginning, middle and end. I know Blair Witch's strength is probably in the opposite, but I just found it hard to stick with it. In particular, I didn't get what was happening in the end.

If you like conventions, you are always going to be troubled by a movie like The Blair Witch Project - as it breaks just about all of them.

The ambiguous, inconclusive ending (are the screams from Josh? who or what could convince a man to stand quietly in the corner of a room while his screaming friend is attacked? is this force supernatural... or something else?) demands work from the viewer, and does not sit well with those who like everything tied up safe and sound by the end. Remember, what we are seeing is footage as it was supposedly "found" - we know as much as the authorities do, and probably a little less than the unfortunate students.

The sounds and images from the film stay with you, long into the night, when you want to forget it.

I think you are right. I want to take a much closer look at Blair Witch, after some time from my first screening. It did however leave on me a sense of discomfort...