20 years ago The Blair Witch Project spawned a whole new era for the horror genre – the found footage movie phenomenon blew up the movie world – not always producing any real quality nonetheless it gave birth to a new generation of fans.
So when Lionsgate announced at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con that the upcoming film, The Woods – was, in fact, the next installment of the Blair Witch story and subsequently changed its name – it created an enormous buzz, building the expectation and excitement to new levels for its release. With the director behind ‘You’re Next’ and ‘The Guest’, Adam Wingard, taking the director’s chair maybe the prospect of a truly terrifying traumatic experience exceeded its expectations. For what we have here is nothing but a remake of the original, just set 20 years later.
The narrative stays forever loyal to its loving yet evil mother as the brother of Heather – who went missing in the Black Hills Forest in The Blair Witch Project – James (James Allen McCune) and his friends Peter (Brandon Scott), Ashley (Corbin Reid), and film student Lisa (Callie Hernandez) all venture into the same woods in Maryland to help James obtain some answers on what really happened to his sister. This time, the group of friends are equipped with high-tech cameras to document their every move, they even possess a drone to explore those out of reach places. Joining the gang are a couple of locals, Lane (Wes Robinson) and Talia (Valorie Curry), who are obsessed with the ‘myths’ surrounding the forest, offering themselves up as tour guides.
Blair Witch is a disappointingly slow burner – but when something sinister starts to engulf the camp its predictability doesn’t just rear its ugly head but slaps you full force in the face as the cocky, sceptical black guy falls prey to the evil entity that stalks the forest first. As day enters a perpetual night and the group of friends are separated as terror reigns down on each one – James and Lisa are unknowingly led to the abandoned house they have been looking for – The final act opens up the gates to the real terror and tension-fuelled scenes explode into full force.
Formulaic in its narrative, Blair Witch has numerous jump scares which you’ll find yourself waiting too long to experience, building tension is one thing but when it takes so long to deliver the terror it’s almost anti-climatic when it finally arrives. At least with the new found footage genre, it isn’t as annoyingly shaky as when it first came to fruition.
Blair Witch is out in cinemas September 15
