Movies: They're Pretty Good!

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

October 10, 2023 Travis Dudding Episode 24
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Movies: They're Pretty Good!
More Info
Movies: They're Pretty Good!
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Oct 10, 2023 Episode 24
Travis Dudding

Prepare yourself for a chilling journey as we dissect the iconic horror film, The Blair Witch Project. Ever wondered about the terrifying legend of the Blair Witch and the eerie tales of Burkittsville, Maryland? We'll navigate the dark forest of this narrative, retelling the horrifying tale of three students - Heather, Josh, and Mike, their harrowing encounters in the woods, and the bone-chilling folklore shared by the townsfolk. From tales of Mr. Potter's heinous crimes to Mary Brown's eerie encounters, we'll lay bare the spine-tingling backdrop of the movie. 

Lost in the woods, our trio's quest takes a truly terrifying turn. Hear the ominous echoes of the unseen voices and the horrifying discovery of the three piles of rocks. The suspense is ratcheted up a notch as we recount Josh's chilling disappearance and the blood-curdling findings that follow. Heather's heart-wrenching apology video, the bundle of sticks tied with Josh's flannel, and the pouch filled with teeth and blood - all hint at an unspeakable horror just around the corner. 

As we reach the climax, brace yourself for the ultimate horror - the blood-soaked abandoned house, the ghastly symbols, the haunting voices, and the dreadful finale. Experience the hair-raising eighth night in the woods through Heather and Mike's lens and witness their horrifying fate. We'll dig into what makes The Blair Witch Project a successful horror film and how its tragic end leaves us unnerved yet satisfied. So, dim your lights, and step into the terrifying world of The Blair Witch Project with us.

Get your copy of The Blair Witch Project
If you'd like to own your own copy for when this film isn't streaming, look no further!

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Please subscribe, rate, and review! Thank you for listening! Hope you enjoy!

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Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Prepare yourself for a chilling journey as we dissect the iconic horror film, The Blair Witch Project. Ever wondered about the terrifying legend of the Blair Witch and the eerie tales of Burkittsville, Maryland? We'll navigate the dark forest of this narrative, retelling the horrifying tale of three students - Heather, Josh, and Mike, their harrowing encounters in the woods, and the bone-chilling folklore shared by the townsfolk. From tales of Mr. Potter's heinous crimes to Mary Brown's eerie encounters, we'll lay bare the spine-tingling backdrop of the movie. 

Lost in the woods, our trio's quest takes a truly terrifying turn. Hear the ominous echoes of the unseen voices and the horrifying discovery of the three piles of rocks. The suspense is ratcheted up a notch as we recount Josh's chilling disappearance and the blood-curdling findings that follow. Heather's heart-wrenching apology video, the bundle of sticks tied with Josh's flannel, and the pouch filled with teeth and blood - all hint at an unspeakable horror just around the corner. 

As we reach the climax, brace yourself for the ultimate horror - the blood-soaked abandoned house, the ghastly symbols, the haunting voices, and the dreadful finale. Experience the hair-raising eighth night in the woods through Heather and Mike's lens and witness their horrifying fate. We'll dig into what makes The Blair Witch Project a successful horror film and how its tragic end leaves us unnerved yet satisfied. So, dim your lights, and step into the terrifying world of The Blair Witch Project with us.

Get your copy of The Blair Witch Project
If you'd like to own your own copy for when this film isn't streaming, look no further!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the Show.

Please subscribe, rate, and review! Thank you for listening! Hope you enjoy!

Website: https://moviestheyreprettygood.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/moviestheyreprettygood
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087938154530
Twitter: https://twitter.com/moviesgoodpod
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8iGT7riyJ_K2DFLwfbTemg

Travis:

Hello and welcome to another episode of Movies, colon. They're pretty good. I'm your host, Travis Dudding, and today we are going to be talking about one of my all-time favorite horror movies, the Blair Witch Project 1999, directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez. This is a found footage film, one of the first. I'm not going to say it's the first, but it's definitely what kicked off the craze of found footage movies and handheld POV movies, which definitely got overdone for a bit there. But I'd say that if you don't like those types of movies because like, oh, like it's overdone, but if you haven't watched this one, at least watch this one because it's great. Like a lot of people overlook this one or think they don't need to watch it, but trust me, it's great. It is great. I love this movie so much. All right, so let's get right into it.

Travis:

So we get a title card, or not a title card, but it's saying in 1994, three students from Burkittsville, Maryland, went to into the woods to make a documentary. They never came back and a year later their footage was found in the woods. So this is the footage that they found is the movie. So so we got Heather, Josh and Mike. It's Heather's project, basically, like I'm guessing she's the film student and it was her idea and everything like that. Josh is her friend and Mike is someone that they hired to have an extra hand for this. So we see them going to pick up Mike and they're going to get groceries and supplies and things like that that they need. They go to get batteries for the cameras and everything and then they're off off on the road. They see them stop at a diner and they're interview they're interview any locals that they come across basically about this Blair Witch, and we'll learn more about the legend of the Blair Witch as the documentary goes on. So the town of Burkittsville used to be called Blair and they changed the name, so that's where the Blair in Blair Witch comes from. And so he started to hear like a little bit of info. Basically like a lot of kids died in the 1940s and a lot of like the people don't seem to know what happened or even remember that anything like that happened In one of the interviews.

Travis:

I like this you see the there's a mom holding her little little girl and she's telling part of the story and everything above the Blair Witch and the little girl is like getting upset and like trying to stop her from telling it. And I always wondered if and I'm sure it's I've seen like the special features in the documentaries and everything on it like so many times but I always forget, like if they meant for that girl to get upset or if that was just like part of it, but it works so well for the movie, just because it seems like she's like getting freaked out about it and everything. Then we there's an old man talking about a Mr. Potter from the 1940s and they're saying that some hunters were like out in the woods and this Mr. Potter guy came out of the woods and he just said I'm finally finished. And so they're like, ok, like what? What does he mean by that? Like, after he came into town and said that, so they went out to his house and when they were at his house, Mr. Potter's house, they found the bodies of seven children. So then they you know when they're, when he's going to trial and everything and they're interviewing him he said that he would take the kids down there into the basement, two at a time when he was going to kill them, and he'd make one stand in the corner facing away from him while he killed the other one. And then, you know, kill the the one that was in the corner, and the reason that he made them turn in the corners? Because he could feel their eyes on him and he didn't like them, like that feeling of their eyes on him.

Travis:

So, and we'll get some more on that a little bit later so then they, they get a name from one of the locals that they're interviewing, mary Brown. So they go find her trailer and they go and interview her and she, she has like the demeanor of someone who's like a little bit like OK, like I don't trust this person. But you know, she gives a lot of info and if, if, what she's saying is true, then it's a little understandable that she'd be a little off off a rocker, you know. So they, they start to ask her about her encounter with the witch, because that's what they heard, that she had this encounter when she was young and she said that she was out fishing with her dad and this woman came out of the woods and that she said that her arms were like hairy, but not like human hair but like horse fur almost, and that she opened her cloak and she was wearing this long cloak and her body was like a horse too, but it was like said, like woman shaped, but like with horse fur and everything like that, and I forget hooves, I don't remember, but either way, like you know, freaked her out and she's like never got that out of her mind.

Travis:

Then we cut from the interview to them in their motel for the first night they're just like getting having drinks and prepping because, like, the first day wasn't like a full, like a full shoot day basically. But yeah, so next day they're down on a river interviewing these two fishermen and you know they make, you know, get permission from them and everything, say that they're doing a documentary on the Blair Witch and ask them if they know anything about it. And then so they start telling the story that in the late 1800s a little girl named Robin Weaver wandered off into the woods and just was missing for a few days. Three days later she comes back and like just shows up on her grandma's porch and everyone's like, oh, like, where were you? Where were you? And when they're asking her question, she started. She just kept talking about this woman whose feet never touched the ground that she saw, and then, like the another fisherman's talking about how like he saw this like gray vapor coming out of the the river one time, and the other guy's like oh, you're full of shit. And he's like, no, like I'm telling you like these woods are haunted and everything. Everybody knows that. So, like one guy is pretty skeptic and the other like isn't really, you know, he's a little more of a believer.

Travis:

So after that interview they drive to their spot where they're going to park the car and then hike into the woods and then they're going to camp for the rest of the shoot and everything, because they can't really reach it by road. And they hike over to a place called coffin rock and they do another piece for the documentary there and she reads an excerpt from a book and she talks about how the, these five men, were out there. I forget what they're, why they were out there, if they were just taken there or if they were Like doing a job out there hunters, I don't remember, but these five men were like tied together, like the in some kind of formation and Tortured, basically like their intestines were cut out and like they could tell from the person that found them that they were alive when all this happened. They weren't just like dead bodies that were tied up Because there's like signs of a struggle if someone happened upon them, goes to, goes back to town, like there I mean, they're dead by the time this person finds them. Goes to town to get the sheriff they got, brings a sheriff where all the cops come out to the Back, to the coffin rock and they're gone. The bodies are gone. So there was evidence that they were there, like there was still blood and stuff, but just so someone had moved them. And then they were never found ever again.

Travis:

So it's starting to get dark, so they start setting up camp in the rain and Then it cuts to the middle of the night and they can hear some. Oh wait, no, it's just the next morning. And and Josh is saying how he heard noises in the middle of the night and but like couldn't really tell what they were. And then Mike's like, oh, if I had heard noises, oh, yeah, he said that they sounded like cackling is what it was. And then Mike says if I heard cackling in the middle of the night I would just shit my pants, you know so. But yeah, they don't really dwell on that too much. They talk about it and then they move on.

Travis:

So now they're hiking through the woods. They're not on a trail and there's. So there's some conversation about how like, okay, like we're just taking a shortcut to the trail, you know, but we're gonna like, trust me, we're gonna find it. And they're looking for, like some, some kind of cemetery. Basically, this is one of the first arguments about whether or not they're lost, which is gonna be a majority of the film. Honestly, they finally find this clearing that has these individual piles of rocks Like spaced out around. There's seven different piles and they're like okay, this is the, this is the cemetery, because it was the, the seven kids that died, so there's seven like little piles of rock and it's still like a little eerie and everything. They decide to wait till night to do like the, their piece for the documentary and they record them in the dark, so it's a little more ominous. And Then this is the first time that we see, see them record the noises that they're hearing in the night. This is the third night for them and we can hear you can hear these. It almost sounds like rocks being like Piled and toppled and like thrown around the in the forest, but they say that it's like all all around them, like they can't like pinpoint a one specific direction. It's like they're surrounded by these Rocks that are making noise, so it's starting to get a little more ominous.

Travis:

Next morning it's raining again. They're tearing down the camp. They said they're done with their shooting, like they've they've had all their location. So this is their day that they're just walking back to the car. And then so they start to argue about like this isn't the way we came. And Heather says no, like we're taking a straight shot to the car because the the first two days or whatever first day was like the quickest route to the two locations that they wanted to shoot. But this is a straight shot from their last camp to the car. Apparently so, but no one's like really trusting each other then. But they're just kind of taking her word for it, arguing off the map again Then. But it's starting to get late again and they're still not back to the car and Mike's starting to snap. He's like yelling and stuff in the end of the woods. So they figure that it finally does get dark, too dark, and they do have to camp. They're getting upset because the camera equipment has to be returned the next day, josh has to work the next day. So Like tensions are getting high but there's nothing they could do because they haven't found the car.

Travis:

They so another cut to the middle of the night again and they're starting to hear more noises and there's like getting a little more freaked out about it. This time, like Before, it's just like, oh, that's weird, maybe it's just, you know, deer or something Like that, but this time they can hear what sounds like footsteps. So they're a little more nervous about it. Wake up the next morning and there's three piles of rocks surrounding the tent, like one for each of them, and so they're A little freaked out about that. Then Josh is a little skeptical, like are you sure those weren't there when we set up camp? And now there's like I think we would have noticed if we were setting up our tent right in the middle of three piles of rocks, you know. So they get all packed up and everything.

Travis:

And this is when Heather realizes that the map is missing, and so there's an argument about that, like no, I gave you the map. And then Josh was like yeah, then I gave it back to you. Like I know, I gave it back to you and I gave it back to you, and it's just like no one Can find it and Heather's like always put in the same spot and it's not in that spot, so one of you must have taken it and both of them are denying taking it and everything like that. Then, uh, so they decided to keep moving and, uh, end up getting there Crossing the another creek. Everyone gets their shoes wet. Uh, mike starts laughing Heather thinks that she's laugh, that he's laughing at her, and but he just like keeps laughing and laughing and laughing like more than is warranted for the situation. And he finally comes out with it that he kicked the map into the creek the day before and he's like that map wasn't doing us any good, we were lost anyway, so I just kicked it in there. And so everyone freaks out on him, like rightfully so.

Travis:

And like once they finally all calm down, they get back to hiking and hopefully they don't have a map, but they're just like let's just go in one direction, this is the way we were going before, so let's keep going that way. Then they stumble across another clearing but there's these stick figure sculptures everywhere and they're hanging from the trees and everything and it's super like, okay, like what the heck is this? Like, what's up with this? Everyone's a little freaked out about it. They get a bunch of shots of that and then they're like okay, like let's get out of here, let's go, like we're still lost, so we need to get out of here. But they go as far as they can and it's starting to get dark, so they set up camp again. So this is now the fifth night. They were only supposed to be out for three nights and this is now their fifth night.

Travis:

This time in the middle of the night they wake up and hear noises again, but this time the noises are voices. It's not just rocks like clinking against each other. They are hearing voices, but you can't really make out what anyone's saying. And then they realize that the voices are kids' voices and you can even like kind of hear a baby crying and stuff like that, but they're all like all the voices are like layered, so you can't really like make out anything specific. So obviously they're freaking out a little bit about that, or not a little bit, a little more about that.

Travis:

And as they're sitting there, then the tent starts to shake, like all the flaps on the side of the tent are like, and of course that's the final straw. They go flying out of the tent and they're running away and they're just start taking off straight out of the tent and they're running and running and then they see something. Of course we don't see it because it's dark in the middle of the night and it's not lit. But Heather's screaming like what is that? What the fuck is that? But yeah, we have no idea what it is.

Travis:

But they see something and they just take off running until they eventually like all catch up with each other and they turn off the lights on the cameras and their flashlights and everything. And then they just like kind of huddle together and just like calm down together and wait it out. And you can like it's completely pitch black, camera wise but you hear like Josh like say like telling himself like that wasn't, like it's not a, there's no baby out there, there's no baby crying Things, fine, like you know kind of like reassuring himself and the others. You know, it's the next morning. They kind of they just kind of waited out in the woods until it got light and they're like okay, it's been about an hour, let's go back to the camp. Sun's starting to come up, so they like feel a little safer.

Travis:

Head back to the camp and it's like completely trashed. But then they realize that the person, that only one of their packs is trashed, and it's Josh's and I forgot to mention before, when they found the cemetery with the seven individual piles of rocks, josh accidentally kicked over one of the piles of rocks and they, like try to put it back together and everything. But you know, he accidentally desecrated this pile of rocks that is supposed to be symbolic of one of these dead kids and but so, like the camp itself is pretty trash, but only his stuff is like thrown everywhere. And it's not only thrown everywhere, he's like, oh, like, why is my, why is it all wet? And he's like it looks like slime, and then so it's like there's some kind of like slimy substance, like on all this stuff, and it's just his, like heathers and Mike's packs are like completely intact, but just like thrown to the side. So that's a little, a little weird.

Travis:

And but they, you know, gather themselves, gather the stuff and get back on the, the trail or lack of, and as they're moving they realize that they come across a log that they already crossed before and so, even though they've decided we're just going to go south, because they have a compass. They don't have a map, but they have a compass, and they're like okay, let's just go in one direction. Eventually we'll find civilization, because you know, it's not that big of a forest, which makes sense, I think, what you're supposed to do in that type of situation. But somehow they've gone in a complete circle, even though they've thought they were going south the whole time. So this is put. This is putting tensions even higher between the three of them.

Travis:

Josh has the camera and he's like shoving it in Heather's face, like like seeing, like trying to give her a taste of her own medicine, because she's been filming everything, even though, like they think that she should be a little more worried about the fact that they're still out there. And she is worried, but she admits that this is like all she has left, like she has to keep filming because this is what's keeping her sane, you know. But Josh is like shoving the camera in her face and like, what's your motivation? You're lost and God is all lost. And then she starts crying and Mike's like, okay, like good one, you got her, like that's enough, like good point, you made your point. Then finally they calm down, everyone comes down, it cuts, oh yeah. Then we get a scene of them in the tent at night and you know, they got their flashlights, but they're just like having this like nice conversation where they're just trying to keep it light and Mike's joking that he has a cheeseburger in his back pocket and like oh, I can't wait to like, have this food again and like wish this. And it's just a very lighthearted, nice conversation where everyone's like they're all friends again Next morning.

Travis:

Josh is missing, they're, and they're looking for them. They're yelling for him and he's just completely gone and you know yelling his name. They look for him for a little bit. At some point they just give up, like okay, like, but we still got to get out of here, you know. So they decided like, okay, like, what direction should we go? Mike's like which one of the from the Wizard of Oz was the bad witch? The east of the west. And she's like the wicked witch of the west was the bad guy. And so Mike says okay, let's go east then. So they decide South wasn't working, let's go east.

Travis:

Cut to them waking up the middle of the night again to noises like this is the seventh night now. Yes, this is the seventh night they wake up in here Josh screaming, and out in the woods, but they can't. It's just like with the rocks. It seems like it's coming from multiple directions and it's like you can't really make out like what he's yelling, but he's just like it sounds like he's just screaming in pain and they're like Josh, like where are you, josh? And? But they just can't find them and he's just yelling and screaming and screaming. That's like this all night pretty much.

Travis:

One thing that's cool about this is like obviously they're filming Outwards, like they're not filming their own faces during this, but all you see is like the, the light from the camera like shining on the trees and because it's cold, you can see Mike's breath like go, like, go across the light, and I think that's like a cool looking shot that I that I hadn't really noticed before. But it's nothing like major. It's not like a big plot point like, or it's not symbolic like well, what does Mike's breath mean? But I Just thought it was like really cool, like, oh, like that's like all you can see is like just the, the breath from him, like screaming Josh's name, so Obviously they don't find him.

Travis:

They wake up the next morning. Heather has the camera and she like shows that Mike is still alive and still there, that they're both still alive, unzips the tent and there's a bundle of sticks, like right outside the tent in the morning. It's like okay, like, like you know, obviously a little nervous, like what is this? Zooms in on the bundle of sticks. It is tied together with what looks like Josh's flannel, like a strict, like, like his flannel was like cut into strips and it was used to like tie this bundle of sticks together and she's like freaked out a little bit. Like okay, like let me just take this away from the tent and Worry about that. After a calm down, you know that type of thing Finally does.

Travis:

Oh yeah, we get this like short scene of, you see, like Mike like off in the woods, like kind of rockin, like trying to keep himself together, and he's like it's okay, like I found found a pack of cigarettes on the bottom of my pack. It's like all the way in the bottom so that like we're smoking. That means we're still alive, you know. And then Heather goes and sits next to him and just get like a shot of them, like kind of holding each other a little bit, and and then you, we see Heather has the camera. She's going back to the bundle of sticks. She's gonna untie it and see what's inside. She gets it open and there's like a like more flannel, but it's like a pouch, like tied into a pouch, and she says that it's all bloody, like it's full of blood. She gets the pouch untied and it's teeth, like human teeth, so presumably Josh's teeth, in this pool of blood, tied into this bundle of sticks using his own flannel. So that's like obviously very, very scary for everyone and Like.

Travis:

So Heather starts panicking, she's like hyperventilating and just freaking out. But she doesn't want to freak Mike out, so she kind of just keeps it to herself and everything. So once she finally calms down and like washes her hands of the blood and everything and just Mike's like you okay. She's like, yeah, just washing my hands, and she's like she's still like very Like bothered and Mike can tell, but he's, but she's still not gonna say like what happened, and then they just get back to hike in and everything Once.

Travis:

Once she like composes herself, we cut to. It's Heather, like with the camera pointed at herself, we only see, like from her nose up, like it's just a very close-up of her eyes basically, and she's sending to like a video message, to Like she's like I want to apologize to Mike's mom, I want to apologize to my mom and she's like her and Josh's mom it's you know, it's all my fault like this was my idea. I'm the one that insisted that we do this, I'm the one that insisted that we weren't lost and all this stuff, and she's just like putting all the blame on herself. And this is like the. This shot's been parodied and like so many things, like the office scary movie, all this stuff like it, and it's the Iconic shot from the poster itself. So I Think part of the reason that this Gets parodied so much is like you could see like her snot bubbles and stuff, and so that's pretty impressive to like make yourself Snot like that. But I guess it's pretty easy when you're like actually camping in the cold of Maryland in the fall, you know.

Travis:

But so then it's a little bit later in the night and they're hearing voices again this is the eighth night, by the way, and this time they can hear Josh yelling again, but this time they can hear Tim like yelling, like help me, help. So they're like okay, like you know, they grab their cameras and they head out to look for them, like this time they're gonna look for them. They each have a camera. They're following the voice, the sound of Josh's voice, and they come across the house and like, oh my god, there's a house like, and it's just like completely run down, like gutted house, like wood, like holes everywhere, no window, like the windows are smashed out and everything, and there's just like piles of lumber, like where the door should be, and but they're like, all right, let's go in because that's where the voice is coming from. And so they go in there looking for Josh. Like I said, they each have their own camera, so we get the POV from each character in this scene, which is essential.

Travis:

They, as they're like looking through the house and everything, they hear Josh's voice again and this time he's yelling like Heather like. So he's Like and Mike's like he's upstairs, like let's go upstairs. And then he's like running up the stairs and as he's going up the stairs, you see on the wall there are a bunch of tiny bloody hand prints, like Presumably of kids, but they're like the wall is completely covered with these like blood hand prints. And so super unsettling gets to the top. Obviously Josh isn't there and Heather followed Mike up there and then, like, as they're both upstairs, then they hear Josh's voice again and Mike's like I'm coming for you, buddy. Like he starts running downstairs, pass the first floor and they starts heading down into the basement.

Travis:

Now, as he's going down to the basement, we see more of these bloody hand prints all over the walls, but there's also these like different Like, I'm guessing, like runes or something. There's a bunch of symbols on the wall as well and he kind of any kind of like Pans the camera across those and like says like you know, like what the hell like? But then he keeps going because he could, you know, hear Josh, and so he keeps going down into the basement and he gets gets down to the basement, he kind of pans around and he's like he just says Josh, like, almost, like hey, is that you like? Walking towards me, and then the camera falls and hits the ground. Now, this is why it's key that there was that they each had their own camera, because this is my favorite part, like this is my favorite thing about this the climax of this movie it, it's so well done and so like creative, like I just can't get over.

Travis:

Like and ah, it's so we get the POV shot from Heather's camera looking for Mike. But we have the audio from Mike's camera, which is laying on the floor of the Basement of this house, and so we can hear Heather yelling like Mike, like you know, yelling for Mike. But it's starting out far away and then getting closer and louder and louder, and louder and louder as she gets down into the basement and it's so. We're seeing her head slowly down to the basement, but she's, you know, a little more cautious than Mike was, but she's still hiding down there. We're seeing the handprints. Again. She gets down to the basement and she's panning like the same that Mike did. But when she gets to the corner, we see Mike standing in the corner, just like in the story of the mr, mr Porter, mr Potter or whatever it was how he would face the kids in the corner when he was killing the other one. We see Mike face in the corner and as soon as the camera sees him and she screams, then Heather's camera falls to the ground and that's it.

Travis:

That's the end of the movie, right there, oh, so definitely not a happy ending, but Doesn't have to be a happy ending to be a satisfying ending. That was such a satisfying ending like Ah I, I don't even have the right words to just say why I like it so much. I think what makes this work as a scary movie so well is that you don't See anything. You see the results of the Blair Witch, but you don't actually see the Blair Witch, which I think is is where the 2016 sequel fell short, because you do get a glimpse in that one and it's and it's not satisfying because it never could be. When you've gone 17 years of just having your imagination fill the blanks of what, the where, what the Blair Witch is and looks like any of that stuff, then nothing could ever do it justice. Like no matter what it looked like, you know, and that's what that was.

Travis:

What was so genius about this? Like you don't see anything. It's all tension. It's all like tension building, and it's very good at that. It's very slow and you're getting tense with the characters as well, and that's just what I love about this movie so much, and it's it does a good job because, like you, if you watch this movie by yourself and then go walking through the woods at night, you see it's gonna freak you out.

Travis:

Like I added, like I did that like I had watched it one year. This is when I was living in Maryland, where it takes place, and I lived. This is when I was still in the military, I lived on base and I was working nights, so I would walk and I would walk to work because I, like, lived close enough and I'd have to walk through the woods. There was a trail that went through the woods to the street, like a little shortcut, and it was freaky and I and I made the mistake of doing that after watching this movie and like I just couldn't. I mean, obviously I made it like I'm still here today and nothing like actually could have possibly happened, but it was still it's. It was creepy and I think that's what makes an effective horror movie. Is it just kind of messes with you and it sits with you, and this one definitely south with me.

Travis:

And I remember the very first time I watched it I watched it on a DVD and because I was a little too young when it first came out, like yeah, I was 10 and there's definitely people that watched scary movies younger than that or that age, but I was, I was a scaredy cat for most of my time as a kid and so I came like a little late on this. I was buzzed in my teens. I was in high school the first time I watched it. But I watched it completely alone, like literally no one home at the house, like I forget where, I don't remember where my parents and my brother were, but I was home alone and I watched it and it freaked me out. And then I watched the special features and there was this documentary on there I think it's called the curse of the Blair Witch and it's another fake documentary about this fake documentary.

Travis:

But it was done. It was done like this was like actual found footage, not like a behind-the-scenes thing, like how they, how they make this movie. It was like making it like the Blair Witch project was real found footage, and it for a split second. I was like wait, is this real? Like did this actually happen? And then, like I had to like get out. Luckily the internet was around so I was like, oh, and then, you know, felt super dumb like after that, but that's how, like ingenious this was.

Travis:

And then, because these, these actors were like nobodies at the time I think most of them it was their first film they used their real names. They, you know they didn't do like actor names. So, like the parents I know I don't know about all three of them, but for sure the parents of Heather Donahue received like condolence letters, like saying like, oh, like, we heard that Heather went missing and stuff like that, and so it worked on like everybody. So it's like, even if you didn't believe the ghost stuff, yeah, it was, it's very easy to believe like, oh, like these kids went to the woods to make a documentary in what missing and that could have been from a ghost or from you know, just someone kidnapped them, you know. But yeah, man, I just, I will never get sick of watching this movie.

Travis:

It it always. It always delivers and in a way that very few movies do, that slow burn. The build is key, I think, for creating war. It really is, because if I think about other movies that are like scary, it's the ones that are a little bit of a slow burner. Hereditary, which I think is gonna be next week's episode, that's another slow burn, but that one you actually see some stuff, but they do it in a great way, you know, and I think the other reason that this worked so well is that they were like that. The three actors were actually camping and the directors were out in the woods making noises and like, actually like trying to scare them, so like those reactions are fairly genuine. You know it's not like, you know, that's just not supernatural stuff that's scaring them, but it's still three people out in the woods and there's people out to get them in quotes, surrounded them, making noises and trying to scare them, and it worked, and I think that's another thing that this movie has in its favor.

Travis:

Anyways, I can go on and on about this, but I realize I'm just gonna be making the same points over and over again. And I just really love this movie. I hope you guys do too. I hope you guys enjoyed this episode. I hope I didn't get too rambly and too redundant, but that's just. That's just how you know that I really, really love something and have for a long time when I just get kind of like, oh man, this is so good. So thank you guys for listening. Hopefully I covered everything I wanted to. Hope you guys tune in next week. We're gonna. I'm gonna be doing horror movies for the rest of October, so stay tuned and everyone, have a good week and see you next time. Thanks, bye.

The Blair Witch Project
Lost in the Woods, Strange Encounters
Josh's Disappearance and Terrifying Discovery
Terrifying Night in an Abandoned House

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