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THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999) Analysis and Breakdown Part 2

The Cine-Files

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On this episode of The Cine-Files, Steve Morris and John Rocha continue their trip back to 1999 to reexamine and explore The Blair Witch Project, one of the most successful independent films of all time. A "found footage" pseudo-documentary and psychological horror film written, directed, and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. The film stars Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Joshua Leonard as three students who hike into the Appalachian Mountains near Burkittsville, Maryland, to shoot a documentary about a local myth known as the Blair Witch and get so much more then they bargained for. Steve and John go thru the movie scene by scene and break down the direction, acting, storylines, cinematography, score, action sequences and more.

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16 Comments

@JacobMcCoy-m5m 3 months ago (edited)

This film still gets under my skin today.
When I was 14, I rented it from the online Apple Store on my parents old desktop Mac. I waited until it was dark out, closed the doors to the study room, put in earbuds, and “experienced” it. It remains one of the few horror films that shook me all the way to my core.

@josephweeks3786 10 months ago (edited)

I want to see you two in the woods but instead of a horror movie it's either a version of grumpy (not old) men or a really deep exploration of male friendship.

@PaulRizzo 4 months ago

This is probably my in my top 3 favourite horror movies of all time. I was 17 when it released and bought into it fully. The Curse of the Blair Witch was what did it for us. It was so perfectly done.

I also think that everyone is far too hard on Heather. She was in over her head, yes. But the minute they got into the woods, the witch was messing with them. Everything that happened was because of the witch.

@Redjack10 10 months ago

Heather Donahue gave one of the all-time great horror movie performances, and whatever was in the water in 1999 that caused the culture to tear that poor girl apart and even give her a Razzie fucking SUCKS man. To this day one of the most raw and authentic performances ever captured on film, and she deserves that recognition.

@rabidrabbitshuggers 10 months ago

I get why you guys want to explore the topic of misogyny with Josh, but I view his verbal abuse of Heather simply in the context of “This is a man who knows he is about to die and is angry about it.”

IMO, if Heather was Hector, but otherwise did the same actions and made the same choices, Josh would have had an identical crashout.

@_bulenty 2 months ago

1:44:16 heathers screams at the end are haunting. I think at this moment, her mind is broken. She's done-zo

@rabidrabbitshuggers 10 months ago

This film proves you don’t need CGI to scare people. Hell, you don’t even need a map.

@ganelon76 10 months ago

I loved this. One of my favorite episodes to date.

@yerabbit 1 month ago (edited)

Randomly stumbled on this podcast, this is such an excellent discussion 👍

Definitely subscribing

@stevekasan1575 10 months ago (edited)

The Kids attack scene when i first saw this in theatres, wow. Imagine being in a dark, cold theatre full surround sound with all those kid's voices you hear. It was freaky. You may be the most jaded and cynical viewer but I am sure this one scene will get you.
This talk about how this film was constructed is why i adore this podcast. Yes, this film is all fiction but like all films to really enjoy it you have to be invested. This film is a prime example if you play along and when that ending delivers in full...does it ever deliver.
The stick figure is still iconic. It is a great testament that yes it is a low budget film BUT the lore and lasting effect it has no high budget can compare.

@philrm99 10 months ago

Excellent breakdown.

@Redjack10 10 months ago

There is so much lore-enriching ancillary material out there for Blair Witch obsessives to dive into if you’re interested. Video games, comic books, fake dossiers and documentaries, 2 seasons of Hunt-A-Killer Blair Witch boxes, and probably even more stuff that even I haven’t found yet.

They really tried to hard launch a huge expanded BW universe back in 99-00 that was going to lead to more movies and it just never took off the way they wanted it to.

Hopefully with the new Blumhouse acquisition we can see this stuff expanded on one day down the road.

My funny little headcanon is that Robert Eggers’ The Witch is the Elly Kedward prequel story that they were kicking around way back then but never made.

@mariogooch9634 10 months ago

I first saw this as an early limited release at one of those nesh theaters here on the Northside of Chicago. I saw it being talked about on the 9 O'clock news. Before the hype took hold in a nation wide release. I knew the style they were doing as other lesser known films like, "the last broadcast " and "Cannibal Holocaust" did the same thing. Before it was found footage. I was interested in this new form of story telling. I was pleased with the experience. Although I get it when ppl. Don't like this. Even now this genre has become cliche. I believe there is still more creative stories to be mined from this genre by talented story tellers.
Thanks guys 😊

@joseluisherreralepron9987 10 months ago (edited)

MIke's overreaction to his throwing the map in the river is one of the few moments in the film that feels 'fake' to me...it just plays wrong, too big. Every September and October I watch a horror film a day and post my thoughts about each film in Facebook. I was astonished starting two years ago that I got a surprising amount of negative feedback...hate, actually...about this film. Most were younger people, former students, who say the film is 'boring and nothing happens.' I had a hard time getting my head around all of that, but they have been raised on horror films.

@baldbadass 10 months ago

They should make an alien film like this. They did it felt for the part the went to the derelict it's similar to them being in this creepy house in this film. Although I respect this film I don't like it. I do like another film the directors did called the objective which is about the djinn UFOs but you need to look up all about them first to understand it

@Dismal626 1 month ago

I disagree with the misogyny angle. She was getting bullied because she was acting arrogant and she got them lost. Not once did they imply anything negative about her gender. If anything, Heather was the one that would make remarks about theirs and theres even scenes in the second sight version of the film where Heather says things like "next time I do a trip like this it's going to be all women."