The Blair Witch

Ok...I was one of the ones that was really bummed that THE WOODS from Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett - a team I love - wasn't really The Woods, but was The Blair Witch. Wingard and Barrett are grand. They have great ideas and are a cool team. But, I just saw this as a studio film that was going to be a disappointment in one way or another. Based on the 47% Metacritic score, it seems like they did miss the mark a bit. I was in no rush to see it at the time, but I finally circled back around and checked it out today. And, it didn't suck. :)

Nutshell - dude's going to look for his sister Heather from the first film. It's only been 18 years - she's probably fine. :::grin:::  He gets a lead from some shifty townies and gets his friends, a bunch of camera's, a drone, and the like and tromps off into the forest. Madness and heartache follow. :::spoiler:::

Now, the film itself passed my "AWWW! FUCK YOU, FOUND FOOTAGE! YOU BORING SHITE!" test. Things keep rolling and the story hums along nicely. But, it did have me chortling and growling out, "Jump scare bullshit," a few times. People keep creeping up on others in the group, then they make this loud noise of some type.

"HEY!!!!! W have to get out of here!"

"HEY!!!!! Did you hear that?"

"WHERE'S Paul?!"

"I'M BACK! Everything ok?"




I thought this was utter crap and it pissed me off. However, the film rallies and really comes back pretty strong in the third act. And, it had some fun and shocking moments that even had me giggling and saying, "Well...I didn't see THAT coming!" out loud.

The film had some set pieces that were friggin' upsetting and some cool woods scenes and "magical world" gags that I enjoyed. The addition of ear-cams took a bit of the "why are they still filming?" out of the mix, which was cool. 

So...the long and the short - I think this is a fun offering and a solid addition the the BLAIR WITCH franchise. But...I still wonder what Wingard and Barrett's THE WOODS would have been like.