THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999)
Limited Edition Blu-ray Box Set
Label: Second Sight Films
Region Code: B
Rating: Cert. 15
Duration: 81 Minutes 21 Seconds (Theatrical Cut), 85 Minutes 19 Seconds (Festival Cut), 81 Minutes 21 Seconds (35mm Theatrical)
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080i HD Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Director: Eduardo Sanchez, Daniel Myrick
Cast: Heather Donahue, Michael Williams, Joshua Leonard
Ah, The Blair Witch Project (1999), the scrappy lost-in-the-woods flick that put "found footage" on the map, for better or worse. I remember taking my wife to the theater to see this one, or perhaps more correctly, she took me to see it. It was on my radar but she had heard about and was keen to see the true story of three student filmmakers who went missing in the Black Hills Forest near Burkittsville, Maryland while making a documentary about a local witch legend. She had heard about it through a morning radio show she listened to, and now mind you, she was and is no fan of horror, and had never asked to see horror film before or since, but such was the amount of hype generated by this film back in 1999, it was the film to see at that time. There was even the Curse of The Blair Witch mockumentary that aired on Syfy that supposedly told the backstory of the myth, a dedicated website that further explored the myth, all of these complete with faux newspaper clippings, interviews and TV footage. I having already been familiar with an earlier found footage entry, the seminal Cannibal Holocaust, was not swayed by the elaborate grassroots this-really-happened campaign, but I did not let onto her about it, I let her go in believing that we are about to see was a real documentary about doomed student filmmakers, and my experience was all the more thrilling for it.
The story such as it sets up that in 1994 three student filmmakers, Heather Donahue, Michael Williams and Joshua Leonard ventured into the Black Hills Forest to investigate a local legend known as the Blair Witch. They plan a three-day excursion into the woods with Hi-8 video and 16mm cameras, but that plan falls apart as they become hopelessly lost in the woods, at one point losing their map, travelling in circles, encountering strange stick figures and oddly arranged piles of stones, and hearing nerve-shredding sounds emanating from all around them. Their three0day trip turns into an eternity as they never do emerge from the woods, what happened to them remaining a mystery, until their footage was discovered one year later, and what we are watching is that footage. It's terrific set-up, the trio arrive in the village of Burkittsville and interview locals, some are aware of the legend, talking about a place called Coffin Rock and how children have been known to go missing in the area, and of a killer who murdered children in a house in the woods back in the 1940s, before trekking into woods. It's fall, the trees are barren, the ground is damp and covered in fallen leaves that crunch and rustle as they are trodden upon, the fall setting make the forest even more creepier.
At night after setting up camp they hear strange sounds from deep in the wood, what sounds like branches being broken; and another night they hear a baby crying and cackling sounds. After discovering a cemetery featuring several small cairns one of the stone formations is accidentally toppled, and it seems to be a bad omen for the trio. The next day the emerge from their tents and finds three small stone cairns have appeared near their tents. As they wander lost looking for a way out they also find unnerving bundles of sticks, and odd witchy-looking stick figures hanging from trees. Heather's the defacto leader of the expedition tries to maintain her cool as things get weird, but as it all starts to unravel the guys start to grow increasing scared, hostile and disturbed. Eventually one of them go missing, though they can hear his anguished cried echoing through the darkened woods. It seems they may have indeed discovered the Blair Witch. Even Heather's stolid veneer begins to crack, at one point memorably offering an snot-nosed apology for the mess she's gotten the group into,
Even as jaded as I like to think myself as being I found and find The Blair Witch Project quite unnerving, I am continually rattled while watching it, the performances from the asctors have such a sense of realism to them, and I bought right into the we're lost, we're scared, and we're being stalked by a witch in the woods mindset of it all, it's quite a well-crafted bit of fright. This is a film that is shot with an eye for reality, there's no special effects, no digital frights, it's just a group of people lost in the woods scared to death when it turns out the local folklore is real, the only special effect is the sound design and our own rampant imaginations.
It worked for me then, and it works for me now, The Blair Witch Project is a real-deal horror classic, and while it spawned countless found footage imitators it's never been truly imitated, precious few that followed have even come close to it's blockbuster success, other than Paranormal Activity. I have to give kudos and accolades to Second Sight Films for undertaking this from the source elements rebuild, finally showing us the film as it was originally intended to be seen, offering three viewing options, and jam-packing it with deep-diving, definitive extras. As of the time of this review there is no announcement of a U.S. release of the new restored and remastered rebuild with the new extras, so this region-B locked release from Second Sight is the only way to see it the way it was intended to be. It's my understanding this Limited Edition set s now sold out, but there is a 2-disc standard release with all the same disc extras that is available from Second Sight Films direct.
Audio/Video: The Blair Witch Project (1999) arrives on 2-disc region-B locked Blu-ray from Second Sight Films, not only offering 3 versions of the films, but two of them are rebuilds from restored and remastered original source elements of Hi-8 video tapes and 16mm film, for both the Theatrical Cut and the Festival Cut, that was supervised and approved by co-directors Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick and producers Greg Hale and Michael Monello, plus we get a the Theatrical Cut , transferred from the 35mm transfer master which is much closer to what we saw at theaters and on disc previous to this release. It's quite an upgrade, the 16mm footage looks properly grainy and well-textured, it's a bit brighter as well, and the get the Hi-8 video footage is now scanned from the source for the first time on home video in the proper frame rate, which gives it an authentically raw appearance. Theatrically and in all previous home video versions the Hi- footage has been shown at the incorrect 24 fps. We also get the Theatrical cut from the original 35mm master, which is interesting for the sake of comparison, but I do not ever see myself going back to that version, but I love that it is here for the sake of completion.
Audio on all three versions comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo with optional English subtitles. It's a pretty straight forward track, don't expect a super immersive experience, keeping it true to the found footage aesthetic, but there are still some creepy moments to be found in the sound designs, frightening sounds emanating darkened woods, what sounds like rocks being smashed together, broken branches, and of course the harrowing screams inside a dilapidated old house, it's plenty terrifying.
It should be noted that prior to reviewing the disc Second Sight have announced a disc replacement program for this release in which buyers can e-mail blair@secondsightfilms.co.uk with the subject line of "Blair Witch replacement disc" along with a proof of purchase to receive their replacement, as it seems that the Theatrical Cut was authored with an channel mapping error that presents what should be a stereo track as dual-mono.
Onto the extras, this is a loaded edition for sure, and one sure to please longtime fans and newcomers. We start off with a brand new Audio Commentary by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson for the restored Theatrical Cut, plus the archival Directors' and Producers' Audio Commentary, also for the Theatrical cut.
More new stuff comes by way of the massive nearly three-hour The Blair Witch Documentary, a new feature-length Second Sight Films production that runs 150 minutes, it includes co-directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, producer Greg Hale, production designer Ben Rock, and co-producer Michael Monello. It's a no stone left unturned look at the making of the film from creating the mythology, scouting locations, footage of pre-production meetings around the kitchen table, and plenty of previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage. This is an essential piece for deep-diving fans of the flick. We also get 82-min of Deleted Scenes, including previously unseen video and 16mm footage that has also been restored and looks terrific.
Up next is the 11-min The Blair Witch Project: Analogue Horror in a Digital World by Mike Muncer, a video essay which gets into how this film helped establish found footage as a viable medium that was often imitated but never duplicated.
Also included is the 44-min Curse of the Blair Witch, a mockumentary broadcast on the Syfy Channel in 1999 before the release of the film that purported to tell the backstory of the Blair Witch mythology. Then onto 8-min of Alternate Endings; a 11-min Cannes 1999: Archive Directors’ Interview with co-directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, and a pair of Trailers top it all off.
The 2-disc Blu-ray set arrives in a sturdy Rigid Slipcase with new spooky into-the-woods artwork by artist Timothy Pittides, inside the 2-discs are housed in a gatefold digipak with clear plastic trays featuring it's own unique artwork. Also tucked away inside the slipbox is a truly hefty 184-Page Hardcover Book featuring unique artwork by artist Timothy Pittides, filled with archive production materials, director's notes, cast and crew credits, and absolutely stuffed with essays by Stacey Abbott, Becky Darke, Adam Hart, Craig Ian Mann, Mary Beth McAndrews, Dr. Cecilia Sayad, Peter Turner and Heather Wixson. We also get a second book, a 40-page replica of Heather's Journal Book, square bound and filled with her musing which grow darker as the entries progress, which is such a cool addition. Additionally, we get Three Collectors' Art Cards featuring the artwork of the Slipbox and Book by Timothy Pittides and an image from the film.
This is a truly gorgeous packaged set, even by the usual high standard of Second Sight Films this Limited Edition set with it's stark black and white design is a true spooky-looking beauty. It's too bad about the audio error, but I am pleased to see Second Sight Films address it and remedy it with a disc replacement program in a timely manner.
Special Features:
- A new Second Sight restoration from the Hi-8 videotapes and 16mm film elements, supervised and approved by the producers and directors
- Includes restored and remastered Original Theatrical Cut and Festival Cut plus original-release
version
- NEW! Audio Commentary by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson
- Directors' and producers' Audio Commentary
- NEW! The Blair Witch Documentary: a new feature-length Second Sight Films production (150:20)
- NEW! Deleted scenes, including previously unseen video and 16mm footage (91:43)
- NEW! The Blair Witch Project: Analogue Horror in a Digital World by Mike Muncer (11:29)
- Curse of the Blair Witch (43:53)
- Alternate Endings (8:01)
- NEW! Cannes 1999: Archive Directors’ Interview (10:51)
- Trailers (2:35)
Limited Edition Contents:
- Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Timothy Pittides
- 184-page hardback book with archive production materials and new essays by Stacey Abbott, Becky Darke, Adam Hart, Craig Ian Mann, Mary Beth McAndrews, Dr. Cecilia Sayad, Peter Turner and Heather Wixson
- Heather’s Journal book
- Three collectors' art cards
