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''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American
supernatural horror film Supernatural horror film is a film genre that combines aspects of horror film and supernatural film. Supernatural occurrences in such films often include ghosts and demons, and many supernatural horror films have elements of religion. Common them ...
written, directed and edited by
Daniel Myrick Daniel Myrick (born September 3, 1963) is an American film director, most famous for horror films, especially for co-directing and writing the 1999 psychological horror ''The Blair Witch Project'' with Eduardo Sánchez. They won the Independent ...
and Eduardo Sánchez. It is a fictional story of three student filmmakers—
Heather Donahue Rei Hance (born Heather Donahue; December 22, 1974) is an American writer, businesswoman, and retired actress. She is known for her roles as Heather in the 1999 film ''The Blair Witch Project'' and Mary Crawford in the miniseries '' Taken.'' Hanc ...
,
Michael C. Williams Michael C. Williams (born July 25, 1973) is an American actor, best known for his role (using his own name) in the movie ''The Blair Witch Project''. Williams also acted in the television program '' Law & Order'' during February 2000 as a man wh ...
, and
Joshua Leonard Joshua Granville Leonard (born June 17, 1975) is an American actor, writer, and director, known for his role in ''The Blair Witch Project'' (1999). He has since starred in films such as '' Madhouse'' (2004), '' The Shaggy Dog'' (2006), '' Higher G ...
—who hike into the Black Hills near
Burkittsville, Maryland Burkittsville is a historic village in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The village lies in the southern Middletown Valley along the eastern base of South Mountain. Burkittsville is a residential area with an economy based in agricultu ...
, in 1994 to film a documentary about a local myth known as the Blair Witch. The three disappear, but their equipment and footage are discovered a year later. The purportedly "found footage" is the movie the viewer sees. Myrick and Sánchez conceived of a fictional legend of the Blair Witch in 1993. They developed a 35-page screenplay with the dialogue to be
improvised Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
. A
casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a ''casting'', which is ejected ...
call advertisement in ''
Backstage Backstage most commonly refers to backstage (theatre), also in motion picture and television production. Backstage may also refer to: Film and television * ''Back Stage'' (1969 film), a silent film starring Oliver Hardy * ''Back Stage'' (1942 fil ...
'' magazine was prepared by the directors; Donahue, Williams and Leonard were cast. The film entered production in October 1997, with the
principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
taking place in
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
for eight days. About 20 hours of footage was shot, which was edited down to 82 minutes. Shot on an original budget of $35,000–60,000, the film had a final cost of $200,000–750,000 after post-production edits. When ''The Blair Witch Project'' premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
at midnight on January 23, 1999, its promotional marketing campaign listed the actors as either "missing" or "deceased". Owing to its successful run at Sundance,
Artisan Entertainment Artisan Entertainment (formerly known as U.S.A. Home Video, International Video Entertainment (IVE) and LIVE Entertainment) was an American film studio and home video company. It was considered one of the largest mini-major film studios until ...
bought the film's distribution rights for $1.1 million. The film had a limited release on July 14 the same year, before expanding to a wider release starting on July 30. While critical reception was mostly positive, audience reception was split. ''The Blair Witch Project'' grossed nearly $250 million worldwide, making it one of the most successful
independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...
s of all time, as well as the 41st most profitable horror film, while also being a
sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little promo ...
. The film launched a
media franchise A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or ...
, which includes two sequels (''
Book of Shadows A Book of Shadows is a book containing religious text and instructions for magical rituals found within the Neopagan religion of Wicca. Since its conception in the 1970s, it has made its way into many pagan practices and paths. The most famous ...
'' and ''
Blair Witch ''Blair Witch'' is an American horror media franchise created by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, distributed by Artisan Entertainment (now Lionsgate) and produced by Haxan Films that consists of three feature films and various additional ...
''), novels, comic books, and video games. The film is credited with reviving the found-footage technique which was later used by similarly successful horror films such as ''
Paranormal Activity Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...
'' and ''
Cloverfield ''Cloverfield'' is a 2008 American found footage monster film directed by Matt Reeves, produced by J. J. Abrams, and written by Drew Goddard. It stars Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel and Odette Yustman ...
''.


Plot

The film purports to be footage found in the discarded cameras of three young filmmakers who had gone missing. In October 1994, film students Heather,
Mike Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and docume ...
, and
Josh Josh is a masculine given name, frequently a diminutive (hypocorism) of the given names Joshua or Joseph, though since the 1970s, it has increasingly become a full name on its own. It may refer to: People A–J * "Josh", an early pseudonym of S ...
set out to produce a documentary about the mythical Blair Witch. They travel to
Burkittsville, Maryland Burkittsville is a historic village in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The village lies in the southern Middletown Valley along the eastern base of South Mountain. Burkittsville is a residential area with an economy based in agricultu ...
, and interview residents about the myth. Locals tell them of Rustin Parr, a
hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...
who lived in the forest and abducted seven kids in the 1940s; he supposedly murdered them all in his basement, killing them in twos while having one stand in a corner. The students explore the forest in north Burkittsville to research the myth. They meet two fishermen, one of whom warns them that the forest is cursed. He tells them of a young child named Robin Weaver, who went missing in 1888; when she returned three days later, she talked about "an old woman whose feet never touched the ground". The students hike to Coffin Rock, where five men were found ritualistically slaughtered in the 19th century; their corpses later disappeared. They camp for the night, and the next day, find an old graveyard with seven small
cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...
s, one of which Josh accidentally knocks over. That night, they hear the sound of sticks snapping. The following day, they try to hike back to the car but cannot find it before dark and make camp. They again hear sticks snapping. In the morning, they find that three cairns have been built inside their tent. Heather learns her map is missing. Mike reveals he kicked the map into a creek out of frustration, which provokes a fight between the trio as they realize they are lost. They decide to head south, using Mike's compass and discover stick figures hanging from trees. They again hear mysterious sounds that night, including kids laughing. After an unknown force shakes the tent, they hide in the forest until dawn. Upon returning to their tent, they find that their possessions have been rifled through, and Josh's equipment is covered with slime. They come across a river identical to one they crossed earlier and realize they have been walking in circles. Josh vanishes the next morning, and Heather and Mike try in vain to find him. That night, they hear Josh's agonized cries but are unable to find him. They theorize that his yells are a fabrication by the Blair Witch to draw them out of their camp. The next day, Heather discovers a bundle of twigs tied with fabric from Josh's shirt. Upon opening the bundle, she also finds a blood-soaked scrap of his shirt containing teeth, hair, a finger, and a large piece of a tongue. Although distraught, she does not tell Mike. That night, she records herself apologizing to her family and Mike's and Josh's families, taking responsibility for their predicament. They again hear Josh's agonized screams and follow them to an abandoned ruin of a house containing demonic symbols and children's bloody hand-prints on the walls. Trying to locate Josh, they go to the basement, where an unseen force assaults Mike, causing him to drop his camera. Heather enters the basement yelling, and her camera captures Mike standing in a corner facing the wall. Heather calls out to him, but he doesn't react. The unseen force assaults Heather, causing her to drop her camera, and the film ends.


Production


Development

Development of ''The Blair Witch Project'' began in 1993. While film students at the
University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...
, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez were inspired to make the film after realizing that they found
documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...
on paranormal phenomena scarier than traditional horror films. The two decided to create a film that combined the styles of both. In order to produce the project, they, along with Gregg Hale, Robin Cowie and Michael Monello, started
Haxan Films Haxan Films is a production company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. They are famous for producing the cult classic independent horror film ''The Blair Witch Project''. The name is taken from the 1922 Swedish/Danish silent movie ''Häxan'' ( ...
. The namesake for the production company is
Benjamin Christensen Benjamin Christensen (28 September 1879 – 2 April 1959) was a Danish people, Danish film director, screenwriter and an actor, both in film and on the stage. As a director, he is best known for the 1922 film ''Häxan'' (aka ''Witchcraft Thr ...
's 1922 silent documentary horror film ''
Häxan ''Häxan'' (, "The Witch"; Danish: ''Heksen''; English: ''The Witches''; released in the US in 1968 as ''Witchcraft Through the Ages'') is a 1922 silent film, silent horror film, horror essay film written and directed by Benjamin Christensen. C ...
'' (English: ''Witchcraft Through the Ages''). Myrick and Sánchez developed a 35-page screenplay for their fictional film, intending dialogue to be
improvised Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
. The directors placed a
casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a ''casting'', which is ejected ...
call advertisement in ''
Backstage Backstage most commonly refers to backstage (theatre), also in motion picture and television production. Backstage may also refer to: Film and television * ''Back Stage'' (1969 film), a silent film starring Oliver Hardy * ''Back Stage'' (1942 fil ...
'' in June 1996, asking for actors with strong improvisational abilities. The informal improvisational audition process narrowed the pool of 2,000 actors. According to Heather Donahue, auditions for the film were held at Musical Theater Works in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The advertisement said a "completely improvised feature film" would be shot in a "wooded location". Donahue said that during the audition, Myrick and Sánchez posed her the question: "You've served seven years of a nine-year sentence. Why should we let you out on parole?" to which she had to respond. Joshua Leonard said he was cast due to his knowledge of how to run a camera, as no omniscient camera was used to film the scenes. Pre-production began on October 5, 1997, and Michael Monello became a co-producer. In developing the mythology behind the film, the creators used many inspirations. For instance, several character names are near-
anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...
s: Elly Kedward (The Blair Witch) is
Edward Kelley Sir Edward Kelley or Kelly, also known as Edward Talbot (; 1 August 1555 – 1597/8), was an English people, English Renaissance magic, Renaissance occultist and scryer. He is best known for working with John Dee (mathematician), John Dee in hi ...
, a 16th-century mystic, and Rustin Parr, the fictional 1940s child-murderer, began as an anagram for
Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, thus ga ...
. The Blair Witch is said to be, according to legend, the ghost of Elly Kedward, a woman banished from the Blair Township (latter-day Burkittsville) for
witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...
in 1785. The directors incorporated that part of the legend, along with allusions to the
Salem witch trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...
and
Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), ''Death of a Salesman'' ( ...
's 1953 play ''
The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as a ...
'', to play on the themes of injustice done to those who were classified as witches. The directors also cited influences such as the television series '' In Search of...'', and horror documentary films '' Chariots of the Gods'' and ''
The Legend of Boggy Creek ''The Legend of Boggy Creek'' is a 1972 American docudrama horror film about the "Fouke Monster", a Bigfoot-type creature that reportedly has been seen in and around Fouke, Arkansas since the 1940s. The film mixes staged interviews with some lo ...
''. Other influences included commercially successful horror films such as '' The Shining'', ''
Alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
'', ''
The Omen ''The Omen'' is a 1976 supernatural horror film directed by Richard Donner and written by David Seltzer. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, it stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Spencer ...
'', and ''
Jaws Jaws or Jaw may refer to: Anatomy * Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth ** Mandible, the lower jaw Arts, entertainment, and media * Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker'' * ...
''—the latter film being his major influence, as the film hides the witch from the viewer for its entirety, increasing the suspense of the unknown. In talks with investors, the directors presented an eight-minute documentary, along with newspapers and news footage. The documentary was aired on the television series ''
Split Screen Split screen may refer to: * Split screen (computing), dividing graphics into adjacent parts * Split screen (video production), the visible division of the screen * ''Split Screen'' (TV series), 1997–2001 * Split-Screen Level, a bug in the vid ...
'' hosted by John Pierson on August 6, 1998.


Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
began on October 23, 1997, in
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
and lasted eight days, overseen by cinematographer
Neal Fredericks Neal Leslie Fredericks (July 24, 1969 – August 14, 2004) was an American cinematographer best known for the 1999 horror film ''The Blair Witch Project''. Career Born in California, Fredericks grew up in Maryland, where he attended Montgomery ...
, who provided a
CP-16 The CP-16, CP-16A, CP-16R, CP-16R/A and CP-16R/DS cameras are 16mm motion picture cameras manufactured by the Cinema Products Corporation of Hollywood, California. A range of cameras of Auricon ancestry. They were primarily intended for televisio ...
film camera. The "found footage" was shot with a Hi8 camcorder. Most of the film was shot in
Seneca Creek State Park Seneca Creek State Park is a public recreation area encompassing more than along 14 miles of Seneca Creek in its run to the Potomac River in Montgomery County, Maryland. The park features facilities for boating and fishing as well as trails f ...
in
Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County is the most populous county in the state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat and largest municipality is Rockville, although the census-design ...
. A few scenes were filmed in the historic town of Burkittsville. Some of the townspeople interviewed in the film were not actors, and some were planted actors, unknown to the main cast. Donahue had never operated a camera before and spent two days in a "crash course". Donahue said she modeled her character after a director she had once worked with, noting her character's "self-assuredness" when everything went as planned, and confusion during crisis. The actors were given clues as to their next location through messages hidden inside 35 mm film cans left in milk crates they found with
Global Positioning Satellite The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sys ...
systems. They were given individual instructions to use to help improvise the action of the day. Teeth were obtained from a Maryland dentist for use as human remains in the film. Influenced by producer Gregg Hale's memories of his military training, in which "enemy soldiers" would hunt a trainee through wild terrain for three days, the directors moved the characters a long way during the day, harassing them by night, and depriving them of food. Instead of using fictional names, all three actors used their real names in the film, something Donahue has regretted doing. She revealed in 2014 that she had trouble finding new roles because of it. According to the filmmakers' commentary, the unseen figure that Donahue is shouting about as she is running away from the tent is the film's art director Ricardo Moreno, who was wearing white long-johns, white stockings, and white pantyhose pulled over his head. It was initially intended for the figure to be revealed on camera as the Blair Witch herself, but the cameraman forgot to pan to the left of Donahue to capture footage of Moreno. The final scenes were filmed at the historic
Griggs House Griggs House was a historic home located in Granite, Maryland. It was a two-story house constructed in the mid-19th century. The home is associated with the film, ''The Blair Witch Project''. The house was a built in the style of Federal archite ...
, a 200-year-old building located in the
Patapsco Valley State Park Patapsco Valley State Park is a Maryland state park extending along of the Patapsco River south and west of the city of Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It ...
near
Granite, Maryland Granite is an unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. Originally known as Waltersville, it was renamed Granite in recognition of its principal product (the Woodstock Quartz Monzonite was quarried). The village was t ...
. Filming concluded on October 31,
Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...
. In an interview with ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'', Sánchez revealed that when principal photography first wrapped, approximately $20,000 to $25,000 had been spent.
Richard Corliss Richard Nelson Corliss (March 6, 1944 – April 23, 2015) was an American film critic and magazine editor for ''Time''. He focused on movies, with occasional articles on other subjects. He was the former editor-in-chief of ''Film Comment' ...
of ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine reported a $35,000 estimated budget. By September 2016, ''The Blair Witch Project'' has been officially budgeted at $60,000.


Post-production

After filming, the 20 hours of raw footage had to be cut down to 81 minutes; the editing process took more than eight months. The directors screened the first cut in small
film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...
s in order to get feedback and make changes that would ensure that it appealed to as large an audience as possible. Originally, it was hoped that the film would make it on to cable television, and the directors did not anticipate a
wide release In the American motion picture industry, a wide release (short for nationwide release) is a film playing at the same time at cinemas in most markets across the country. This is in contrast to the formerly common practice of a roadshow theatrical re ...
. The final version was submitted to
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
. After becoming a surprise hit at Sundance, during its midnight premiere on January 25, 1999,
Artisan Entertainment Artisan Entertainment (formerly known as U.S.A. Home Video, International Video Entertainment (IVE) and LIVE Entertainment) was an American film studio and home video company. It was considered one of the largest mini-major film studios until ...
bought the distribution rights for $1.1 million. Prior to that, Artisan had wanted to change the film's original ending, as the test audience were puzzled, although scared. Donahue screams in terror and finds
Michael C. Williams Michael C. Williams (born July 25, 1973) is an American actor, best known for his role (using his own name) in the movie ''The Blair Witch Project''. Williams also acted in the television program '' Law & Order'' during February 2000 as a man wh ...
facing a corner in the basement before she is knocked to the ground. The directors and Williams traveled back to Maryland and shot four alternate endings, one of which employed bloody elements. Ultimately, they decided to keep the original. Myrick said: "What makes us fearful is something that's out of the ordinary, unexplained. The first ending kept the audience off balance; it challenged our real world conventions and that's what really made it scary". Post-production fees increased the cost of the film to several hundred thousand dollars before its Sundance debut and, after marketing costs, the total cost of the film has been estimated as ranging between $500,000 and $750,000.


Marketing

''The Blair Witch Project'' is thought to be the first widely released film marketed primarily by the Internet. Kevin Foxe became executive producer in May 1998 and brought in Clein & Walker, a public relations firm. The film's official website launched in June, featuring faux police reports as well as "newsreel-style" interviews, and fielding questions about the "missing" students. These augmented the film's found footage device to spark debates across the Internet over whether the film was a real-life documentary or a work of fiction. Some of the footage was screened during the
Florida Film Festival The Florida Film Festival, produced by Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, is an annual international film festival. Overview The Festival includes narrative and documentary features and shorts, animation, midnight movies, and educational forum ...
in June. During screenings, the filmmakers made advertising efforts to promulgate the events in the film as factual, including the distribution of flyers at festivals such as Sundance, asking viewers to come forward with any information about the "missing" students. The campaign tactic was that viewers were being told, through missing persons posters, that the characters were missing while researching in the woods for the mythical Blair Witch. The
IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
page also listed the actors as "missing, presumed dead" in the first year of the film's availability. The film's website contains materials of actors posing as police and investigators giving testimony about their casework, and shared childhood photos of the actors to add a sense of realism. By August 1999, the website had received 160 million hits. After the Sundance screening, Artisan acquired the film and a distribution strategy was created and implemented by
Steven Rothenberg Steven Rothenberg (September 12, 1958 – July 17, 2009) was an American film studio executive. Rothenberg headed the theatrical distribution operations at Lions Gate Entertainment at the film studio's President of domestic releasing. He over ...
. The film's trailer was leaked on the website
Ain't It Cool News Ain't It Cool News (AICN) is an entertainment news website founded by Harry Knowles and run by his sister Dannie Knowles since September 2017, dedicated to news, rumors, and reviews of upcoming and current films, television, and comic book proje ...
on April 2, 1999, and the film was screened at 40 colleges in the United States to build word-of-mouth. A third, 40-second, trailer was shown before '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' in June. ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' reported that ''The Blair Witch Project'' was the first film to go viral despite having been produced before many of the technologies that facilitate such phenomena existed.


Fictional legend

The backstory for the film is a legend fabricated by Sánchez and Myrick which is detailed in the ''Curse of the Blair Witch'', a
mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...
broadcast on the
SciFi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. La ...
on July 12, 1999. Sánchez and Myrick also maintain a website which adds further details to the legend. The legend describes the killings and disappearances of some of the residents of Blair, Maryland (a fictitious town on the site of
Burkittsville, Maryland Burkittsville is a historic village in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The village lies in the southern Middletown Valley along the eastern base of South Mountain. Burkittsville is a residential area with an economy based in agricultu ...
) from the 18th to 20th centuries. Residents blamed these occurrences on the ghost of Elly Kedward, a Blair resident accused of practicing witchcraft in 1785 and sentenced to death by exposure. The ''Curse of the Blair Witch'' presents the legend as real, complete with manufactured newspaper articles,
newsreels A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, informa ...
, television news reports, and staged interviews.


Release

''The Blair Witch Project'' premiered as a Midnight Screening on Saturday, January 23, 1999 at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
, and opened Wednesday, July 14, at the
Angelika Film Center Angelika Film Center is a movie theater chain in the United States that features independent and foreign films. It operates theaters in New York City, Texas, Washington, D.C., California and Virginia. Its headquarters are in New York City. Histor ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
before expanding to 25 cities at the weekend. It expanded nationwide on July 30.


Television broadcast

For its
basic cable Cable television first became available in the United States in 1948. By 1989, 53 million U.S. households received cable television subscriptions, with 60 percent of all U.S. households doing so in 1992. with Data by SNL Kagan shows that about 58 ...
premiere in October 2001 on FX, two deleted scenes were reinserted during the end credits of the film. Neither deleted scene has ever been officially released.


Home media

''The Blair Witch Project'' was released on VHS and
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
on October 22, 1999 by Artisan, presented in a 1.33:1
windowbox A window box (sometimes called a window flower box or window box planter) is a type of flower container for live flowers or plants in the form of a box attached on or just below the sill of a window. It may also be used for growing herbs or othe ...
ed aspect ratio and
Dolby Digital Dolby Digital, originally synonymous with Dolby AC-3, is the name for what has now become a family of audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. Formerly named Dolby Stereo Digital until 1995, the audio compression is lossy ...
2.0 audio. Special features include the documentary ''Curse of the Blair Witch'', a five-minute ''Newly Discovered Footage'',
audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...
, production notes, and cast and crew biographies. The audio commentary presents directors Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez, and producers Rob Cowie, Mike Monello and Gregg Hale, in which they discuss the film's production. The ''Curse of the Blair Witch'' feature provides an in-depth look inside the creation of the film. More than $15 million was spent to market the home video release of the film. The film's
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
version was released on October 5, 2010, by
Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...
.
Best Buy Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebra ...
and Lionsgate had an exclusive release of the Blu-ray made available on August 29 the same year.


Reception


Box office

The film earned $1.5 million from 27 theaters in its opening weekend, with a per-screen average of $56,002. The film expanded nationwide in its third weekend and grossed $29.2 million from 1,101 locations, placing at number two in the United States
box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicke ...
, surpassing the
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
horror film '' Deep Blue Sea'' but behind '' Runaway Bride''. The film expanded further to 2,142 theaters and again finished in second place with a gross of $24.3 million in its fourth weekend, behind another horror film ''
The Sixth Sense ''The Sixth Sense'' is a 1999 American psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Bruce Willis as a child psychologist whose patient (Haley Joel Osment) claims he can see and talk to the dead. Released by ...
''. The film dropped out of the top-ten list in its 10th weekend and by the end of its theatrical run, the film grossed $140.5 million in the US and Canada and grossed $108.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross of $248.6 million (over 4,000 times its original budget). ''The Blair Witch Project'' was the 10th highest-grossing film in the US in 1999, and has earned the reputation of becoming a
sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little promo ...
. In Italy it set an opening weekend record for a US film. Because the filming was done by the actors using hand-held cameras, much of the footage is shaky, especially the final sequence in which a character is running down a set of stairs with the camera. Some audience members experienced
motion sickness Motion sickness occurs due to a difference between actual and expected motion. Symptoms commonly include nausea, vomiting, cold sweat, headache, dizziness, tiredness, loss of appetite, and increased salivation. Complications may rarely include d ...
and even vomited as a result.


Critical response

''The Blair Witch Project'' drew positive reviews from critics. The review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
gives the film a score of 86% based on 165 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 7.70/10. The website's consensus reads: "Full of creepy campfire scares, mock-doc ''The Blair Witch Project'' keeps audiences in the dark about its titular villain, proving once more that imagination can be as scary as anything onscreen". On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film received "universal acclaim" and was awarded its "Must-See" badge, with a weighted average of 81 out of 100 based on 33 reviews. Audience reception to the film, though, remains divided;
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave it an average grade of "C+" on a scale ranging from A+ to F based on audiences polled during the film's opening weekend. ''The Blair Witch Project'' found-footage technique received near-universal praise. Although this was not the first film to use it, the independent film was declared a milestone in film history due to its critical and box office success.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' gave the film four stars, and called it "an extraordinarily effective horror film".
Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' called it "a groundbreaker in fright that reinvents scary for the new millennium".
Todd McCarthy Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for ''Variety'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010. In October of that year, he joined ''The Hollywood Reporter'', where he subsequently served ...
of ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' said: "An intensely imaginative piece of conceptual filmmaking that also delivers the goods as a dread-drenched horror movie, ''The Blair Witch Project'' puts a clever modern twist on the universal fear of the dark and things that go bump in the night".
Lisa Schwarzbaum Lisa Schwarzbaum (born July 5, 1952) is an American film critic. She joined ''Entertainment Weekly'' as a film critic in the 1990s and remained there until February 2013. Career She has been featured on CNN, co-hosted '' Siskel & Ebert at the Mov ...
of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' gave a grade of "B": "As a horror picture, the film may not be much more than a cheeky game, a novelty with the cool, blurry look of an
avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
artifact. But as a manifestation of multimedia synergy, it's pretty spooky". Some critics were less enthusiastic.
Andrew Sarris Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism. Early life Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Katav ...
of ''
The New York Observer ''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper printed from 1987 to 2016, when it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainmen ...
'' deemed it "overrated", as well as a rendition of "the ultimate triumph of the Sundance scam: Make a heartless home movie, get enough critics to blurb in near unison 'scary' and watch the suckers flock to be fleeced". A critic from ''
The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...
'' said that while the film's concept and scares were innovative, he felt it could have just been shot "as a 30-minute
short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...
... since its shaky camera work and fuzzy images get monotonous after a while, and there's not much room for character development within the very limited plot". R. L. Schaffer of
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
scored it two out of ten, and described it as "boringreally boring", and "a Z-grade, low-rent horror outing with no real scares into a genuine big-budget spectacle".


Accolades, awards and nominations

At the 1st Golden Trailer Awards, it received a nomination for Most Original Trailer and won two categories: Best Horror/Thriller and Best Voice Over. At the 15th Independent Spirit Awards, ''The Blair Witch Project'' won the
John Cassavetes Award The Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award is presented to the creative team of a film budgeted at less than $500,000 by the Film Independent, a non-profit organization dedicated to independent film and independent filmmakers. It is named after ac ...
(for best first feature made for under $500,000). The
20th Golden Raspberry Awards The 20th Golden Raspberry Awards were held on March 25, 2000 at the Sheraton Hotel in Santa Monica, California to recognize the worst the film industry had to offer in 1999. Included with the normal Golden Raspberry categories to mark the dawn o ...
gave Heather Donahue its Worst Actress award, and nominated producers Robin Cowie and Gregg Hale for the
Worst Picture The Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture is an award given out at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst film of the past year. Over the 39 ceremonies that have taken place, there have been 202 films nominated for Worst Picture and 42 ...
award. At the
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards (formerly known as the ''Hastings Bad Cinema Society'') was a Los Angeles-based group of film buffs and film critics devoted to honoring the worst films of the year. The society was founded by Mike Lancaster and Ray ...
, the film won the Biggest Disappointment category and received three nominations: Worst Picture (Cowie and Hale), Worst Actress (Donahue), and Worst Screen Debut (Heather, Michael, Josh, the Stick People and the world's longest running batteries).


Legacy

An array of other films have relied on the found-footage concept and shown influence by ''The Blair Witch Project''. These include ''
Paranormal Activity Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...
'' (2007), ''
REC REC or Rec is a shortening of Recording, the process of capturing data onto a storage medium. REC may also refer to: Educational institutes * Regional Engineering College, colleges of engineering and technology education in India * Rajalakshmi E ...
'' (2007), ''
Cloverfield ''Cloverfield'' is a 2008 American found footage monster film directed by Matt Reeves, produced by J. J. Abrams, and written by Drew Goddard. It stars Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel and Odette Yustman ...
'' (2008), ''
The Last Exorcism ''The Last Exorcism'' is a 2010 American found footage supernatural horror film directed by Daniel Stamm. It stars Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell, Iris Bahr, Caleb Landry Jones, and Louis Herthum. After years of performing exorcisms, a disillusione ...
'' (2010), ''
Trollhunter ''Trollhunter'' ( no, Trolljegeren}; UK: ''Troll Hunter''; Canada: ''The Troll Hunter'') is a 2010 Norwegian dark fantasy film, made as a " found footage" mockumentary. Written and directed by André Øvredal and featuring a mixed cast of rel ...
'' (2010), ''
Chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...
'' (2012), '' Project X'' (2012), ''
V/H/S ''V/H/S'' is a 2012 American found footage horror anthology film and the first installment in the ''V/H/S'' franchise created by Brad Miska and Bloody Disgusting and produced by Miska and Roxanne Benjamin. It features a series of found foota ...
'' (2012), ''
End of Watch ''End of Watch'' is a 2012 American action thriller film written and directed by David Ayer. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña as Brian Taylor and Mike Zavala, two Los Angeles Police Department officers who work in South Central Los An ...
'' (2012), and ''
The Den The Den (previously The New Den) is a football stadium in New Cross, south-east London, and the home of Millwall Football Club. The Den is adjacent to the South London railway originating at , and a quarter of a mile from the Old Den, which it ...
'' (2013). Some critics have also noted that the film's basic plot premise and narrative style are strikingly similar to ''
Cannibal Holocaust ''Cannibal Holocaust'' is a 1980 Italian found footage cannibal horror film directed by Ruggero Deodato and written by Gianfranco Clerici. It stars Robert Kerman as Harold Monroe, an anthropologist from New York University who leads a rescue ...
'' (1980) and '' The Last Broadcast'' (1998). Although ''Cannibal Holocaust'' director
Ruggero Deodato Ruggero Deodato (born 7 May 1939) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and sometime actor. His career has spanned a wide-range of genres including peplum, comedy, drama, poliziottesco and science fiction, yet he is perhaps best known fo ...
has acknowledged the similarities of ''The Blair Witch Project'' to his film, he criticized the publicity that it received for being an original production; advertisements for ''The Blair Witch Project'' also promoted the idea that the footage is genuine. Despite initial reports that ''The Last Broadcast'' creators—
Stefan Avalos Stefan Avalos is an American Filmmaker, Musician and Journalist, best known for his work in film. Together with his partner Lance Weiler, he made ''The Last Broadcast (film), The Last Broadcast'' (1997), a horror film based on found footage (fil ...
and
Lance Weiler Lance Weiler is an American filmmaker and writer from Pennsylvania. He first was known for ''The Last Broadcast (film), The Last Broadcast'' (1997), a Found footage (film technique), found footage horror film which he co-wrote, co-produced, co-d ...
—had alleged that ''The Blair Witch Project'' was a complete rip-off of their work and would sue
Haxan Films Haxan Films is a production company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. They are famous for producing the cult classic independent horror film ''The Blair Witch Project''. The name is taken from the 1922 Swedish/Danish silent movie ''Häxan'' ( ...
for
copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...
, they repudiated these allegations. One of the creators told
IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...
in 1999: "If somebody enjoys ''The Blair Witch Project'' there is a chance they will enjoy our film, and we hope they will check it out". Film critic Michael Dodd has argued that the film is an embodiment of horror "modernizing its ability to be all-encompassing in expressing the fears of American society". He noted that "in an age where anyone can film whatever they like, horror needn't be a cinematic expression of what terrifies the cinema-goer, it can simply be the medium through which terrors captured by the average American can be showcased". In 2008, ''The Blair Witch Project'' was ranked by ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' as number ninety-nine on their list of 100 Best Films from 1983 to 2008. In 2006, the
Chicago Film Critics Association The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) is an association of professional film critics, who work in print, broadcast and online media, based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The organization was founded in 1990 by film critics Sharon LeMa ...
ranked it as number 12 on their list of Top 100 Scariest Movies. It was ranked number 50 on
Filmcritic.com Christopher Null is an American writer, film critic, and columnist. A former blogger for Yahoo! Tech, he was the editor of Drinkhacker.com, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Filmcritic.com, which operated from 1995 to 2012. In 2003, CNN ca ...
's list of 50 Best Movie Endings of All Time. In 2016, it was ranked by
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
as number 21 on their list of Top 25 Horror Movies of All Time, number 16 on ''
Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...
''s 25 Scariest Movies of All Time, and number three on ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
''s 10 Scariest Movies of All Time. In 2013, the film also made the top-ten list of ''The Hollywood Reporter''s highest-grossing
independent films An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, in ...
of all time, ranking number six. Director
Eli Roth Eli Raphael Roth (born April 18, 1972) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. As a director and producer, he is most closely associated with the horror genre, having directed the films '' Cabin Fever'' (2003) and ''Hoste ...
has cited the film as a marketing influence to promote his 2002 horror film ''
Cabin Fever Cabin fever is the distressing claustrophobic irritability or restlessness experienced when a person, or group, is stuck at an isolated location or in confined quarters for an extended time. A person may be referred to as stir-crazy, derived from ...
'' with the internet. ''The Blair Witch Project'' was included in the book ''
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die ''1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die'' is a film reference book edited by Steven Jay Schneider with original essays on each film contributed by over 70 film critics. It is a part of a series designed and produced by Quintessence Editions, a ...
''. After the film was released, in late November 1999, the historic house where it was filmed was reportedly being overwhelmed by film fans who broke off chunks as souvenirs. The township ordered the house demolished the next month.


Media tie-ins


Books

In September 1999, D.A. Stern compiled ''The Blair Witch Project: A Dossier''. Building on the film's "true story" angle, the dossier consisted of fabricated police reports, pictures, interviews, and newspaper articles presenting the film's premise as fact, as well as further elaboration on the Elly Kedward and Rustin Parr legends. Another "dossier" was created for ''
Blair Witch 2 ''Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2'' is a 2000 American metafiction horror film directed and co-written by Joe Berlinger and starring Jeffrey Donovan, Stephen Barker Turner, Kim Director, Erica Leerhsen, and Tristine Skyler. Its plot revolves ...
''. Stern wrote the 2000 novel ''Blair Witch: The Secret Confessions of Rustin Parr''. He revisited the franchise with the novel ''Blair Witch: Graveyard Shift'', which features original characters and plot. A series of eight
young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...
books, entitled ''
The Blair Witch Files ''The Blair Witch Files'', or simply ''Blair Witch Files'', is a series of supernatural- mystery novels first published in August 2000. The books were created and produced by Parachute Publishing, under license from Artisan Entertainment, and we ...
'', were released by
Random In common usage, randomness is the apparent or actual lack of pattern or predictability in events. A random sequence of events, symbols or steps often has no :wikt:order, order and does not follow an intelligible pattern or combination. Ind ...
subsidiary Bantam from 2000 to 2001. The books center on Cade Merill, a fictional cousin of Heather Donahue, who investigates phenomena related to the Blair Witch. She tries to learn what really happened to Heather, Mike, and Josh.


Comic books

In July 1999,
Oni Press Oni Press is an American independent comic book and graphic novel publisher based in Portland, Oregon. In 2019, it became an imprint label following the company's merger with Lion Forge Comics. The merged company, Oni–Lion Forge Publishing Grou ...
released a
one-shot comic In comics, a one-shot is a work composed of a single standalone issue or chapter, contrasting a limited series or ongoing series, which are composed of multiple issues or chapters.Albert, Aaron"One Shot Definition" About Entertainment. Retrieved J ...
promoting the film, titled ''The Blair Witch Project'' #1. Written and illustrated by Cece Malvey, the comic was released in conjunction of the film. In October 2000, coinciding with the release of ''Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2'',
Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...
released a one-shot called ''Blair Witch: Dark Testaments'', drawn by
Charlie Adlard Charles Adlard is a British comic book artist known for his work on books such as '' The Walking Dead'' and ''Savage''. Career Adlard began his work in the UK on ''White Death'' with Robbie Morrison and '' 2000 AD'' series including ''Judge Dre ...
.


Video games

In 2000,
Gathering of Developers Gathering of Developers, Inc. (shortened as G.O.D. or GodGames, and branded as Gathering between 2003 and 2004) was an American video game publisher based in New York City. Founded by Mike Wilson and associates in January 1998 and originally b ...
released a trilogy of computer games based on the film, which greatly expanded on the myths first suggested in the film. The graphics engine and characters were all derived from the producer's earlier game ''
Nocturne A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night. History The term ''nocturne'' (from French '' nocturne'' 'of the night') was first applied to musical pieces in the 18th century, when it indicated an ensembl ...
''. The first volume, ''
Rustin Parr Rustin Parr is a fictional character from the ''Blair Witch'' series of horror films. He first appeared in ''Curse of the Blair Witch'' (1999) as an old man on death row giving his last interview before being executed for the murders of seven ...
'', received the most praise, ranging from moderate to positive, with critics commending its storyline, graphics and atmosphere; some reviewers even claimed that the game was scarier than the film. The following volumes, '' The Legend of Coffin Rock'' and '' The Elly Kedward Tale'', were less well received, with ''
PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...
'' saying that Volume 2's "only saving grace was its cheap price", and calling Volume 3 "amazingly mediocre".
Bloober Team Bloober Team S.A. is a Polish video game developer based in Kraków. Founded in November 2008 by Peter Babieno and Peter Bielatowicz, the company is best known for developing ''Layers of Fear'' (2016), ''Observer'' (2017), ''Blair Witch'' (201 ...
developed ''
Blair Witch ''Blair Witch'' is an American horror media franchise created by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, distributed by Artisan Entertainment (now Lionsgate) and produced by Haxan Films that consists of three feature films and various additional ...
'', a first-person survival horror game based on the ''Blair Witch'' franchise. The game was released on August 30, 2019.


Documentary

''The Woods Movie'' (2015) is a feature-length documentary exploring the production of ''The Blair Witch Project''. For this documentary, director Russ Gomm interviewed the original film's producer, Gregg Hale, and directors Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick.


Parodies

''The Blair Witch Project'' inspired a number of
parody film A parody film or spoof film is a subgenre of comedy film that parodies other film genres or films as pastiches, works created by imitation of the style of many different films reassembled together. Although the subgenre is often overlooked by cri ...
s, including ''
Da Hip Hop Witch ''Da Hip Hop Witch'' is a 2000 American comedy film directed, produced and written by Dale Resteghini. A parody of the 1999 independent horror film ''The Blair Witch Project'', the film features appearances by musicians Eminem, Mobb Deep, Ja Rule, ...
'', ''
The Bogus Witch Project ''The Bogus Witch Project'' is a 2000 American comedy film directed by Victor Kargan and starring Pauly Shore. It satirizes ''The Blair Witch Project''. It uses different tellings of the Blair Witch, such as ''The Blair Underwood Project''. The f ...
'', ''
The Tony Blair Witch Project This page is a list of cultural depictions of Tony Blair onstage, in film and in other forms of fiction. Television drama and film * ''The Tony Blair Witch Project'' (2000) – Mike Martinez * '' The Deal'' (2003) – Michael Sheen * ''The Governm ...
'' (all in 2000), and ''
The Blair Thumb Thumbs! is a collective term for the O Entertainment short films created by Steve Oedekerk using "Thumbation" technology, a process which combines live-action thumbs and superimposition of the voice actors' faces. The first short, ''Thumb Wars' ...
'' (2001), as well as the
pornographic film Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include eroticall ...
s ''The Erotic Witch Project'' and ''The Bare Wench Project''. The film also inspired the Halloween television special '' The Scooby-Doo Project'', which aired during a ''
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' is an American animated television comedy, comedy television series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera for CBS. The series premiered as part of Children's programming on CBS, the network ...
'' marathon on
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
on October 31, 1999. 2013's '' 6-5=2'' was also inspired by this film.


Sequels

A
sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
entitled ''Book of Shadows'' was released on October 27, 2000; it was poorly received by most critics. A third installment announced that same year did not materialize. At the
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...
held in July 2016, a surprise trailer for ''Blair Witch'' was revealed. The film was originally marketed as ''The Woods'' so as to be an exclusive surprise announcement for those in attendance at the convention. The film, distributed by
Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...
, was slated for a September 16 release and stars
James Allen McCune James Allen McCune (born June 18, 1990) is a famous American actor and musician, best known for his roles on '' The Walking Dead'', '' Shameless'', ''Blair Witch'' and Sugar Pine 7. Life and career He was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to Charlotte ...
as the brother of the original film's Heather Donahue. Directed by
Adam Wingard Adam Wingard ( ; born December 3, 1982) is an American filmmaker. He has served as a director, producer, screenwriter, editor, cinematographer, actor, and composer on numerous projects. Following an early career as a member of the mumblecore ...
, ''Blair Witch'' is a direct sequel to ''The Blair Witch Project'', and does not acknowledge the events of ''Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2''. However, Wingard has said that although his version does not reference any of the events that transpired in ''Book of Shadows'', the film does not necessarily discredit the existence of ''Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2''. Screenwriter Simon Barrett explained that in writing the new film, he only considered material that was produced with the involvement of the original film's creative team (directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, producer Gregg Hale, and production designer
Ben Rock Ben Rock is an American film and theatre director, based in Los Angeles. Rock's career was launched when he served as production designer on the independent sensation ''The Blair Witch Project'' made by fellow University of Central Florida graduates ...
) to be "
canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...
", and that he did not take any material produced without their direct involvementsuch as the first sequel ''Book of Shadows'' or ''
The Blair Witch Files ''The Blair Witch Files'', or simply ''Blair Witch Files'', is a series of supernatural- mystery novels first published in August 2000. The books were created and produced by Parachute Publishing, under license from Artisan Entertainment, and we ...
'', a series of
young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...
novelsinto consideration when writing the new sequel. A new installment of ''The Blair Witch Project'' is currently in development at Lionsgate as of April 2022.


Television

In October 2017, co-director Eduardo Sánchez revealed that he and the rest of the film's creative team were developing a ''Blair Witch''
television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
, though he clarified that any decisions would ultimately be up to Lionsgate now which owns the rights to it. The series was later announced to be released on the studio's new subsidiary, Studio L, which specializes in digital releases.


See also

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List of ghost films Ghost movies and shows can fall into a wide range of genres, including romance, comedy, horror, juvenile interest, and drama. Depictions of ghosts are as diverse as Casper the Friendly Ghost, Beetlejuice, Hamlet's father, Jacob Marley, Freddy Kru ...


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blair Witch Project, The 1 American independent films American mockumentary films American psychological horror films American supernatural horror films American teen horror films Artisan Entertainment films Camcorder films Films about film directors and producers Films about witchcraft Films directed by Daniel Myrick Films directed by Eduardo Sánchez (director) Films produced by Gregg Hale (producer) Films set in forests Films set in Maryland Films shot in Maryland Films with screenplays by Daniel Myrick Films with screenplays by Eduardo Sánchez (director) Folk horror films Found footage films Golden Raspberry Award winning films Haxan Films films Paranormal hoaxes 1990s English-language films 1999 directorial debut films 1999 films 1999 hoaxes 1999 horror films Films set in 1994 Burkittsville, Maryland 1990s American films 1999 independent films Films set in the 1990s John Cassavetes Award winners