[Example] How “The Blair Witch Project” changed horror films

IF YOU WANT to scare people, it helps if they believe the tale is real. Mary Shelley opened her novel “Frankenstein” (1818) with a series of letters. Bram Stoker put diary entries and newspaper clippings into “Dracula” (1897) to increase its authenticity. But it was “The Blair Witch Project”, released 25 years ago in July 1999, which most convincingly muddled fact and fiction. In the process, it became one of the most important horror films of all time.

Was it a drama or a documentary? Audiences were not quite sure. Posters asserted: “In October of 1994, three student film-makers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, while shooting a documentary” about a local myth. “A year later their footage was found.” At the Sundance Film Festival flyers asked for help finding Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael Williams and listed a hotline for the sheriff’s office.

The writer-directors, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, had also blurred the line between reality and performance during filming. Ms Donahue, Mr Leonard and Mr Williams lent their real names to their characters. They operated the cameras themselves, and the wobbly, close-up shots imply youngsters out of their depth. The crew disoriented the actors by restricting their access to food and disturbing their sleep. As much of the dialogue was improvised, the bickering presumably came naturally.

The effect of all this was gripping—and the response was feverish. “The Blair Witch Project” made almost $250m at the global box office: a hefty return on the shooting budget of $35,000 (though post-production expenses brought the total cost to around $200,000-500,000). It became a cultural phenomenon, popularising the “found footage” genre and inspiring numerous parodies and rip-offs, including the lucrative “Paranormal Activity” franchise.

“The Blair Witch Project” proved that storytellers could make a virtue of the simple and the rough-hewn. The creeping terror comes not from fancy special effects, but from odd noises and the trio’s realisation that they are lost. As a result, the movie ushered in an era of successful low-budget horror; the genre is Hollywood’s most profitable to this day. The Blair Witch may be fictional, but the fear of the woods the film instilled in millions of viewers is very real.