But what exactly happened? If you're expecting suspense of the first degree and a horrifying payoff similar to the one that climaxed the first film, you'll be sorely disappointed. After a drunken night of camping out in hopes of communing with the spirit of the Blair Witch, the five wake up to find that their seemingly innocent sleep may have been disturbed somehow. A year after the release of the original film, a group of five Blair Witch aficionados-four out-of-towners led by one seriously unhinged "tour guide"-venture into the woods outside Burkittsville, Maryland, on a tour of the sites made famous by missing documentarians Heather, Mike, and Josh.
The presence of the media in Book of Shadows was also an indictment of the news that covered The Blair Witch Project breathlessly and questioned whether it could be real when the main cast was clearly alive and well, making talk show rounds.This thoroughly second-rate follow-up to the groundbreaking (and highly profitable) horror flick The Blair Witch Project-produced by Blair Witch directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez-plays with the notions of reality and fantasy that surrounded the hype of the original movie, and attempts to throw in some scares along the way. When The Blair Witch Project was released in 1999, the internet was still new and a website online convinced around 40% of viewers that Heather (Heather Donahue), Josh (Joshua Leonard), and Mike (Michael C.
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The hysteria felt by the characters as the movie progresses mirrors the feelings of the audience when attempting to learn what is and isn't real in The Blair Witch Project. He had each character in Book of Shadows represent the fans of the first film, with those looking to profit, those interested in discussing its truth, and those disappointed in the portrayal of witches/Wiccans. If only the studio had left the creative teams to their own devices, the sequel to such a unique film may have broken new ground, as well.īerlinger, a documentary filmmaker, felt that The Blair Witch Project was dangerous in its use of marketing that fooled people into believing they were about to enter a movie theater and watch three college kids perish or disappear without a trace. Instead, Artisan Entertainment added Book of Shadows to the title, cut the more ambitious portions of the movie, and created a generic follow-up that most fans saw as a cash-grab. Unbeknownst to most people, the original idea for the sequel was planned as a satire of the hysteria and popularity surrounding The Blair Witch Project, providing characters meant to embody different aspects of fan reactions.
Unfortunately, the sequel tanked at the box office and with fans of the original movie, seeming to hold nothing in common with its predecessor. It ended up making over $240 million on a $60,000 budget, making it a huge hit.Ī year later, Artisan Entertainment released a sequel to the movie called Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 to cash in on the hype. Furthermore, the marketing of the flick used their actors' anonymity to pretend the entire thing was real and that the three main characters were actually missing after their encounter with entities in the woods of Burkittsville, Maryland. It's no surprise that any movie studio with the ability chose to create a sequel to the groundbreaking movie The Blair Witch Project, which used unknown actors that filmed themselves while improvising the movie based on a basic outline of a script.