Reason behind this analysis
I am analyzing this film because it is an excellently shot horror film that used to frighten me as a kid. The film itself is revolutionary, single handedly instigating the “found footage” horror style that we see in movies such as “Creep” and “They’re Watching” to list a few. Directors Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick managed to compile a film that not only possessed the audience with mystery and suspense, but managed to scare viewers after the credits have rolled. It takes a significantly terrifying film to perform such a feat, so I thought a deeper look into the inner workings of this film would be extremely insightful.
Plot of the film
Heather Donahue, Michael Williams and Joshua Leonard, student filmmakers, set out to shoot a documentary about a local legend, the Blair Witch. In the forests near Burkittsville, Maryland, many children have vanished in the 1940s and people still avoid going too deep into the woods. So, the party sets out to look for facts that prove the legend, equipped only with two cameras and a little hiking gear. First, they find little piles of stone that must have been arranged artificially, later, they have to admit to be lost in the woods. Eerie sounds at night and more piles of stones in places where they have not been before cause the already desperate group to panic. And one night, days after they should have been back home, Josh disappears completely. Only what has been recorded and filmed with the cameras is found a year later and shows what happened in the woods.
Meaning behind the film
The film likes to accentuate the mysterious nature of this supernatural predicament. Being that they chose to disregard local legends to explore an ominous woods for their little documentary. Clearly this is a recipe for disaster. However, theres more to this than initially seen. The idea that these people plan to expose the horrors that plague the local town emphasizes an idea of cultural intolerance. In the real world, where this sort of thing would never happen, this situation would lead to the rapid disbelief of such a local legend. Though their intentions are noble, this would negatively effect the town as the townsfolk would be discredited and exposed, leading to severe humiliation. This could be viewed as a form of cultural intolerance, where in the film, by dismissing local legends, these characters are exposed to the worst that this fabled legend has to offer. Ultimately paying for their intolerance with their lives. By mystifying the entity, the work enables the entity to posses more meaning than just a spooky phenomenon. This whole feature is a study of what happens when people disregard, nature, and native culture, for ones personal intentions. The witch being the bringer of justice for those who expose local culture.
Horror Techniques utilized
1.Lighting
2.Sound design
3. Anticipation of fear
4. Handheld Cinematography
Themes
1.Insecurity: None of these characters in the film feel secure when inside the forest. Their sense of direction being completely thrown off course, their purpose changes from exposing the phenomenon, to escaping it alive. Their entire experience within the forest is terrifying, being exposed to all kinds of supernatural occurrences that not only disorient, but mentally degrade the characters until they’re nothing more than victims of complete despair. Their fear being the lead source for their failure to escape, leading them further and further into the mysterious forest that leads to their ultimate demise.
2. Mental instability: The characters in the film slowly go insane as the events that transpire through the film suggest an obvious evil within the forest. Their beliefs of safety are completely suspended as hints of danger and death haunt each character to their very core.
3. Death: Death is a commonly reoccurring theme throughout the film. Even before all the havoc is unleashed, we are told that there have been several other instances of death inside the woods. All the deaths were mysteriously unexplained. When the havoc begins, we see even more death present all the way up till the end where even the protagonists face an untimely death.
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