I need to talk about what it was like to be alive during the Blair Witch Project phenomenon.

When I was younger I was always told that Exorcist was the scariest horror film ever made. And while it’s pretty creepy (it even ranked pretty high on our list best horror movies of all time), I was a little disappointed when I finally saw it.

And that’s only because it didn’t actually scare me as much as I’d hoped. Although I’m considering Exorcist series like one of the best horror franchisesI definitely think the first movie is a little overrated…

I’m sure this is how this younger generation feels about the 1999 found footage horror film. The Blair Witch Project. Directed and written (though we didn’t know it at the time) and starring Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez (who we Also didn’t know then) Michael Williams, Heather Donahue and Joshua Leonard, many people today may view TBWP as only movie. But let me tell you. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a bigger horror phenomenon in my life than when this movie first came out. You really had to be there to truly understand the unprecedented hype. With that said, here’s what it was like when The Blair Witch Project turned the horror genre on its head.

Joshua Leonard holding a camera in The Blair Witch Project — (Image credit: Artisan Entertainment)

Laugh all you want, but in 1999 found footage of horror films were not very common. A quick search on the Internet will tell you that the 1961s. Connection was the very first of its kind, but after that you didn’t really have much other than something like, say, Cannibal HolocaustA the movie is so controversial that mainstream audiences were not so familiar with, or the darkly comedic mockumentary of 1992 Man bites dog.

So, when promotional materials for The Blair Witch Project began to be implemented, many of us went crazy and completely believed in it! A few months before the film’s release, we were informed that in October 1994, three film students had disappeared while filming a documentary about a local curse, and that the film released in theaters had been compiled from the trio’s footage.

Of course, today, in 2024, this sounds very stupid, especially considering BVP spawned an entire subgenre of found footage franchises like Paranormal activity. But then, in 1999, we didn’t know this. If you looked online at the time, there was nothing on the World Wide Web to tell you that it was all fake because the filmmakers hired skilled web designers to make it look legit.

Remember when Spider-Man: No Way Home was still in production and there was footage Andrew Garfield on the set? People have gone crazy, right?

Well we had nothing like that The Blair Witch Projectalthough we did get a Syfy documentary special that doubled down on providing (fake) video evidence. Honestly, the marketing of the film is probably the best I have ever seen as it played a crucial role in making us want to watch this film. And by the film’s chilling end, many of us were genuinely confused (and scared) for people’s lives. Moreover, the ending is very ambiguous.

Michael C. Williams speaks to the camera in The Blair Witch Project

(Image credit: Artisan Entertainment)

When we found out it was just a prank, we breathed a huge sigh of relief to know that the actors were okay.

You’d think that when the news broke that the entire Blair Witch myth was a hoax, people would be upset. But guess what. We weren’t! At least I don’t think most of us were.

In fact, I feel like the general consensus was that we were all very happy that the three actors were okay. At least at first, until the self-reflective shame of being deceived took over.

Because, as I said, many of us thought that these three young men diedas the overall horror in the film seemed genuine. But when we found out that it was all just a sham, it actually made a lot of us happy, like ew. Thank God it wasn’t real.

Oh. Different times.

Running frantically through the woods in The Blair Witch Project

(Image credit: Artisan Entertainment)

I remember a lot of people getting physically sick watching the movie because it was so shaky.

Okay, now about the film itself. Found footage films have come a long way since then. The Blair Witch Project. Currently, a film such as Late Night with the Devil (the meaning of which we have discussed on this site) uses the concept of found footage as a form of storytelling rather than a budgetary necessity.

Of course found footage concept The Blair Witch Project is important to the overall plot (again, this is what sold the film as realistic in the first place). But it seemed to be used primarily for cost-cutting purposes, and in 1999 it was very basic. So much so that the film is almost difficult to watch as all the shaking made many people’s stomachs hurt. at that time.

I remember people telling me that they had to close their eyes to all the parts where the characters were running through the forest because of motion sickness. People definitely had similar complaints about a movie like Cloverfieldbut by then people knew what to expect from a found footage film.

But in 1999? Man, people were cheering left and right watching. TBWP.

Heather Donahue sees something creepy in the woods in The Blair Witch Project

(Image credit: Artisan Entertainment)

I also remember people leaving the theater because they were so scared.

Now to be honest The Blair Witch Project never scared me. I was more unnerved by the thought of people dying (and we were watching their inevitable death).

In fact, my reaction to TBWP is probably similar to how many people felt about indie film, Skinamarinkbecause I admired this movie, but I actually didn’t think it was as scary as some people did.

But speaking of these “certain people”, there are moviegoers who are scared of the eternal crap becauseThe Blair Witch Projectboth before and after the reality of the situation was revealed.

For example, I remember the first time I saw this film in the cinema. When did it start getting really intense in this famous night sceneThere were about four or five teenage girls (back then everyone was allowed into R-rated movies) who stood up, shaking, and just walked away.

I thought it was strange that they all went to the bathroom together, but by the time the film reached its admittedly creepy ending, I realized that they had left completely, perhaps too petrified to see the film to the very end.

And I’ve heard similar stories from people who didn’t see the movie in the theater, but watched it at home. TBWP This is one of those rare instances where a small screen is perhaps better suited to a film than a large one, as it feels claustrophobic. And I knew people in high school who said they had nightmares after watching it. And it was after we all knew it was a hoax.

It’s just power The Blair Witch ProjectBaby.

A brave soul walks through an abandoned house in The Blair Witch Project.

(Image credit: Artisan Entertainment)

It set a whole new standard for independent filmmaking and marketing hype.

Do you know what the original budget was for? The Blair Witch Project? About $60,000. Do you know how much it grossed at the worldwide box office? Almost $250 million, more than 4,000 times the original budget.

I recently wrote about Robert Rodriguez and how important he is for cinemawhere I talked about how his first film, El Mariachiwas made for a paltry $7,000 and ended up making over $2 million.

And frankly, I’m not sure what feat could be more impressive. Rodriguez makes a movie for $7,000 and earns over 2 million, or The Blair Witch Project costing $60,000 and becoming a global phenomenon. I want to say the first, but I think I’ll have to go with the second, and that’s only because marketing is for TBWP was very much a part of the film itself.

There have been other interesting marketing campaigns (I especially like the movie Chronicles flying people trick), but I don’t think anything lives up to the TBWP marketing campaign where many of us believed the studio would release a movie where people actually die. The fact that the company made so much money as a result is just icing on the cake.

This is what it was like to be there when The Blair Witch Project released. Were you there when it happened? For more news about everything related to horrorbe sure to check back here often!