After 17 years and a rubbish sequel, you'd be forgiven for thinking that found-footage horror classic The Blair Witch Project was very much a thing of the past.

But of course, now we know that the film is back for a surprise sequel with The Blair Witch, and it's actually very good indeed.

But we couldn't help but wonder – what happened to the three ill-fated 'film students' who were the original victims of the Blair Witch myth? Could they bottle grainy, hand-held lightning twice?

The Blair Witch Project: The horror movie that changed everything

Heather Donahue

Artisan / Twitter / Heather Donahue

Heather Donahue played the domineering and hyperventilating female lead in the movie. She is probably best remembered during the iconic, oft-parodied scene, snivelling and snotting onto the camera she directs towards her terrified face as she pleads for forgiveness.

Although her character was fairly annoying in parts, we're not sure she deserved the Golden Raspberry for Worst Actress in 1999, 'beating' both Sharon Stone (Gloria) and Catherine Zeta-Jones (Entrapment and The Haunting).

The Blair Witch Project was the first feature film Donahue starred in. Following its success she featured in 2000 romantic comedy Boys and Girls with Jason Biggs and Freddie Prinze, Jr. She appeared in more indie dramas including Seven and a Match in 2001, and comedy New Suit the following year.

The 39-year-old also played Mary Crawford in Steven Spielberg's Emmy Award-winning mini-series Taken in 2002, and guest-starred in US TV series Without a Trace and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Donahue most recently appeared in 2008 horror The Morgue, and has since dedicated her time to...uh... growing medical marijuana, releasing a memoir about her new career called Growgirl in 2012, as well as writing a pilot for a show called The High Country. No prizes for guessing what it's about.

Joshua Leonard

Artisan / Getty / Todd Williamson

Joshua Leonard starred as the aspiring film maker/shaky camera holder in the horror movie.

After Blair Witch, the actor appeared in HBO's TV movie Live From Baghdad, Robert De Niro drama Men of Honour (2000) and Allison Anders's Things Behind the Sun (2001).

He probably counts as the most active of his co-stars, having also featured in the Independent Spirit Award-winning 2009 film Humpday and the critically-acclaimed HBO series Hung, and most recently popped up in an episode of HBO's True Detective, and more recently bagging recurring roles inTV shows Bates Motel and Heartbeat, as well as cropping up in the Town That Dreaded Sundown remake/sequel and mid-range romances 6 Years (with American Horror Story's Taissa Farmiga) and If I Stay (with Chloe Grace Moretz).

As a director, Leonard won the Grand Jury Prize at CineVegas with his art documentary Beautiful Losers in 2008. He's also married to actress Alison Pill of Scott Pilgrim, Milk and The Newsroom fame.

Michael C Williams

Artisan / Getty / Scott Gries / Tribeca Film Festival

Michael C Williams plays peacemaker student turned terrified participant.

Following the film, he guest starred in TV series Law & Order (2000) and Without a Trace (2003). Film credits include drama Montclair (2007) and sci-fi thriller The Objective (2008).

Williams is the manager of the Big Blue Door Theater, based in Hawthorne, New York, and the last word on his whereabouts was that he was studying to become a guidance counsellor, presumably helping other people who had traumatic experiences in the woods one night.

Daniel Myrick

2008 Getty Images

Director and writer Daniel Myrick - who was awarded the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award for Blair Witch - hasn't as yet managed to surpass the success of his debut movie.

Myrick continued to collaborate with Blair Witch's co-director and writer Eduardo Sánchez on a trilogy of short films based on the original, and also worked as an editor and cinematographer on various music videos and commercials. In 2008, he wrote and directed sci-fi horror The Objective, in which he cast former Blair Witch star Michael C Williams.

Outside of filmmaking, he worked on the short-lived Raw Feed, a direct to DVD division of Warner Home Video specialising in horror, which he founded with X-Files executive producer John Shiban and 24 executive producer Tony Krantz in 2008.

Myrick recently wrote and directed thriller Under the Bed - based on an intensely creepy true story about a stalker who moves in under the bed of his victim - which has been listed as 'in post-production' on IMDB for some time now...

Eduardo Sánchez

Rex Features / Everett Collection / Getty / Justin Baker / WireImage

Cuban-born Eduardo Sánchez co-directed and co-wrote Blair Witch. He re-teamed up with Myrick to direct and write short documentary Curse of the Blair Witch and short video An Exploration of the Blair Witch Legend, released shortly after the original film in '99.

Since then he has directed horror movies Seventh Moon, starring Amy Smart, and 2011's Lovely Molly.

He also directed four episodes of Robert Rodriguez's 2014 TV series From Dusk Till Dawn (including the very first), one episode of Supernatural, and a segment for horror anthology V/H/S/2. His next film will be the thriller Griffin's Ghost.

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