The Blair Witch Project was a great, world-changing movie. Not only did it introduce us to the Found Footage Genre, it also was the first project to use the Internet for viral marketing. Even just yesterday a friend told me he spent 2 hours reading up on stuff about the Blair Witch, which, as I told him, did not exist and was made up for this movie.

Now, 2016, the sequel, Blair Witch by Adam Wingard was released. I want to take a step back and write about the first sequel, Book of Shadows – Blair Witch 2. With an IMDb-Rating of 4 out of 10 stars you might say that it’s not that good. Many people hate it wholeheartedly. I’m going to make a case as to why you should give it a second chance.

Many people hate it because it took a different approach. Instead of being a second found footage movie set in the woods the creators thought of something completely different, something new. The Blair Witch Project was a movie. Everyone saw it. Everyone is intrigued by the Blair Witch. So a lot of people are now visiting the woods to find out more about the Blair Witch. So a group of random, unique (or stereotypical) characters meet each other on a tour to learn more about the Blair Witch. And that’s when everything goes wrong.

Instead of having another found footage movie, this one is normally, and actually well, shot. They still included found footage-like scenes, because similar to the Paranormal Activity Franchise we get scenes of them checking out video footage they filmed. I believe many people hate this movie because it is so different from the original in that regard.

Also they went to a totally different direction with the characters. Instead of having 3 characters that feel very real, and having them pretty much excluded from society, in this movie there is a lot going on. There are way more actors, way more side characters, and 5 main characters. These main characters are a little stereotypical, but still likable enough. The acting isn’t the best acting ever, but neither was the acting in the original. It is still a comparatively low-budget.

The story is interesting, because it gives us a fresh, new story, while also expanding the Blair Witch myth. It is well told and doesn’t get confusing like the Saw-Sequels for example.

All in all this is not a bad movie. Much like in the first movie in this series of posts, Halloween 3, it is a movie following up a great movie in a different, unexpected way. It’s not the greatest movie of all time, but if you want to see something a bit different, you should give it a try for sure, and tell more people to give it a second chance. Thanks.