"Book" should have remained in shadows
Book Of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 *1/2 (out of ****)
A film review by Michael Redman Copyright 2000 by Michael Redman
Certain things in our lives are inevitable. Death, sorrow, love, heartbreak, pain, joy. We expect these events. We know they're going to happen and some, we even look forward to. It's part of the human condition.
We have also become accustomed to inevitable occurrences in our society. As we near the fall election, several of them are hitting us in the face. Politicians exaggerate their own importance. Our side is always right; theirs is always wrong. In the end, voters are usually forced to choose the lesser of two whocares.
In Hollywood the one indisputable inevitable is that if a film makes big money, there will be a sequel. Even if the original story doesn't merit one. Even if the first film is complete in itself. Even if success is a fluke.
"The Blair Witch Project" was made with a budget of $1.75 and exploded on the screen, raking in huge profits. The concept was brilliant. The filmmakers created a remarkable buzz that the story might be real. The film itself was even more convincing. The movie _must_ be authentic. Why else would such amateurish footage be on the big screen?
The first film caught lightning in a bottle. The sequel proves you can't pour that old lightning into a new bottle.
You have to give this effort some credit. It would have been easy to have made the same movie again with a new group of kids. It would have been easy, but of course, it wouldn't have worked.
Instead "Book Of Shadows" acknowledges the first film as a movie and concentrates on the hysteria following its release. It's a great scheme and possibly the only entertaining way to do a sequel.
Unfortunately it doesn't work either.
Five kids spend the night in the woods at the scene of the first film. Weird stuff happens and they retreat to an old factory where one of them lives. Even weirder stuff happens. Some people die, there's blood and knives and none of the characters have a lick of common sense.
While supposedly doing serious research, the group sets up a circle of surveillance cameras in the ruins of the old house in the woods and vows to stay alert all night awaiting a visitation. Then they proceed to get totally trashed on drugs and alcohol and party down with very loud, very obnoxious heavy metal music. It's a bad plan.
The cast shows some early promise. A couple is doing research on a "Blair Witch" book. The tour guide is a former mental patient turned ebay aficionado. A Goth amazon princess adds a bit of comedic relief. The obligatory hot babe is the 2000 spiritual cinematic descendent of the cute hippie chick, the cute rock and roll chick and the cute disco chick: the cute Wiccan chick.
The first film's unaccomplished actors came across as real people in a real situation because hours and hours of video were shot during days in the woods. This time, these unaccomplished actors just come across as unaccomplished actors. There's not one character you care about when they start shouting for no reason.
Although what passes for a plot starts out with a solid idea, it's ruined by poor execution. The follow-up to one of the most successful horror films ever is nothing more than a bad slasher movie. They're trapped in an old big weird house. They stupidly separate into various rooms. There are strange noises, they see scary apparitions and people disappear. Ever see this movie?
Seasoned documentary director Joe Berlinger should know better. The film features mostly cheap tricks and unnecessary gore. For a storyline filled with surprises, it's oddly predicable.
"The Blair Witch Project" was a rare triumph of style over substance. "The Book Of Shadows" is a triumph of tedium over promise.
(Michael Redman has written this column for over 25 years. For the first time during that period, he's going to vote for someone who might make a good President. But he'll have to use a pencil to do it. Send vapid political commentary to redman@bluemarble.net.)
[This appeared in the 11/2/00 "Bloomington Independent", Bloomington, Indiana. Michael Redman can be contacted at redman@bluemarble.net]
-- mailto:redman@bluemarble.net Film reviews archive: http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Michael%20Redman
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