Book Of Shadows: Blair Witch 2
"The Blair Witch Project" was one of the most innovative and effective films I've ever seen. It proved to the world you don't have to spend a lot of money to make a good movie. If I was a professor of film studies at some prestigious university I'd show it to my students as an example of creativity. I'd also show my students the sequel, "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2," to warn them of the perils of Hollywood. It's an unnecessary sequel to a big hit that doesn't nearly live up to the original. It does so in such an all-around cliche way it's funny and sad at the same time.
The fact this movie was ever made is kind of surprising to me. The original story did have a lot of ambiguity to it and the finale was open-ended so that every viewer had his or her own theory as to what happened. "Book Of Shadows" doesn't pick up where that movie ended, in fact, it doesn't even take place in the same reality as the original. It's about the phenomenon of the movie in the "real" world and about "real" people taking a supposedly fictitious story a little too seriously.
That's what the plot revolves around - five 20-something-year-olds who flock to the woods where the movie was filmed because they believe, or at least WANT to believe the legend of the Blair Witch is real. What's strange this time around is that the movie employs the use of having the actors use their real names even though they're clearly in a fictional movie. There's really no point to that.
The troupe breaks down as such:
* Jeff is the neurotic tour wrangler who lives near the supposedly haunted woods and sells homemade memorabilia of the movie through his web site. He was once in an insane asylum and his mental instability continually crops up throughout the movie.
* Erica is a self-professed witch who is furious at the success of "The Blair Witch Project" because she believes it continues the centuries-old stereotype and image of a witch as a mean old lady who casts black magic spells and eats children. She says real witches don't believe in heaven or hell or God or the devil, "I believe in nature."
* Kim is a total Goth chick who has apparently listened to one too many Marilyn Manson records. She's a freak, she knows it and she's proud of it. It's her way of rebelling but she doesn't have much of a spiritual side. She's along for the ride mostly because she has nothing better to do.
* Stephen and Tristen round out the group as the only two "normal" people. They're lovers who are co-writing a book about group fear and how myths and legends still effect people today.
The five take a tour of the woods and camp at the site of the demolished home of the hermit from the Blair Witch mythos. While there they run into another tour group and almost get into a brawl with them over who gets to sleep at the site. They spend the night partying pretty hard for a bunch of strangers who don't know each other and when they wake up they find their stuff's been severely messed with, some of it even destroyed.
We're also shown in bizarre music video-like sequences that the other group was murdered in their sleep just like the story of "Coffin Rock." The five head back to Jeff's spooky home - an abandoned warehouse in the middle of the woods - with lots of video equipment and the like. They review Jeff's tapes to see if they can figure out what happened and one by one they start to go a little mad.
Here's where "Book of Shadows" distinguishes itself, where it becomes what it is and that is kind of a cross between "The Shining" and "Scream." It's clear something happened to them that night in the woods and they've been touched by the witch. They all suspect the others are keeping secrets and that everyone is out to get them when they turn their backs. Tristen all but suffers a mental breakdown as does Erica who then disappears. Jeff and Kim then suspect Stephen of purposely getting rid of her. Meanwhile they watch the tapes of the night's events to discover some hidden footage of them commiting wanton acts of carnality
There's a lot more detail to the story than this but we don't have to analyze all of it to critique it. This is a mainstream horror movie so of course Jeff's warehouse is pretty fantastic and detailed. The art direction is moody and intimidating to complement the story and the atmosphere. If it weren't blatantly obvious this was a manufactured horror movie it would have worked, instead, it just seems forced.
The screenplay does a fine job in getting each of the characters' motivations down but the editing process and the direction kind of botch it up. Throughout the entire film we're constantly cutting, unexpectedly, to flashbacks of Jeff in the insane asylum or to each of the characters sitting in a police questioning room being asked about a heinous act they committed. In a better screenplay and in a better editor's hands this technique would have been much more effective, but here these intercut scenes are more confusing than anything else, not nearly as intense and suspenseful as they should be.
The actual supernatural elements are just plain silly when you put them into perspective. To make a long story short our protagonists are framed for mass murder by an unseen force who can manipulate videotapes. Either that or they've all just gone nuts and we're seeing things through their eyes. I think the movie options for the former theory and when those scenes of the hidden videos occur they are quite creepy. We're just as shocked as the characters are to see themselves committing the things they did. But then you have to wonder why would the spirit of the Blair Witch be so interested in messing with these kids' heads in a way that not only scares them to think they could have done such things but is also captured on videotape?
The answer is because this is a Hollywood spin on an indie idea and they screwed it up. The original "Blair Witch Project" was so horrifying because of its simple and ambiguous elements, like the monoliths from "2001: A Space Odyssey." What you don't see is frightening, but if they give you modern clues to their existence something isn't right. The idea a supernatural force could be terrifying through modern technology is certainly a scary one - the way this movie plays out that idea it is not.
The ending of this movie surprised me and left me wanting more. But that's what separates "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2" from the original - this one mistakes cliffhangers for brilliant ambiguity.
GRADE: C+
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