Blair Witch Project (1999): Found Footage Fear, Forest Panic & Listener Picks #5

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Horror Cinema Obsession, the place where horror lives and breathes.
I'm Richard. And I'm Angeles.
Every week, we dive deep into the dark heart of horror cinema,
tackling a new film and dissecting the fear, the fun, and the fantastically odd.
We're here to explore it all, from the terrifyingly brilliant to the downright
awful, and everything that makes you scream, how did this get made?

(00:22):
Expect to journey through the best and the worst, the iconic and the obscure.
As we share our love, our laughs, and sometimes our sheer disbelief at the world of horror movies.
So, get comfortable, or perhaps uncomfortable, and join us for Horror Cinema
Obsession, where every flick has a story, and every scare has its glory.

(00:43):
Alright, welcome! How are you doing? How is my beautiful co-host,
Angelus? I'm great, dude.
How are you doing, Richard? richard pretty good i
had the day off um a rare friday off
which is nice i got the three-day weekend that's must
be nice yeah that was your work day it was

(01:03):
really hectic i had calls on calls and
calls and meetings on meetings oh that is a
lot of uh improvised but i
pushed through i survived yeah that's never
fun but hey we're here now perfect night
capper well i can't say it's a nightcap or this is in between
guys we're shooting about recording at

(01:25):
7 30 right now we're excited we're
pumped we're gonna be seeing abigail tonight um
so yeah i'm pretty pumped on that i am
too so welcome back
everyone to the podcast where richard
and i watch different versions of the same movie oh we

(01:48):
have different viewpoints we do oh my gosh
well sometimes i think you see my way like more often than not right yeah i
see your way too you bring up some good points the movie we're watching or we
watched for this week's episode was the blutter witch project 1999 voted by you You, our listeners.

(02:12):
Our loyal listeners. Yeah, I appreciate it. I appreciate the participation. It's awesome.
Richard, were you excited by the results of the poll?
So, I mean, obviously I'm excited for the fans.
I'm excited for, you know, the interaction and participation.
But if I could be rude, this is not the film I wanted to do. Yeah.

(02:36):
But apparently everybody likes it, and I'm not saying I don't like it,
but there's a big but. I'm just not a big found footage guy.
So for me, it's okay.
Richard was really hoping that results would lean more towards Chucky 3.
Child's Play 3. Child's Play 3. Hey, that's okay.

(02:58):
There's always down the road. We got plenty of days, plenty of weeks,
plenty of episodes to cover that.
Your initial thoughts on this movie
i'm curious we and folks we don't talk about
this before the pod so this is all like instantaneous i'm curious to honestly
think or hear what she thinks about it first time watching it i was excited

(03:22):
i wait wait wait this was the first time you've ever watched No, I watched this before.
Oh, okay. In the 2000s sometime.
No, but first time watching it, it was very hyped up from everyone,
especially with the commercials, the way that it was being promoted, real fun footage.

(03:42):
They made it look very realistic. So watching it the first time,
I watched it with my brother.
It freaked us the heck out. Ooh.
Because I was like, oh, shit. like this
people it's a movie but parts of it you would forget
that it was a movie and it
gave you more of a vibe of a documentary that it was real and you just like

(04:05):
at times we were getting so invested in what was happening and it was like oh
my god is this real how is this a movie this looks very real and how old were
you i don't know however old i was in the 2000 my teenager years Your teen years?
Mm-hmm. Gotcha, gotcha. Yeah, I had a similar thing. I watched this.

(04:26):
Again, I had a teenage sister, so I got to see kind of all the up-and-coming
horror stuff that was coming out.
I'd seen this at a young age. I had to have been eight, I think.
And initially, this movie scared the living shit out of me. You were eight when this came out?
In 1999, wasn't I?
I don't know. I was 10 in 1999.

(04:50):
Oh, okay, so I was 10 too, guys. I was nine.
Richard's math is my math. I was nine years old. I was a year off,
okay? Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're breaking my balls. You're breaking my balls over here.
I was like, you've been lying to me about your age.
We need to talk oh my god okay anyways i i correction i was nine or ten years

(05:18):
old this movie did scare the living shit out of me initially i did think it was real.
But later on because it had such an impact and it was such a cultural craze
obviously we could do the research and stuff and it wasn't real but i was fascinated
how it was made so So over the years,
I was just curious how they made this and really how amazing this even got taken

(05:44):
off the ground. That was made.
Yeah, because that was unreal, which we'll cover down the road here on the episode.
But really cool considering all the actors were not actors at the time,
very amateur, and they had to direct it pretty much.
They're all shooting with the camera and just getting guidance from a distance,

(06:06):
which is kind of that's kind of a cool feat
it's a really like a tropic thunder type of thing oh
it was like oh yeah yep yeah so
yeah anyways 1999 this is
a pretty big year again it's huge
we had some blockbusters i know i was excited in 1999 about star wars episode

(06:30):
one the phantom a menace is this one of the movies that you had me watch no
those are the originals this one i didn't watch this had a young anakin skywalker.
And everybody's favorite character screw you guys if you don't agree jar jar
binks dude i fucking love that character it was bold and i like george lucas's

(06:55):
vision okay following up with that We had a huge and actually guys I shit all over M.
Night Shyamalan last episode and that does hold true But this is one of the
one of the movies that I actually do like and I remember seeing this specifically
in theaters the six cents Bruce Willis Yeah,

(07:19):
and one of the best endings and.
Twist that i don't care what anybody says that
was one of the best and it was hard to see it coming back then it
was good i liked it i was shocked and there's a reason m night chamelon tries
to do this on every movie he's ever directed and fails epically he got lucky
the first time and and he did strike gold which i'll give him kudos i'll give

(07:44):
him his flowers on that because Because The Sixth Sense is pretty good.
And if I remember right, I've seen this a while back ago and it still holds up.
The movie? Yeah, how long ago have you seen The Sixth Sense?
Oh, it's been a long time since I've watched it.
Yeah, it's one of those ones that gets less effective, the twist.
But the story itself is pretty good. That's good, it's good.

(08:07):
But then we have Toy Story 2, the sequel to the original huge hit Toy Story.
This year we had another groundbreaking film the
matrix directed by the wachowskis and
it became a cultural phenomenon and influenced many
aspects of filmmaking and popular culture everybody knows the scenes where keanu's

(08:30):
like leaning back bullets are getting shot and he's kind of dodging bullets
richard will you take the red pill or the blue pill oh i'm going red baby You're
going red? Yeah, red's the one where you...
Where you want to stay in the... Oh, no, I'm taking blue then.
It's whatever the one where I got to eat, like, slop.

(08:51):
When you come out? Yeah, exactly. I don't remember what colors they were. Yeah.
But yeah, The Matrix was pretty good. We had Tarzan. One of my favorite animated movies.
Oh, dude, the soundtrack, Phil
Collins. Soundtrack is fire. Phil Collins fucking kicked ass. I love that.
So all my Turks out there, you know what I'm talking about. Hoot, hoot, hoot.

(09:15):
Also, we brought this up last episode, I believe.
One of Angelus' favorite movies starring Brendan Fraser. Frasier.
Rachel Wee's Arnold Vosloh in Oded Ferd, The Mummy. Oh, she was ready for that.
The Mummy, which, hey, I love The Mummy. We covered that. I like all The Mummies. They're entertaining.

(09:38):
Although the CGI of When the Rock Was a Scorpion King, that was total dog shit.
I think I only watched the beginning of that movie and it took me out.
I was like, no Brendan Frasier, no original character. Whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
No, Brendan Frasier is in that.
Oh, well, this tells you how far into it I got before I turned it off.
So I think there was a Scorpion King movie.

(10:00):
Specifically, it was The Rock. But no, this one had The Rock where he was half Scorpion, half Rock.
You've seen the sequel. He was bravely in this one, right? Yeah, yeah, at the end.
Then you have the romantic comedy with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, Notting Hill.
Not up my alley. I can't remember too much of it.
My God. We had James Bond, The World Is Not Enough.

(10:25):
It followed its usual formula of action and espionage.
We had an Oscar-winning movie with Kevin Spacey. I believe he was the best actor.
Maybe not. I can't remember. But American Beauty, which I never really got into.
I think it was kind of overrated, if you ask me. I don't think I've even heard of it before.
And then one that I did watch on my day off today, Austin Powers. Yeah, baby!

(10:53):
Sorry, my impression sucks. But it got me pumped.
I was so pumped. Angelos had to go into the office and work. I did.
Because I was just quoting and just wouldn't stop.
So, yeah. So, Austin Powers, the spy who shagged me. Is this where?

(11:14):
Was Fat Bastard in this one? Yeah.
I eat because I'm unhappy. Happy. Fat Bastard was in this one?
Yes. Or, oh, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Yeah. And then the third one, the third one was where his dad was in it.
Girl member. Yeah. Sing the song.

(11:35):
Daddy, daddy wasn't there to take me to the fair to change my underwear.
Daddy wasn't there. Dude, best song. It's catchy. We're huge Michael Myers, Austin Powers fans.
Land's World, shout out to. Dude, and then they do a scene when they're in jail,
when Dr. Evil and Mini-Me are locked up. They join a gang.

(11:58):
Oh, yeah, and they sing a hard knock life. Yes. Those movies are great.
It is. I love that humor. Yeah, and then...
This year was kind of another movie that came out that was, I don't know,
I feel like it falls into a certain genre.
Girl Interrupted. Ooh, that's the one with Angelina Jolie, right?

(12:18):
Went on a writer, Brittany Murphy and Elizabeth Moss.
And then we also have another Julia Roberts movie, Runaway Bride. She was huge.
Richard Gere, Joan Cusack. At that time, I remember that was one of my little guilty pleasures.
I watched that movie a couple times. she she was
huge in mid to late 90s she
was catching heat early 90s i know that with like

(12:41):
mystic pizza and flatliners but man that
was the peak of her powers i remember her retiring
i thought it was like oh this is just bullshit wanting to like be with her family
and kind of stop acting for a while but man kudos to her leaving at the top
yeah and then we also have We have Big Daddy with Adam Sandler, Cole,

(13:05):
and Dylan Sprouse, and then Rob Schneider.
And then one of Vianna's favorite movies, 10 Things I Hate About You,
with Julia Stiles, Heather Ledger, Joseph Gordon- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Heath Ledger. Heath. Sorry. Not Heather. What the hell? I'm stuck on the movie.
The girl's name's Heather.
Heath Ledger. and again that's

(13:28):
all the other mentionables for whoa whoa
whoa whoa whoa we've got more mentionables here
no not top but top ones the
green mile that one's freaking awesome that's a steven it's based off a steven
king novel and tom hanks explores the themes of justice Justice and supernatural

(13:51):
events within depression era prison, which is pretty good.
And then another movie that absolutely kicked ass and that was the craze fight
club. You're breaking the rule.
Oh, we don't talk about it? We don't talk about it. Well, guess what? I'm talking about it.
I thought this is a David Fincher movie I love. Dude, I love this movie. Fight Club? Oh, my God.

(14:16):
Dude, any movie that has meatloaf in it stands out. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
But, yeah. And then, yeah, just a couple other ones.
We had October Sky, Three Kings, Eyes Wide Shut was a huge one.
That was a Stanley Kubrick vision.
But for horror movies, this was a particularly kind of in-betweener.

(14:40):
I don't know if it's necessarily strong, but it has movies that I appreciate and like.
Let me know. Have you seen any of these? Yes.
There's a few on here that I recognize. So we already mentioned it.
The Blair Witch Project. Obviously, we're covering that. The Sixth Sense.
Sleepy Hollow. That one's kind of a silent sleeper. Johnny Depp is in that one.

(15:04):
It's directed by Tim Burton.
I don't mind that one, but it's not.
I like it. I've watched it so many times. Really? I enjoy it.
Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, one of your little teenage crushes.
And then Christopher Walken.
Oh, that's right. He was a hell of a horseman. One that I do like,

(15:25):
though. Have you ever seen Stir of Echoes? That came out this year.
This year? Again, we bring him up. You probably haven't seen it because you
didn't even know who he was. Kevin Bacon. He stars in this movie.
I remember now who Kevin Bacon is. He gets disturbing visions after being hypnotized.
Oh, and then here's a good one. And I forgot. And it has the classic epic kill in it.

(15:50):
Samuel L. Jackson gets eaten by a shark in Deep Blue Sea.
LL Cool J's the chef in that. Love that movie.
Then you have a remake of The Haunting, which is eh, that one was okay if I remember right.
Yeah. I remember in that one, Owen Wilson gets his head cut off in the fireplace.

(16:10):
See him, Gina? Mm-hmm.
The seventh movie that came out was Lake Placid. Do you remember this one?
I don't know that I've watched this. The Big Ass Crocodile?
Uh-uh. Oh, man. We'll have to cover that one. It's pretty good. It's more of a comedy.
And then we have idle hands dude i love idle hands it has vivica fox in it who's the,

(16:37):
the kid yeah he plays in uh final destination as well he is devin sawa yeah devin sawa,
Yeah, that movie, I think Seth Green's in it, maybe? Seth Green,
Eldon Henson were the top primary actors.
I just remember that movie came out again, Teenage Years, and I just remember

(16:59):
watching it over and over again.
Yeah, and then, so yeah. Then, to round these out, we have End of Days,
an Arnold Schwarzenegger thriller, horror.
I believe he was just coming off, I think he had a stroke or a heart attack,
but this is his first movie back.
Kicks ass. I love it. Wishmaster 2, it's eh, it's a good B movie.

(17:23):
You have Virus from Dusk Till Dawn 2.
And then The Astronaut's Wife, another Johnny Depp movie, I believe,
co-stars with Charisse Theron.
And then, yeah, that pretty much rounds out the movies for the year.
For me, it's kind of an in-betweener. It's nothing like super huge that stands

(17:45):
out in the years of cinematography. But I thought it was pretty good.
You had me watch this recently. The Bone Collector.
Oh, dude, with Denzel Washington. And Angelina Jolie. Queen Latifah was in there.
I love The Bone Collector.
Another one that I saw came out this year was Rage, Carrie.
Oh, that's a sequel. That one's good. Yeah, that one is good,

(18:07):
too. Which usually sequels are not.
Yeah, we'll have to. Let's note that. Let's note that one to cover. Yes.
That one's pretty good. Do you have anything else? No, just those other two
came out, besides all the ones that we already had.
That we had already found. So we did have some bangers come out in 99.

(18:29):
Okay, guys, 1999 kicked ass just like the rest of the years we've covered so far.
As you can tell, I think we just overall like movies. So I think every year
is going to have some fucking.
Bangers. Yeah, that totally blow my mind. And I say it's the best year ever.
So keep in mind, I'm going to probably say every year is.

(18:52):
Richard, for those of you that don't know Richard, is very passionate.
I'm Italian. It's just natural. It's in my DNA. I can't help it,
okay? I'm a passionate person.
You can't see me right now, but I talk with my hands. He throws water at people.
That was one time, bro.

(19:14):
I am really excited. Richard did the nicest thing ever.
What's that? he went dumpster diving for me this week and he found me a nice comfortable chair,
oh my god why are you telling people that i'm just kidding he he was very nice
and he bought me a really nice comfortable chair you're welcome thank you wink

(19:38):
wink i bought it off a homeless guy.
Hey times are tough here at horror cinema obsession okay okay okay um so yeah
let's uh let's take a quick break and then we'll get into the cast and directors
sound good sounds good all right see you in a second,

(20:01):
All right, we're back. Angelus, do your Austin Powers impression. I got to hear it.
I don't have a good one. Uh-huh, we were just doing them. I know mine sucks. I put it on there.
Why can't you be bold enough and do that? I sung. I sung the daddy song.
Do the impression. Okay. Yeah, bubba. I think Vienna does a better one.

(20:22):
Do you want to try Vienna? I guess. Okay.
Oh, hold on. Yeah, baby.
Ah oh my god okay that's
not bad that's not bad um all right
so with the Blair Witch Project guys this movie was famous for its extremely

(20:47):
low budget and its phenomenal box office success the movie had a budget of approximately
60,000 though some sources have cited slightly higher figures,
up to $200,000 after post-production costs were factored in.
But nonetheless, that's still a pretty low budget.

(21:07):
At the box office, The Blair Witch Project did gross over $248 million worldwide.
This made it one of the most profitable movies in terms of return of investment,
helping spark the trend of low-budget
horror films and popularizing that found-footage-style filmmaking.
Making yeah it revolutionized it was
a game changer that's we've got paranormal activities we've

(21:31):
got all those kind of those movies grave encounters it
it created essentially a whole offshoot genre i know cannibal holocaust did
it early on but this one really set the tone where they were cranking them out
do you think this could be redone they're gonna sure try and they They actually did in 2016,

(21:53):
and then they have sequels already,
and they are terrible. It's a blurb.
Yeah, and they have actual actors in it. And, dude, I don't know what it is,
but actors can't act real.
Like, it's impossible for them. They act weird. Have you watched any of the sequels? No.
Oh, man, you're not missing out. I don't think we'll cover it, guys.

(22:17):
Well, we might, because they are awful, in my opinion. I don't know.
There might be some people that like it, but hey.
Good for you. It's just not me. It does not, Richards.
So, yeah, I don't know if they can. I'm curious to see.
We're definitely going to watch it. I know it, that the new one coming out,
the Blair Witch Project, the remake that they're currently making.

(22:40):
They're making one? Yeah.
So, the Blair Witch Project was a groundbreaking film, particularly how it was
made, especially marketed, and its subsequent impact on the film industry.
So the concept and direction the film
was directed by daniel merrick and eduardo
sanchez the concept was to create

(23:03):
a pseudo documentary horror film that seemed like a real found footage the directors
were inspired by documentaries and the style of pseudo realism which i think
is pretty cool i mean it's an it's a hell of a con concept and kudos for these
guys i heard also they got
an idea of this from their own experience

(23:24):
a few years ago yeah i don't know the details particularly but like they pretty
much redid the story that they had a couple years prior for casting so like
you mentioned already the at the time the three main characters were not.
Main characters they were not well known they

(23:45):
weren't main actors they didn't they weren't even part of the
union that's interesting so they casted
heather donahue michael williams
and joshua leonard and they were selective based on
improvisation skills and ability to stay in character for
extended periods of time they did use
their real names in the film blurring between the lines between fiction and

(24:09):
reality yeah which i think was super helpful they also didn't we hear that they
put an ad out we read that they put in an ad out in the paper yeah random some of the.
Characters that they found they just went and posted an ad
in a university like a flyer they just stapled it at

(24:30):
a school and some of them yeah they're just on newspapers
and they had they had a good what was
it yeah it was like a thousand people yeah they answered that
yeah answered that newspaper deal which was
cool and i didn't know that it
was originally going to be three guys and heather pretty
much blew it out of the water yeah so they kept her she

(24:52):
answered one question that they really liked and they
ended up keeping her instead of having three
guys yeah and i think that was a game changer had it been three guys i think
it would have been good but I think the dynamic between all three of these people
was perfect I couldn't imagine it in a different universe where there's different

(25:13):
characters like these guys did play this phenomenally well,
Yeah. So the other thing, I found a lot of things that were really,
really interesting researching this that I didn't know at the time.
Like the advertisement for it was great, right? It got everyone's attention
and people interested in wanting to go watch it.
But the amount of work that they actually put in just the creativity of this

(25:37):
directors, like they had an idea and they put this plan in motion and they roll
with it and it worked out for their benefit.
They had the forethought, too, of long-term marketing because they made this.
What did they say? They made it in, like, 1997?
Yes, like two years before. Two years. But they had a plan where they put it

(25:57):
online and they really did kind of like Cannibal Holocaust where the people were gone.
Like, they actually thought they were killed and that this was a real documentary.
They pulled it off and that was an amazing feat.
And they really did it in the turn of the century where like
internet was now booming and

(26:18):
you know you had AOL you had all that they created
the website and that website was pretty much the original viral it went viral
like that was probably the first ever thing to go viral I did we were listening
to another podcast earlier when we were doing some of our research for For the
movie, the Hello Sydney podcast.

(26:39):
So shout out to her. She did a really good job on this movie in particular.
She kicks ass. She did. So yeah, so she was giving some good information on
her podcast that led us to more going down the rabbit hole and looking more
into these things and seeing if they were true for the movie.
One of the things, as Richard already mentioned, I think this movie was the
first one that was advertised on the internet.

(27:00):
Yeah, yeah. They really pushed it. Like the website had...
Pretty much childhood pictures, missing signs, like, have you seen them?
Missing since this footage was found. It was pretty cool, and they really did
have everybody, not everybody, but they had a lot of people, like, thinking, whoa.

(27:20):
I think it's original, and it holds even to this day, because I feel like a
lot of movies, you get trailers.
But as far as, I feel like this was really creative marketing,
again, like I said, just because they created this website, made it
look more realistic you know leading into that to get
into people's minds and scaring you when
you went in and watched the movie word of mouth we talked about this

(27:42):
on the scream episode word of mouth really made that take off
it made this one take off as well
because when people were initially seeing this
it freaked them out which is pretty cool vienna
will cover some reviews views here later which
were pretty entertaining as far as the
script was concerned so instead of a

(28:04):
traditional script where everybody had lines and everybody you
know their character uh the directors provided outlines to the actors for the
plot on individual scenes but most of it we found that it was improvised which
again just contributed to their more of an authentic and real reaction from
the actors as they were going through and they were running into different scenarios

(28:26):
throughout at the movie.
And then another thing was the directors communicated via notes to locations,
where to go to next, kind of, you know, give them a little bit of insight,
what was the next scene that was happening to guide them.
I guess there was some sort of agreement that the directors and the actors were
not going to be in direct contact.

(28:46):
Communication right it was very minimal so while
the actors were sleeping at night they were
out for like what eight days filming yeah eight days that's
a lot which this movie is it four nights or four days four nights that they're
out there yeah so yeah they're out there for eight nights in total yeah for
shooting but the actual movie itself is four nights four nights yeah that's

(29:09):
what i counted so yeah when they were sleeping the directors and film crew would come
out, leave them a bin with food and leave them notes and specific ones.
So fun facts about that, like the food, they were making the portion smaller
and smaller each day and really honing in on these people's like their emotions.

(29:31):
Yeah, their psyche where they're breaking them down and it's authentic,
which I don't condone that.
I don't think, you know, Nowadays, you can get away with that.
But it was so effective. We were getting natural emotion out of this movie.
That's one of the cool things about this, that you do see it.
And that's how believable this is getting. One, they're not actors.

(29:52):
So they're not acting.
It's the real reaction to a lot of this.
Some of them, they kind of knew. you yeah the directors
will tell you know they would leave specific instructions for specific
people at times so only
one of them would be in but not the whole picture they would
only say you know you're doing you're gonna say this line or this is gonna happen

(30:15):
you're gonna do this right tomorrow right and it was yeah it was crazy they
were pretty much fucking with them freaking them out at night they had no idea
like and we'll get into it in the scenes but like the child the
children screaming when josh is screaming out there different things pretty much were,

(30:38):
missing map was a huge one they were not expecting this stuff and we were getting
true reactions of it which was kind of cool yeah.
And then the shooting of the movie itself, the actors also did a majority of the shooting.
It looks like we read that only a few scenes, like the actual film crew was there.

(31:01):
The initial scenes of the movie, they were actually shooting it.
But then the three actors did the rest of the movie, pretty much.
And they shot this also, the filming location was Seneca Creek State Park in Maryland.
Which is which is cool i don't know i i would love

(31:21):
to go there didn't they have a huge issue with
the hunting season oh after the
movie was out a lot of
people were trying to come out and recreate their own not even recreate they
were trying to like really look at the blair witch like story coming up with
cameras and it was ruining actual hunting season for real hunters because there

(31:43):
were so many people out in the woods, it was scaring away the animals.
Yeah, which is crazy. Could you imagine that? Oh, they would have been so irritated. Oh, my God.
That's how, like, I'm trying to think of today's standards on that.
That's like today's Pokemon Go.
Like, you know what I mean? Out in the wilderness, you got your homeless kind

(32:05):
of looking around there.
You got the Pokemon Go. You're trying to catch your Pokemon,
and then you just see the unhoused,
like scurry off sorry i
was a terrible duke but yeah no
post-production the raw footage was edited
down from about 20 hours to create the final 82 minutes of the film the editing

(32:29):
was crucial in maintaining the tension and pacing of the story that's where
the directors earn their money they really did a great job i give them like
found footage might not be my thing but this movie was
beautifully shot like for what it is and then also
yeah the post-production was absolutely perfect
on that when you have so many hours of

(32:52):
real reactions how do you decide what you're keeping in
what you're gonna lose and if it's gonna have the same
effect on them as a whole i don't think i could i don't think i could make it
that good also that i have a hard time deleting pictures sometimes i just wouldn't
know like it was just good it was it was well crafted and they They did a great
job with the tension and the pacing of this movie. It was boom, boom, boom.

(33:17):
It was happening one after another, like the scenes.
So everything mainly happens at night, right?
But during the day, even like you get their vulnerability, you get them unraveling.
And it's almost believable. Even now when I watch it, I'm like,
holy shit, man. Is this guy really freaking out right here?

(33:37):
But yeah, yeah.
So we covered the cast a little bit, but here's the directors.
Daniel Merrick, his background, he attended the University of Central Florida
for film, where he met Eduardo Sanchez, the other director, and they both developed
an interest in experimental filmmaking.

(33:59):
Their filmography, not much, but obviously it's a Blair Witch Project.
Project notable works the objective in
2008 sky man in 2020 eduardo
sanchez his his notable stuff
include altered in 2006 and lovely molly 2011 and then he also ventured into

(34:24):
television directing episodes of popular horror series supernatural i never
got into but i watched How many seasons are there? Like 20?
I think I watched like half of it. Oh, you watched Supernatural? Okay.
You look so disappointed. It's so cringy. I do like this other one that he did

(34:45):
had some directing in from Death's Tale Dawn, the TV show. It has Fez in it.
I don't think I went to that one. Oh, dude, it's pretty good.
He also did Exist in 2014, a film about Bigfoot. I didn't realize this,
he was part of VHS2 in 2013, which is on Shudder.

(35:06):
If you haven't seen it, it's pretty interesting. I wouldn't say it's great by
any means, but it's pretty good. It's entertaining.
Both directors are noted for their innovative approach to storytelling and filmmaking,
particularly in the horror genre, often using minimalistic techniques and psychological
elements to enhance the suspense and fear within their films.

(35:29):
Which I would have to agree with. I do too. The cast we already kind of mentioned.
Three main characters. Really effective for the movie. For what it was.
Heather Donahue like we mentioned. Plays a version of herself.
She's the project's leader and main filmmaker.
And we also have Michael Williams. One of Heather's friends.

(35:52):
Who accompanies them into the woods. Are they friends?
No I think they just meet him. In the movie because she's like.
Like, oh, you must be Mike when they pick him up.
Yeah. And then Joshua Leonard. So he's the front.
Another crew member on the documentary project.
Yeah. So, yeah, with Mike, was he the sound guy? He must have been.

(36:15):
Mike? Yeah. Yeah. And then Josh was the camera.
And then Heather, obviously, was the director and the host, pretty much, the documentary.
She filmed a ton, too. Yeah. Yeah.
Interesting story about these guys in the film itself, Josh and Heather had,
and I guess it was authentic. They were mad at each other.

(36:38):
We're obviously tensions did rise. They were out in the woods with barely anything for eight days.
They kind of fought with each other to the point where we'll get into it in
the scenes, but where he disappears, it should have been Mike.
Yeah, it's yeah, it's interesting because in the movie at first initially,

(37:00):
you know, Heather and Joshua are the ones who get along better.
And Mike is kind of the one pushing back and just, you know, getting frustrated.
And then naturally, naturally thinking he is going to be the guy like you feel
like, oh, this guy's going off his rocker the whole way through.
But then because you can kind

(37:22):
of see it in the film where it's kind of unraveling and they're kind
of getting each other they change the pace because mike starts
getting it back like he's starting to get his wits about him back trying to
be more understanding and trying to be reasonable and ebb and flow which i don't
think was initially the intention he was just supposed to kind of fly out the
rocker but it played into the movie really well that it happened this way you

(37:46):
see Wouldn't you agree on that, though?
Like, had it not played out that way, I don't think it would have been as effective.
No, yeah, because you start seeing him as being the... Reasonable one.
Well, initially, he's the more snappy, has more of a temper,
you know, he's frustrated, and then it changes.
You see him breaking down, like, all of them breaking down, and you kind of,

(38:08):
like, at this point, you know, at the end, they're just all tired and beat down.
Yeah, and he comes back and ends up being more of a supportive role and trying
to just, you know, let's get out of here.
And yeah, you can see a little bit of the dynamic between Heather and Josh.
But yeah, we'll get a little bit more into it. Yeah. Do you want to...

(38:31):
Do you want to go over the plot? Yeah, let's do it. Okay.
Oh, go ahead. You do it. So, again, so the overview, again, the film is presented
as a found footage in the woods.
It follows these three film agents who go into Black Hill Forest in Maryland
to create a documentary about the mythical Blair Witch.

(38:53):
So, the beginning of the movie, you know, the students go in.
They have a project. Like you mentioned, Heather's going to be the director of the project.
And then they hike based on
what mythical legends of this Blair Witch
so they try to go and and
figure out there's a lot it seems like there was a
couple different stories yeah so around and keep in mind the cast did not Heather

(39:20):
Mike and Josh did not know that this these myths and stories were not real this
was all created by the director and sent out to these They had planted actors within the town,
and they planted these stories, and they all were a little different,
but they ended up all tying together at the end of the movie, which is kind of cool.

(39:41):
Yeah, so they go in following this witch, doing a documentary following the
stories that the townspeople know about.
Yeah, is it real or is it fake? I think it's one of those to determine.
They go on a hike. Well, so, yeah. So, basically, the plot is they're doing
a documentary, and they get lost in the woods, and they're trying to find their way out.

(40:07):
It's a survival movie at that moment.
Yeah. So, that does open up the opening scene, the introduction.
Production the film opens up with text stating
that the footage was found a year after the filmmakers
disappeared in the woods while shooting a documentary
about the Blair Witch we see initial footage of

(40:29):
Heather Mike and Josh they're preparing for
their trip but initially you see Heather and it
shows her with the camera and she's at her house it looks
like and she's all excited she's like this is my house and then josh comes to
me to meet her i mean he asks you know what time are we picking up mike and
she says 8 30 so they're on a schedule they need to get there it it seems to

(40:52):
me i can't remember if they made it clear if it took place over a weekend.
Yeah it was supposed to be on a weekend because they do mention having to get
back to work they had to get this equipment back yeah um in time yeah so they're
just kind of you know showing a
little bit of her personal
life her apartment before they head out and then you see

(41:14):
mike in his i think it's either a plymouth or
a pontiac oh he's little car josh is josh's car josh is the one driving yeah
you see him you see the camera they're going to use and then you get when they
pick up mike he lives in a big house obviously his parents have a have some
money well mike he's got Got some money there.

(41:37):
He says bye to mom. And off they go. They're on their ride. He said,
I'll see you later. Yeah. Sad words.
And then, yeah, the final words. And then, so then they start going into Burkittville.
Yeah, so they go in, and then right off the bat, they start doing some interviews
with some of the local people.

(41:58):
Yeah, and this is where we were talking about the directors planted some of
these actors, which, again, these are the people who answered the ads to come
and participate in this film, which is cool. They are not real actors.
Yeah, and here they do a little bit where they go back and forth between their
filming at the cemetery and then they come back and show in interviews with

(42:21):
different characters that pitch into the story of the Blair Witch.
Yeah, because before that, they show camaraderie. They get their grocery shop
in. They're messing around, getting all their stuff.
And that's where they get their first interview, right? The girl,
she's like, do you know the Blair Witch story? And she's like,

(42:41):
oh, I went to Blair High School.
Yeah, her sister did. Yeah, her sister went to Blair High School.
And then, again, it does a little bit back and forth between they're at the
cemetery and she's trying to set the stage.
And she's like, oh, you know, back in 1940s, like a lot of young kids passed away.

(43:04):
It wasn't, was it the 1940s or like the 1840s or something?
1940s. Oh, was it? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Because you said, what did you say?
It was like polio or something.
Those goddamn anti-vaxxers, man. A lot of kids.
A lot of kids passed away and for some reason. I don't know if polio,

(43:26):
by the way, was 1940. Let's look that up real quick.
But the people in the town don't talk about it.
Nobody really knows why so many kids passed away around that time.
And then it shows them again at the grocery store, and they start interviewing.
That was close. That was in the 1950s. Oh, 1950s? You were off by 10 years. Good job. Julio, baby.

(43:50):
And then is it this older gentleman that they come across, and then they start talking to him?
Oh, and he talks about a guy who lived in the woods, that built a house, had a project.
He was like a hermit? Yeah, he was a hermit that lived out there,
and he came into town. And he's like, oh, my project's finally done.
And they're like, what? And then they go up there. And apparently he,

(44:14):
the guy goes on to say he was abducting kids.
Yeah. And murdering him. They found seven dead kids in his house or wherever
he was, hunkered down in the woods.
And what was he doing with them? Like, obviously he kills them, tortured them.
So he came into town, abducted some kids, and he was taking them two at a time

(44:38):
into the basement, I think is where this took place.
And so he would put these kids up against the corner, facing the wall,
and he would grab one of them, bring him to the center, shoot him.
But he would leave one of them alive so that way they could hear what was happening.
And then he would go grab the other kid and just kill them one by one.
But what was he doing with the bodies afterwards?

(44:59):
Because he put it on display or something and that's when the people showed up and,
I don't remember that he put them on display. I know she talked about.
Well, I know they did something because the cops come out there and he's like, oh, my project's done.
And it was something bad, horrific happened.
Yeah. And then so ever since, they just kind of believe that the woods are hunted. Just like stuff.

(45:24):
Yeah. Seems to happen out there. So he was a paid actor.
The next person they interviewed was not a paid actor.
The woman with the child. she did a really good job oh
dude she was awesome yeah because i guess the actors
so josh mike and heather they were just
told go and interview people and then this lady
she just happened to be out in the street and they grabbed her

(45:46):
but she did really good job with improvising and she
fed into this story that they were already kind of
well so that's where it kind of differs the story differs
where the witch she kind of has her own thing
there's a witch out there her kid's
getting and freaked out she's like no no don't say that
and she's like oh it's not real and then she's like

(46:08):
it's real yeah and she said that she heard a story that
she had also heard about the Blairwood from a documentary yeah I'm like Discovery
Channel and then there had been she had heard about two men that were went out
hunting and they disappeared but again just fitting into that oh if you go into
the woods you kind of disappear yeah and she's like I don't go out there it's It's haunted. Yeah.

(46:30):
And then, again, just more stories.
There's a... They interview this other younger guy that has a hat.
He also talks about the same guy that was taking kids abducting him. Well...
Yeah, and then another guy, he's like, do you believe in ghosts?
No. Are you religious? Yep.

(46:52):
But they later on, are you talking about the guy at the water fishing?
No, not yet. I'm trying to remember. He was in there very briefly.
This is other, maybe in his 20s. Oh, yeah, younger guy, because he adds to it,
the witches and then the children being abducted. He's like,
my grandma told me this story to scare us, yada, yada, yada.

(47:12):
But yeah, then they go into the woods, right? Right?
No, they go back to the hotel.
Well, before they go back to the hotel, they suggested that they go and talk
to this character, Mary Brown.
Mary Brown, this old kook. And they tell her, you know, they tell them,

(47:32):
they're like, you know, go talk to her.
She knows a little more.
She has more information. Something happened to her is what they said.
Funny story about her. She's a paid actor.
For this movie they got her and she was
a little bit crazy wasn't she isn't
that what they were saying in real life yeah wasn't

(47:53):
she a little crazy like she wanted to be in the movie they ended up like doing
it because she was part of the art the art part of it okay and then they ended
up putting her in the movie and she started she's the one who explains the fur
the hair over the body she She completely improvised that.
Yeah, and she tells this story. Like, she herself had an encounter.

(48:14):
She went with her dad when she was young fishing, and that's where she saw.
She just tells this story that she felt something touching her, and it was a woman.
And, yeah, she goes into, she had hair covering everywhere. Yeah.
Yeah, there's fur. And then she opened her, like, the dress,
and there's fur all over the body.

(48:36):
Like, it was just a furry thing.
Yeah. So, yeah. And then after that, they're like, oh, she's crazy.
That's nuts. Which, who wouldn't? I think I would, too. I'm like,
man, that's going to be good on film. But, man, that old lady is crazy.
Yeah. But, so, yeah. And then this is where then they go back to the hotel.
They're celebrating. They got a lot of work done for the film, having their drinks.

(49:01):
This is their last kind of like happy happiness, true happiness,
you know, stress-free moment where you kind of see them let loose.
Yeah, they take a couple shots.
Yeah, you know, those classic, what were they drinking?
Was it bourbon? I think so.

(49:22):
Or scotch, something she's like, oh, it's terrible, which I have to agree.
That is horrible but kudos
to her in the face she makes her upper lip like quivers and
it's like the ugliest thing i've ever seen in my life but but we've
all had that look because as soon as she did it i did it too i'm like oh i'm
remembering the smell of that booze man it makes my stomach hurt i make a worse

(49:46):
face anytime there's any type of shots involved and you know i I don't like
taking straight liquor. It makes me sick.
You're responsible. It makes me sick. I know. I think the last time I had a
shot was tequila for my dad's birthday.
And I thought I was going to die. My insides were on fire. That's hilarious. Yeah.

(50:07):
So, yeah. And then, so in the morning, they're packing up. They're getting ready
to go. They drive out to the woods.
And because they heard that it was what was Coffin. Coffin Rock.
Yeah, Coffin Rock, the story. And they end up walking down. They ditch the car.
And you see that famous scene of them walking away from it.
They come upon two guys fishing. And, again, they're feeding the story. They're paid actors.

(50:34):
They don't know this, though. But they're feeding into the story.
And one of the guys, ah, it's bullshit. This is all garbage.
But the other guy's playing into it really hard. He's like, yep, I've seen it.
I've seen that i've seen something yeah and
he tells them a story yeah like a ghost
was coming out like a misty kind of thing misty thing
and there was also someone else that had gone missing for like

(50:57):
two days oh they talk about the story a
girl went missing in 1800s 1850 or
something like that yeah and then she just appears her
like house or her grandma's house two days
later and she's talking about a woman floating in
the woods yeah which is kind
of trippy but it's a good story and they they're pretty effective

(51:19):
at it yeah and yeah i had no idea
like with them with the three actors you know the main actors they
the directors told them that it was they didn't tell them that the Blair Witch
was fake they were so they kind of set them up a little bit made up everything
about the Blair Witch and the myth the legend of it which is brilliant and then

(51:40):
And then they got these people perfectly executed.
Feeding into it. Yeah. They thought they really were going to go in there.
Well, they weren't quite sure what they were filming.
They were just following day by day instructions, it seems like.
And then they for real thought that they were, that there was some real story
about some Blair Witch out there.
So they end up walking to trying to find Coffin Rock, which,

(52:03):
you know, they're wandering through.
Do they find rocks at this point?
No, not at this point. But they do get to Coffin Rock, right? Yeah, they do.
Its bodies were lined. They're talking about bodies lining the rock or the cave.
And then because someone found it, they went to go get help.

(52:25):
And then when they went back, the bodies were gone. But it still had the stench
of death in there, which is kind of a cool kind of story.
If I was the person that found them, because they were pretty, I guess it was men.
They were adults that this one person found. They were bound, feet to hands.

(52:48):
Connected. Connected. Their insides were cut out. It was some real human centipede type shit, guys.
Kind of, yeah. And then they had carving on their face, but it was like...
Symbols so that person couldn't tell yeah some real
witchcrafts and brouhaha shit i have seen that i would
have gone down and told someone but i would have not come back with the crew

(53:10):
and be like yeah it was right here i would have like nope never going
back into the woods again yeah showing where it's at though no
man i'll give you a map and then you can go find it i
would with a group of people i'd go check it out again you
would hell yeah dude you're living
in the middle of nowhere you wouldn't not shit going
on man especially no not when you

(53:32):
have all those other stories going on i think they would have freaked me out
a little bit really i'm not as sensitive huh i know i gotta see it to believe
it guys if ghosts are real i need to see it i want to see one believe me i want
to be a believer oh my god i know people richard so dude okay let's pause for

(53:53):
For a minute, let's open up a tab here.
Give us one more ghost story. You know you have a ghost story.
One more ghost story? Yeah.
I feel like my ghost stories all took place when I was younger.
I know. Let's hear one. When I was more into the whole religious thing. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Whoa. Whoa. Okay. I'm trying to think.

(54:18):
Gosh. I knew this lady. She was my godmother back in the day.
I haven't talked to her in lots and lots of years. Okay.
This was like around when I was nine through nine to 11.
Around that time frame is when she was kind of around in my life, maybe eight to 11.
But anyways. Okay. So that's, we established 97, 98, 99, 2000.

(54:42):
Yeah. So while the Blair Witch was happening, I was having my own Blair Witch.
No, this lady, she was one of the, she could...
She was a psychic she could she would
do the tarot cards you would go to her
and she would tell you your future your future she freaked
my mom out she told my mom she read her

(55:02):
palm and told her that she was not gonna make it past like 40 so when my mom
was getting close to her 40 she was freaked out she's like that lady said i
was gonna die i could imagine poor maria and she's still alive no but yeah she
would she was one of the ladies that was involved in going out,
and with the treasure hunting and,

(55:24):
Because she knew of where some of the places were. Oh, your dad's famous treasure hunts.
Okay. Yeah, so she would go with them because she was sensitive to the spirits and everything.
And she knew of haunted places and places where treasures were buried magically.
Okay. She knew all this information.
Whoa, and because she was psychic. But one of their trips, they came back and

(55:49):
she was possessed by something. Sorry to cut you off.
There's just so many questions I got about this story. her being
your grandmother was the reason why she her got your godmother the reason being
was it because she was psychic no she was really nice oh okay yeah she was nice
and did she ever find treasure no you know what she did find all these people's

(56:11):
things she was a scammer oh shit damn,
godmother's got some tricks yeah i know but out of one of their treasure hunting
she did come back I was in there.
Her roommate said that she came back.
Some spirit followed them from the treasure hunting and she was possessed for like a whole 24 hours.
What? Screaming, doing voices, pulling her hair.

(56:35):
Dude, do we have any footage of this? No. Dang.
Damn, dude, that would have been awesome. Yeah, but she freaked her roommate
out. I want to hear that story. What the hell, man?
You're leading on with treasure hunts. I want to hear the fucking exorcism of, what's her name?
Magdalena. Yeah, exorcism. Manela, shut out if you're in Colima or Tonila.
Still scamming people. Leave them alone. Leave them alone.

(56:59):
Although it's vacation place now, so go ahead. Vacation. She also told me a
story of how to hunt for...
For, gosh, fairies. Whoa.
Yeah. She gave me, I don't know. I was a kid. I was like, ooh,
tell me more. And she went on to this pretty, she had a good imagination.
I'll give her that. Damn, dude, we need to get her on the pod.

(57:19):
She gave me some story of where you could find them, what to do.
You would catch one, and if you caught one, and if you tamed it,
it would do whatever you wanted. It would give you treasures.
It was like your genie in a freaking cage.
Dang. And you're like, all I want to do is get to America. No.

(57:40):
The dream came true. I wish came true. I was kidnapped to America.
I was like, no, let me go.
I know. That sucks. Even I feel bad. You had a mango tree in your front yard? Man.
Guava tree in our front yard. And what was your bird's name?
She didn't have a name. We just call her Guaca. I had a macaw bird.

(58:01):
Oh, man. That was on her shoulder, guys. she would
just chill on her shoulder and she would feed her like mangoes and
cheese and stuff yeah she would scare my grandma she picked on people i love
it she never met anyone but she knew people were scared of her so she would
run towards them with her wings spread out dragging her beak on the ground oh
my god dude babe can that be our next pet can we get a bird i'm a call.

(58:27):
I don't know. Oh, shit, dude. We need to. That'd be fun. She was pretty free
down there. She just lived outside. Yeah.
On the tree eating guavas. And then she would go to her, next door neighbor
was one of my dad's aunts. God, the life. She had a mango tree.
And she would just fly over there and just eat guavas and mangoes all day.
Fuck, man. That is the life. I'm jealous.

(58:48):
Okay. I digress. Let's close that tab. I just love hearing the stories of Mexico.
Colima. Colima. So, okay. Okay. They're at Coffin Rock.
And so they get their filming done. They shoot their deal. What do they do after this?
It goes into the first night. Oh, yeah. They're winding down. They find a camp spot.

(59:11):
Nothing happens really at the night, really, that we see or hear.
No. Because we really don't see anything nighttime anyways, but it's really
kind of mild at this point.
Yeah. But when they wake up, that's when they hear, they're like,
yeah, it was weird. We heard some cackling.
Was it Mike or Josh? It was one of the guys. It was kind of both of them.

(59:33):
Or no, it was Josh because Mike was sound asleep.
And then Heather's like, oh, I sleep like a rock.
Yeah, there was a little bit of noises. And then maybe it was an owl. Yeah.
Yeah, an owl. They're just kind of like talking it away. Like,
ah, it wasn't anything in particular.
So not thinking much. Yeah. And then at one point, Heather does admit that,

(59:55):
you know, the day before they were slightly lost just for a little bit.
Oh, we start seeing it. So they now are they on their way back home at this point?
No, I think they're still hiking towards a cemetery.
There's like. Oh, that's right. Their target is a cemetery in the middle of the woods.
Yeah. And they eventually do find it. And that's where the rocks and stuff, right, are piled.

(01:00:17):
No, I don't think so. Like that was like the little area where the rocks and the sticks and stuff.
They just appear around their campground down the road. Well,
they run into some sort of site.
It's a structure at the end. No, what I'm saying is they run into a site,
like a little area where there are a bunch of that.
They run into two of them because they run into the piles and they actually knock rocks over.

(01:00:41):
And that was the cemetery area and
they were talking about because they're satisfied and they're
like man let's just stop filming for a
minute kind of freaked them out they knock over the rocks she says
sorry picks it back up yeah yeah
and then you know they're there that's where you start
seeing a little bit back and forth because it

(01:01:04):
seems like they're hiking far into to the woods they they're
yeah they're starting to crack a little bit mike's getting a little cranky
he's like all right it's time to head back he's saying
it's a long hike towards the cemetery because at times i think they're on trails
and then sometimes they're just off so he's like that that's right he's like
oh man do you know where we're going like you'd think we'd be on a trail and

(01:01:26):
she's like oh this is a shortcut acting like a know-it-all we all know.
These people or they don't know jack shit but they
want to say they do i've been guilty of doing this
myself but they go up this trail and
it's not even a trail and she says it's a shortcut which they
do eventually do make their location right

(01:01:46):
i think eventually they kind of they get
close to it or so they think and then
yeah they're just again like you said just debating over the map
what's the right direction and you know
mike starts getting a little upset because they're frustrated he
thinks he doesn't he's not 100 sure that they
know where they are yeah but he's like why are we still recording

(01:02:08):
everything that we're doing he doesn't want that
camera in his face which would you do
you blame him on that because i don't blame him at all i'd be pissed i'm like
heather get that fucking shit out of my face god damn it i'm mad i want to be
left alone give me a minute to breathe and i have a camera on my face yeah exactly
getting my my angry reactions i've seen it guys you do not whatever experience it,

(01:02:34):
so yeah then at this point this this is night two right.
Almost they do cross the first oh yeah because they in this movie they end up
crossing a couple like three right two or three yeah so yeah they cross over
the creek and then they find that's That's where they find the pile of rocks

(01:02:57):
after they cross the first creek.
And then I think this is where they start getting ready for the second night. Yeah.
And is this where they start fussing? Is it the first? No, it's the second night.
So they go into the second night.
And then they try to make it a little bit light. And then they compare each

(01:03:20):
other to characters from Gilligan's Island characters.
Talking about who's the captain, who's Skipper, who's Gilligan.
Well, the captain and then Gilligan.
But then he's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, guys. It's not a captain. It's a Skipper.
Yeah. But so later that night, though, they turn the cameras back on and then

(01:03:40):
we start hearing it louder.
At this point, children are screaming, cackling or laughing.
Children are laughing kind of in the background in the distance.
Josh, all of them are kind of freaked out, right?
That's the third night. Well, the third night is where Josh disappears.

(01:04:01):
I thought that was the fourth night. Is it? Because if they're gone four nights,
the fourth night is the finale.
They do have, yeah, they run out in the middle of the night at the fourth night.
So in the second night, what I have on my notes here is that there's some noises. They do hear noises.
Some snapping and just stuff happening outside.

(01:04:23):
So maybe they're out there longer. Maybe. Than four nights. I thought it was four nights, but.
And I think. Because I know it was the night before when Josh runs off,
and then the finale is when they hear it.
Because they only stay at night one more time when it's just them two.

(01:04:44):
Like, they go throughout the day, and then they hear it, and they're like,
oh, Josh, we hear you. Remember?
Yeah, so I think it's the third night when Josh goes missing.
Yeah. So maybe it's five nights. It's supposed to be five nights.
But i think on the second night when they hear those noises
heather's trying to get mike to go
outside and look oh yeah he's like no man i'm gonna stay here

(01:05:04):
she's like mike i need the sound man and uh
he's like no i'm not i'm not getting out of there this shit's crazy i wouldn't
have i would have i'd be like i'd be right there with her i'm like we gotta
catch this shit man this is like paranormal activity on steroids yeah and then
the next night you see a little bit bit more of that frustration from the nights
before but what happens afterwards the next day.

(01:05:26):
Again they're kind of not talking to each other a lot
and then they start questioning again like where are they going where are they
going and they're really amping up even josh starts
to come in like heather come on man do you really know where you're
going like let me see the map they're all taking turns mike
obviously he says i don't know this is all greek to me but josh and heather
trying to figure that out and then mike's like you know what i'm gonna trust

(01:05:49):
you i'm gonna to trust that you know what you're looking at on the map and you
know where we are and then but he's like i kind of don't though yeah yeah but
he's like i'm gonna have to trust you,
Yeah, and then, so it seems like during the day, they do a lot of just walking around.
Well, yeah, they're trying to get out of there. In circles, because,
yeah, they kind of start giving up, and they're, you know, at that point,

(01:06:12):
it's kind of, let's go home.
And at this point, this is where the tension is, where, like,
dude, we got to get this camera turned in, I got to go to work tomorrow,
we got to, we got to get back, man.
So, really, the tension, they start to unravel, Mike's screaming,
he's freaking out, they're running low on cigarettes.
Cigarettes yeah and then so yeah they're

(01:06:33):
wandering around and then at this night when
it does become night this is where they really do hear
the children laughing and the cackling all around it's
kind of close totally not
expected either like every time
at night they weren't expecting the stuff and it kept getting closer
and then they were shaking the tent which for

(01:06:55):
the kids noises we found that they recorded real
noises yeah their neighbors kids
yeah went out and played him for them at night that's fucked up
yeah and then the tent was shaking and that's when you get
authentic they run out of the tent and they run and they're scared and they're
like hunkered down somewhere yeah until daylight and then they get back to the

(01:07:18):
thing and that's where josh's stuff's missing everybody else's stuff's there
but josh's stuff's missing and then the camera is in some Some kind of goo,
like Nickelodeon Gak or something.
Yeah, there's slime on some of Josh's stuff. Yeah, ectoplasm.
Ectoplasm. And they start putting, you know, collecting your stuff.
That reminds me of South Park. Do you guys remember seeing that?

(01:07:40):
It's like paranormal and then stands on a computer.
He's like, oh, man, ectoplasm all over me. Did you see that ghost come through?
I haven't seen that episode forever. I think I know which one you're talking
about. Pretty much implying he was jerking off.
There's ectoplasm all over so yeah there's

(01:08:02):
stuff sludge slime all over the camera he's
like oh what the hell and then they
realize kind of fast forward a little bit and then they realize that the map
is missing yeah they're like dude where's the map heather where's the map she's
like it was in my pocket man you guys had to have taken it and they're like

(01:08:23):
no you're fucking crazy you lost You lost this fucking map, dude.
That was so irresponsible of you.
Yeah, and she's like, you know, maybe you got lost the day before when,
you know, during all of their hiking that they did.
And then you see that Josh is trying to keep his calm at this point still.
And they're like, let's just keep heading south. South's the way we've been
walking. We're going to keep going that way.

(01:08:46):
And then one thing that Mike says, you know, is I think it was Mike who said,
you know, if we don't come back, like people will notice.
And I think Heather mentions it too. Or Josh does, because he's like,
my girlfriend will know, my job will know. Yeah, people will know.
Our parents are going to notice.
And Heather kind of keeps it light, too, where she's like, hey,
this is America. It's hard to get lost, and it's hard to stay lost.

(01:09:10):
We're eventually going to find civilization, or it's going to find us, pretty much.
Yeah, and then at this point, again, and from there, they're trying to scramble
and figure out what to do.
I think everybody's kind of been in that situation before, kind of panicked,
uncontrolled situation, maybe not lost, but kind of that fear building up.
I don't know about you, but I get serious stomach cramps. I'm like,

(01:09:32):
ooh, I'm that guy who would have to poop all the time.
I was going to ask, does that make you more cramped? Yep, every 10 minutes,
I'm like, guys, I got to go behind the tree. You guys figure out where we are.
But I think part of it, yeah, with them being kind of weird,
tired, hungry, like we saw as the days are going.
They're getting less and less food from the actual movie crew

(01:09:53):
and they're getting less patient man yeah and
then they're just kind of laughing their shoes
got wet well no so that's when
yeah because then they get a little wet
they're laughing keeping it light-hearted well when they're
laughing at that point that's when mike starts
laughing like a weird laugh yeah and

(01:10:14):
then he's like hey man i kicked that map into the
water and then just starts laughing and they're like dude are you serious he's
like fucking eh and like it was useless we
didn't know where we were going yeah with the map the story
behind that what was it the directors had left
him a note hey destroy that map or
accidentally destroy it or whatever and he did kick it in the water and they

(01:10:37):
didn't see it he's yeah and they were supposed to intentionally see it and they
didn't see it but he was brilliant and kept it to himself until this moment
man he thought yeah he It was mentioned that he thought that Josh and Heather did see him kick it.
But when he started seeing their reaction, he just didn't say anything.
Yeah, because he didn't get anything out of them. He was like,

(01:10:59):
oh, shit, when they're freaking out on the map.
So he kept it for that moment. And that's when they really do.
I think they truthfully are like, fuck, we have had limited interaction with the directors.
I don't know where we're at. This shit's fucking wild. Now we don't have a map.
You can honestly see their emotions like just going wild.

(01:11:19):
And because of the limited eye contact with the director, they really were like.
Relying on this map essentially to kind of help
him where they were going so again another
real reaction this map is missing
they're freaking lost yeah but so
later in the day they keep walking they kind of get back josh airs out some

(01:11:41):
shit he's upset and so is mike but they end up going and this is where they
do find that weird thing mike yells out or josh i think it was mike he's He's
like, hey, check this shit out, dude. Come here quick.
And they're like, what, Mike? And then they go down there. And that's when you
see the iconic stick figure.
Yeah. What is it? It always looks like a stick, like a person to me, the Blair Witch logo.

(01:12:05):
I thought it was a stick figure. But people say it's a cross.
No, I don't think it's a cross. It has legs and arms. Yeah. I mean,
it looks like a stick figure to me. And it does look evil. Like, it looks sinister.
It would be creepy to run into that in the woods. With rocks everywhere.
Because she also does mention oh and she mentions
it earlier but the rocks remind me like that

(01:12:26):
lady in the trailer mary brown she brought
up rocks yeah there's little piles of rocks
stacked around at one point i think they're like outside their
their well they start yeah they start putting around
the tent and shit and they're like whoa we didn't set this up like
we didn't there's no way we put our tent right in the middle of
this yeah but they so yeah they

(01:12:47):
walk into this little area where there's stick
figures everywhere little things and rock
yeah and rock piles on the
trees which yeah well on the trees but on the
on the trees and on the ground as well and this is kind of freaking them out
and this is where mike and josh are like heather stop fucking filming man we

(01:13:08):
got to go what the fuck are you doing and he has a little bit of a breakdown
too because he He just straight up started screaming for help.
Oh, yeah. At that point, Mike's like, fuck, dude, this shit's nuts.
Because before they thought it was like rednecks or someone fucking with them.
Oh, they thought that someone was.
There's a mention that maybe someone is following them into the woods and messing

(01:13:30):
with them. Yeah. And just fucking with them.
Yeah. But they're like, who? You know, besides their, I think,
family, no one else knew that they were going there.
And so Mike's freaking out. He's screaming out for help. help so at this point
they keep walking south and then the this is the third night right the fourth night.
Yeah. Okay. This is the fourth night and this is kind of just how to break down

(01:13:53):
and you kind of see later.
We might have this mixed up guys here and there. We're not, we,
we watched it, but it's kind of, it's hard to keep up with it scene for scene.
So if it's not exactly beat for beat, I apologize, but we're just trying to
remember kind of it from our notes.
But so we kind of
see mike to kind of take a change in attitude

(01:14:16):
where he has his ebb and flows like he's really erratic and
then he gets really calm and there's a moment where josh is just at this point
is drained he's done you can tell he's kind of broken and mike's like hey man
don't film this heather what the fuck he's crying don't film him film him crying
that's not okay and And she's like, I know, I know.

(01:14:38):
And he's asking for a cigarette. They're like, we don't have any, man.
And so then I believe they set up for the night.
Yeah, and then this is where they say, you know, maybe let's not have any fires
or lights. Like all the fire nights they've had.
Because it's attracting people. They're thinking it's attracting someone.
Yeah, so they're like, maybe no fires or lights. Because the first night they

(01:15:01):
didn't have anything and nothing happened really.
Yeah and then this night and they're
trying to have levity because right before they go to bed they're talking
about food like i wish i had mom's mashed potatoes yeah
yeah and they're kind of like and he's like i got a cheeseburger in my left
pocket and they're like man i would take a cheeseburger right down now reminiscing

(01:15:22):
about you know things that you take for granted when you would be craving what's
a dish that you would have missed if you You were in their situation.
You have limited food. You're out hiking. What would you miss?
There's so many, but man, some of Maria's cooking. Oh, my God.
If you had to pick one dish, what would be your last dish? What was the one we had...

(01:15:48):
What was the one where I was like, oh, my God, that's amazing.
Everything you say is amazing.
It is. Maria's an amazing cook. What was it? But I think it,
what was the one where it was like the shell?
It was a while back ago. It was toasted, had meat in it.
Oh, quesadillas. Oh, my God. Richard likes his quesadillas.

(01:16:08):
So what would be yours? I would want flautas, chicken flautas.
Oh. A big plate. Or you know what else?
Tacos dos peños. Those chicken tacos that you had when we came back from Montana.
Oh, my God. Not long ago. Yeah, dude.
Those are amazing. And then sopas.
Flautas. Flautas. Sopes. Sopes, too. Oh, my God.

(01:16:32):
Shout out. They're not a sponsor, but El Sazon.
El Sazon. So, Vienna, if you were lost in the woods and you wanted one last
meal, what would your last meal be?
Sushi. Sushi?

(01:16:53):
Dang, that's bougie as fuck, dude. If it's by the East Coast or West Coast.
But if it's like the Middle States, I'm like. Oh, you want fresh?
She wants sushi, but only if it was made.
Yeah, that's rule of thumb right there. In a place close to the sea, not central.
I mean, okay, I can fuck with that. She doesn't want to get food poisoning. Respect, respect.

(01:17:20):
Okay, so now later that night, it's happening.
Some more stuff's happening. And this is where, this fourth night,
can you walk me through it, Angelus?
So the fourth night, the fifth, fourth night? Yeah. Yeah, this is where Josh disappears.

(01:17:41):
So, you know, they're reminiscing about everything. They go to sleep. Yeah. What happens?
And then they wake up and then they see that Josh is missing in the morning.
Is it? Because there's nothing that happens?
No, they just wake up. It's a pretty calm night. And then he's gone in the morning.
Oh, yeah. They're like, where's Josh at?
And they run out and they're screaming, Josh, Josh.

(01:18:04):
And they're pretty much looking for him throughout the day. But they got to
keep hitting stuff. They think he went crazy. He bailed. Yeah.
That would be so scary. So they're pretty much demoralized.
Could you imagine you just lost a third member of your crew and you're like
the third person. Now it's just down to two.
And you have to like now you're each other's support system where you're fighting

(01:18:26):
and bickering the whole time. Now you're a support system.
Yeah. Yeah, and this is where when Richard was talking earlier that originally
Mike's character, you know, he was supposed to be the one that would go missing
at this point in the movie.
But because Josh and Heather were bickering so much and bumping heads,
I guess one of the nights they were so just upset with each other that the director

(01:18:51):
like broke his rule of no contact with the actors that they came in and like
got them to settle down and not fight each other.
And instead of they changed it up and then they had josh
be the one who was missing instead of mike earlier yeah on yeah
fascinating and i think this is incredibly effective
that happened this way but yeah so they're

(01:19:15):
becoming increasingly frantic about this about him
missing where they kind of come to the realization they're
calming down a little bit kind of in shock mike ends
up finding cigarettes in the bottom of his bag he gives
her one they share it and that's where they have a moment where they
kind of you know they get close like they embrace each other like fuck i don't

(01:19:38):
know if we're gonna what we're gonna do yeah and then so this is where at night
this is where we get that iconic scene of her looking into the camera where you just kind of
see a portion of her face super effective where she's
like apologizing to everybody's families josh's

(01:20:00):
mike's hers and pretty much like telling them hey i'm sorry i fucked up this
is my fault this is my documentary like i'm i'm the reason why we got into this
mess which yeah of course you fucking didn't know where you're going you said
you knew you were going man get the fuck out of here it's your fault i'm gonna be pissed at you.

(01:20:21):
But so you get that iconic scene and then, you know, tears running. It's very authentic.
You can tell she's like, fuck, just physically and mentally drained.
But then nightfall happens. They go to bed. Right.
And then this is the last night where they hear Josh screaming and they're like,

(01:20:42):
holy shit, Josh, where are you? Where are you?
And this is where Mike takes off, starts going down there.
And then heather has to keep up with him and mike's
just frantically getting to where he's hearing
the voices yeah you're screaming they think
it sounds like he's torture screams almost oh yeah because before that we didn't

(01:21:03):
even say this which freaked her out was they had sticks in the morning oh yeah
and she threw it and she did throw it like and it was unintentional like Like
it wasn't supposed to happen,
but she was so freaked out that she threw the bundle of sticks. Yeah.
And then later the directors had to kind of phone in and say,

(01:21:24):
hey, you got to go check that out.
And she walks away and looks at in there and she sees blood,
real teeth, and then real pieces of Josh's hair in there.
And could you, you can only imagine that she's like, holy shit,
what am I looking at here?
You're like at some point you gotta be like are these directors
really doing this to us is this real like you're

(01:21:46):
you're fucking eight days in man you're fucking freaking out yeah and her reaction
she starts like hyperventilating when she sees this again she was not expecting
it no she didn't want to touch it and then they're like just do it and she goes
to the creek wash her hands off she keeps this away from mike though because
i think she knows mike would freak the fuck out Yeah,
he's already been having moments where he's kind of losing it.

(01:22:09):
So fast forward back to where we're at.
We hear Josh screaming, being tortured, you know, yelling for help.
Well, they go off taking off in the woods and...
They run up upon this house, and then you hear Josh screaming up top at the
second level of this house.
Mike has intentionally been told to stay ahead and kind of run ahead of Heather,

(01:22:33):
and he's frantically kind of going up.
And he's like, Josh, Josh, where are you? He goes up there. Heather catches up.
They see nothing. But up those stairs, you see little bloody handprints all over the place.
Yeah, that was freaking creepy. yeah i would be creeped out
even though i know it's probably fake and we're filming a
movie i would still be freaked out i'm like oh shit blood

(01:22:55):
everywhere bloody hands children's hands oh hell no that's where i'd have another
panic poop again and cut and wait for richard's guys i can't do it my ibs richard
i don't think that you would be invited to a treasure hunting
trip oh man no young richard no nowadays i wouldn't be panicked so panic pooping

(01:23:21):
doesn't happen oh okay you would make it through yeah you know we could always
get you some depends fuck that man i can control my bowel movements.
So then we start hearing screaming again and it's so weird it was up top which i don't know
how they got this to work maybe that speakers or something yeah

(01:23:42):
but then it's downstairs mike takes off
he's like fuck i'm gonna find josh he runs downstairs
and he goes to the basement and then
he leaves heather up there she can't keep up and so
then you see mike with his camera the camera
drops and now you're left with heather and her camera and her you can hear her

(01:24:03):
voice she's screaming frantically almost to a point it's kind of annoying if
you ask me but it is a real panic scream and she heads downstairs still crying
for mike she doesn't know what to do,
she sees mike in the corner and then
boom face in the corner and it reminds you of
the story of those little boys that yeah the old man

(01:24:25):
said that the old hermit guy would kill
one and keep the one in the corner and listen to the screams so yeah at the
end this is really effective she gets hit or something the camera falls down
and that's the end of the movie and leaving you thinking leaving it to your
imagination now how do you feel about that ending.

(01:24:48):
Were you satisfied initially? Try to remember when you first watched it.
No, I wanted to know. I mean, yes and no.
You know that they're missing. They tell you that at the beginning of the movie.
At the same time, I wanted to know what happened to them.
Because they leave you with so many bits and pieces for you to just assume and

(01:25:09):
put the whole picture together.
It really took a lot of inspiration from Jaws, where you barely see Jaws in the movie.
And it's left to your imagination i really liked
it there was talks where they did screenings for this movie
and and people were
like i don't understand it which i don't know how you would not understand

(01:25:29):
the ending in this movie if you're following it but granted you'd
be surprised some people just don't follow movies i'm more
intent like i gotta watch it i gotta know the details but
some people don't so they had alternate endings i believe they said but they
didn't none of them stuck they stuck with the original which fucking kudos to
them for being like wise to that because I don't know if I'd have that kind

(01:25:53):
of restraint I would be kind of hypercritical you know what I mean oh yeah.
Your notes here, one of the alternate endings, do you want to touch on them? Go ahead. Okay.
So one of the alternative endings that directors had was considering involving
a little bit more of an explicit scene.
Again, just kind of showing you more of what happened to the actors.

(01:26:15):
And one of them being Josh's body parts being visible.
But ultimately they decided against it. Or seeing a silhouette or a lady in a white dress.
I'm happy they did not show the
monster the witch or whatever it is because the
in my head it's so much worse than it would actually would

(01:26:37):
be yeah yeah just kind of letting yeah you
know people run with their imagination make your
own assumption of what happened and fill in
those blinks was there more endings um
not that i
saw okay yeah i was looking at my notes i didn't see that but yeah i'm glad

(01:26:58):
they didn't stick with that so that's my question for you is what do you think
the blair witch looked like in your head in my head an old lady crazy hair and in a dress.
Long nose i don't know long fingernails
your stereotypical image of a i'm i'm

(01:27:19):
leaning towards more of like a human goat like figure
a human more satanic witchy like demon okay fucking i'm thinking that and it
does rip limb for limb tortures you i'm i'm going that way or it naturally in
my head that's what i'm thinking although from the stories of the people that

(01:27:40):
they interviewed earlier on in the movie,
I think I would be more scared of the hermit guy who was just taking little boys and killing them,
rather than the witch. Yeah.
So, moving forward, we do, before we move forward with the rest of this,
the impact and legacy, we do have a couple questions we got on a poll that I asked earlier today.

(01:28:07):
Let me pull it up here.
Yeah. We got two whole answers to this.
So, thank you guys for taking time and answering the question.
Yeah, we know it was last minute.
Go ahead and what are the, what's the first question? June.
And who's it from? Who is it from? Give me one second. I had my note and then
my sticky note disappeared.

(01:28:30):
Let's see. So the question was, so yeah, the post essentially was ask anything
you want of us, horror movie, Richard said life advice.
I don't know how much life advice we can give hey
man but the first question that we got was from yalejandro and

(01:28:52):
his question was do you watch a happy movie after watching something
scary all the answers first me
i think it depends i think i watched
so many scary movies you're desensitized
and kind of desensitized depending on how much of
a shock factor they have on me yeah i think
last year to the standout where

(01:29:14):
talk to me and when evil lurks i did like was
a little rattle after and i had to watch something a little bit
more light-hearted after yeah so those are mind fucks
i'm gonna say after a mind fuck i gotta watch i need
a palate cleanser so i'll throw on like i'll throw
on some south park or rick and
morty you know or a friday

(01:29:35):
the 13th i don't know maybe something a little more wholesome light-hearted
but yeah no i i
think it depends really on my mood and how impactful that movie was if it totally
screwed my head up i gotta watch something soft what's the second question yeah
the second question came from lord pineapple doodles so they asked what was

(01:29:56):
the first horror movie that made you love horror.
Man, the first one I, and I think I messaged, I mentioned this in our first episode, but,
the first one that came to me were, was child's play had an impactful moment
in my life, huge trauma, but it made me addicted. Yeah. It made me addicted to horror.

(01:30:19):
I like that feeling, but later on in my younger years, it was a nightmare on
Elm street, Freddy Krueger, that stuff was so fun.
I loved it. The kills, the dream sequences were so creative.
I loved all of it. Me and my brother would watch it all the time.
It was the movies we'd rent every weekend.

(01:30:39):
What about you? My movie is The Exorcist, 1973.
Aw, shit, man. That's an OG right there. That was. That was impactful. That was scary.
It was good. And I was like, yes, I feel it for me every time I watch it.
Now it's a little, there's some stuff that's funny, but.
How did you feel about the first Omen we recently watched? I liked it.

(01:31:03):
I liked it too. That was pretty good.
When that pole goes through the guy's head.
Oh, I thought I was like, he, you know, he got him. And then I was like,
oh, it's fine. And then he turns around.
Oh, dude. I love that. I love that trope.
No. Yeah. So that, that's cool. Cool. If you guys, we have a question out there.
What horror movies are your favorites? Please answer it. We are doing a giveaway.

(01:31:29):
So if you do make a comment, please email us at horrorcinemaobsession with your
address and name, and we will send you some stickers.
Horror Cinema stickers are high quality. They're nice. We like them.
So yeah, if you're interested, just leave a comment and then just send an email
with your name and address and we'll be gladly,

(01:31:50):
we'd be glad to send these stickers out we got we got an
abundance of them yeah just a little thank you for supporting
us yeah so the
impact of this movie it has a huge impact it has a huge thumbprint on the horror
genre and i think its legacy goes it transcends it just continues on because

(01:32:13):
this is the first of its kind really done really well how do you feel about that,
I think it did a really good job.
I think, like you mentioned at the start of this episode, that it kind of set
the foot forward for other movies to come out.

(01:32:34):
The found footage technique was crafted and perfected by them.
The style involves presenting the film as if it was discovered footage,
usually from a video camera or other recording devices used by characters in the film.
This technique really creates a sense of realism and immediacy,
making the horror more intimate and frightening.

(01:32:56):
Frightening the success of the blair witch project led
to a surge in found footage films like we
mentioned before paranormal activity i actually
found footage one that i do like cloverfield have
you ever seen that one i watched it it's not my favorite dude
i like it so some of the cgi it's
a little but there's a scene where i like where they see you're in these medical

(01:33:20):
tents you see the shadow of one of the friends and the thing just like fucking
she explodes i love that and the scene we might have to revisit that i think
the ending is but i was like uh yeah.
And then obviously they set the tone going viral marketing they were ahead of
their time on that one yeah like we mentioned first internet so i think it had

(01:33:44):
it has its pros and cons i think
the pros outweigh the cons but you had a huge wave
of found footage stuff it i think
horror genre going into the 2000s we
had a lot of rough years one 9-11 happened what was we had the school shooting
columbine so we had a couple things were violent and they at some point and

(01:34:08):
with the found footage we had blood being less in the movies less violence and
we had a little era and i think this
was part of it making it less scary less intense like i don't know about you
i don't get me wrong there's a special place in my heart for the 2000s horror
genre but they're not the greatest movies it turned a little bit i feel like they had a.

(01:34:33):
Comedy was popping in the 2000s yeah yeah
but again psychological horror and
the visual effects were were outstanding for this
movie so the audience response and
expectations this film's ambitious and an
unsettling ending left audiences debating and discussing what actually happened

(01:34:55):
to heather mike and josh this ending influenced how future films would be received
with more More filmmakers embracing that ambiguity and complex narratives that
engage audiences on a deeper level.
So that's, again, that's a
pro for me. Like it forced them to kind of develop that a little bit more.

(01:35:17):
One of the things that we saw in there as well was that Heather's mom was getting sympathy cards.
Oh, because they actually thought she died.
Yeah, they thought she really was missing or dead. yeah
and give you got to give them credit innovation originality
just it was great and
then if you weren't around in

(01:35:39):
1999 the cultural impact of
this movie was outstanding it was in everything on
our instagram i showed you and this
is real the scooby-doo project they spoofed this
on the a cartoon network i shit you not this this
freaked me out because i used to watch it going to bed and

(01:35:59):
they would have that on and i'm like oh fuck and i'd
have to change the channel everywhere scooby-doo i was like dude this is fucking
gnarly and they would show little uh bits and pieces of that as commercials
and it would freak me the fuck out awesome i didn't know it existed until you
showed me yeah i just remember after watching this movie i was like oh shit that did happen And so,

(01:36:22):
yeah, no, I think the impact and legacy is still touched upon.
I think the, you know, the tropes of this movie are still used and you can get
a lot of reference even till this day on movies with how, how,
how they're filmed, especially the found footage stuff.
Another thing that I thought was really interesting for this movie,
there was no makeup or special effects.

(01:36:44):
You know, they were all in the raw as they were. Yeah, noises. It was more of a...
A hearing? Yeah, yeah. Sound.
Sound, there you go. Just sound, but I mean, no makeup, no, you know,
fake mummies or anything more. No script, by the way.
Yeah, and we saw that even those figures that they found out in the woods,

(01:37:06):
they were made by the film crew using twigs and string.
Mm-hmm. So this ending was explained. Apparently the actors associated this
with serial killer Ed Gein, which I can kind of see, who also inspired elements
of Psycho and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
I can see kind of a little bit of everything in those movies kind of played a part in this.

(01:37:30):
So, yeah, no, that is Blair Witch Project.
Now, this movie, it has pretty high ratings.
Did you check the INDB on this, the Rotten Tomatoes?
They were actually not, it wasn't the greatest ratings that they had out there,

(01:37:51):
but they did do pretty well on IMDB.
They have a 6.5 out of 10.
Rotten Tomatoes, they hold an 86%. And Metacritic, they have an 80%.
So I think I know what the issue is with this, though.
Found footage, it's really you see it once, and it has a great effect the first time.
The second, third, fourth time you see it, it loses the luster.

(01:38:15):
You know what's happening.
Where the first time you see it, you don't know, and you're guessing,
and it totally kind of, that twist can throw you off. But I can see how that
could be less effective and the rating kind of goes down.
You kind of feel the same way? Yeah. I feel like the first time,
that's when you have your first real impact, the biggest shock.

(01:38:36):
And yeah, I 100% agree. The more you watch it, you know what happens.
That's the problem with found footage though. And that's kind of why I don't
like it is how do you push the envelope even further?
You almost have to with these because they become predictable.
The quality is not there. so you really gotta have
it click if it doesn't click it's terrible

(01:38:57):
one that we you haven't watched it i
don't think hell house is really fucking
good we gotta watch that one it's effective i'm looking forward to it no i haven't
watched yeah so now we're at a we're at that that time where vienna she's gonna
share some reviews that she found about the movie but before she She shares the reviews.

(01:39:21):
Can you enter the mic?
Oh, hi. Hello. Sorry, guys. We're working with two mics right now. Vienna, how you doing?
Uh, yeah, I'm good. You're being patient? I'm tired. You're tired?
Man, we're long-winded. I can't help it.
So you watched the movie with us. How did you feel about it?

(01:39:45):
I thought it was pretty good. But I think the first time I wasn't like fully
paying attention. I was playing games on my phone.
So, but I went and rewatched it after.
And I thought their like their reactions or I guess the acting, it was really raw.
Like the second time because I was like, this seems like pretty real.

(01:40:07):
Like I would get. You were invested?
Yeah, I would get why people thought it was real back then. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
So what yourself, before you get into the other ratings, what do you rate it?
I'd give it a three out of five. Three out of five. Not bad.
Not bad. All right. Do you want to share some of the reviews you found?

(01:40:28):
Yeah. I mostly found funny ones because I don't know. That's all we want to hear. Come on, man.
So someone gave it a three and a half and said, Blair Witch,
where, bitch? Blair Witches be tripping.
Oh, my God. What was the rating? Three and a half. What?

(01:40:49):
Oh, shit. shit and then someone said i loved it when the blair witch said yo
it's me the blair witch it's blair witching time four and a half that must have
been blair witch too yeah i don't know,
someone else said blair witch project true ending the people in blair witch
project what was that noise the blair witch yuck it's me the blair witch and

(01:41:15):
they gave it a little heart someone What was the rating?
Just a heart. That was it? They didn't give it? Oh, okay. The movie had heart.
That's all that matters.
Someone else said original masterpiece and gave it a 7 out of 10.
Someone else said it was a waste of time and gave it a 1 out of 10.

(01:41:39):
Another person, which it reminded me of your explanations for some movies.
Who, me? Yeah, a revelation in storytelling, cinematography, and marketing.
That's on this one, man. That's how you explain your movie.
Okay, maybe I do. Big extravagant words. That was a fine piece of cinematography, goddammit.

(01:42:03):
Someone said, the Blair Witch Project walked so Kim Kardashian could run.
Oh my god. And they gave it three stars and a heart. Three stars.
Someone said, shake it like the Blair Witch Project camera and gave it four stars and a heart.
People having fun with it yeah and then someone else said hi i'm johnny knoxville

(01:42:26):
and this is the blair witch project they just gave it a little heart i like
it i like it thanks for your reviews.
Nice and then angelus what would
you rate this movie can i share one
review before we go to our personal ratings true yeah
go ahead this is a shared segment mainly vienna's

(01:42:49):
but and just loves this part too they're funny
okay only because this person was completely in the wrong section for leaving
a review but they still gave it five stars they said this escape room is totally
amazing without giving anything away it's got all the amazing parts from the
movie that makes you you feel like you're actually there.

(01:43:11):
I recommend this room to anyone who wants to have a great time,
a few scares, and an adventure they will never forget.
So this person went to an escape room that was Blair Witch themed.
And instead of leaving the review there at this business, they came to the Blair Witch Project.
The movie. And reviewed it on Google. So what was the stars?
They gave it five stars. Oh, shit.

(01:43:33):
Okay, okay.
Yeah. Overall, it seems like people liked it back in the day.
Someone mentioned that it was great for when it came out.
Apparently, the actors were kept away from the cameras and given interviews
for some time to just kind of feed more into the... Oh, yeah.
Disappeared. Yeah, we talked about that a little bit. So, what would you...

(01:43:55):
So, first, would you recommend this movie? I would recommend it if you haven't,
like Richard said, I feel like the more you watch it, the less of that scare effect it has.
But if you've never watched it, or maybe you only watched it one time,
I would recommend you watch it.
All right. Yeah, I would I would recommend it to you. This is one of those ones.

(01:44:17):
It's one of those movies that are a game changer.
So I'd put it up on the Mount Rushmore of horror movies, you know,
that kind of pushed the genre to the next level.
So i think it's it's necessarily necessary to watch it and i think it holds
up and it's the best found footage movie out there now i could be wrong please

(01:44:39):
let us know send me an email.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on it and
again if we didn't get all this correct the
story we tried our best we're not perfect
but we try to take extensive notes
this one's a little more difficult for the found footage aspect
wouldn't you agree yeah like scene for scene it's a little harder for me at

(01:45:02):
least it was what would you rate it so me yeah so i reckon definitely recommend
it what was your rating i haven't given it a rating you go first what i want
to know so i can like Like,
you know, one of you. You go first. I'm just kidding.
I think a 3.5. 3.5? Yeah. Okay.

(01:45:29):
Yeah, no. So I'm right there with you. I, again, found footage isn't for me,
but I would give it, I would give it a four.
Okay. It seems like so far you're a lot more generous with your ratings.
Because I love horror, man. Like, I can kind of see the goodness even in the flaws.

(01:45:50):
I kind of, you know, where you see it in people, I see it in horror movies,
okay? I thought you were going to be more critical. Hey.
I am a little critical. Like, there are moments, but this is,
we've had some highlight movies.
Critters 3, I gave it, I'm pretty sure I gave it like a 1.5 and you gave it a 3, man.
I gave it a 2.5. Yeah. um and

(01:46:13):
then i feel like once you like the
the execution was great and then once
you learn of the behind the scenes it makes you appreciate it
a lot more yeah definitely okay folks we
gotta we gotta wind this down we're gonna go see abby go what
you pumped for angels where

(01:46:33):
can they find us social medias facebook instagram
what's our handle at horror
cinema obsession hash brown horror cinema obsession and again our email horror
cinema obsession at hotmail.com please reach out to us subscribe to us listen

(01:46:53):
to us guys we want to build a core of people the following we do have We appreciate you.
We love you guys. Stay obsessed.
Talk to you later. Peace out.

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Blair Witch Project (1999): Found Footage Fear, Forest Panic & Listener Picks #5

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