Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000) Reviews

• Severely underrated psychological thriller

  drownnnsoda2006-07-10

  "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2" follows a group of fanatics obsessed with the Blair Witch legend in the aftermath of the film's first release. Among them are a mentally-unstable local; a husband-and-wife team of graduate students studying the Blair Witch; a self-proclaimed Wiccan; and a depressive goth. The five camp out in the ruins of Rustin Parr's home, where the Blair Witch tapes were "found," and experience a mental blackout in which they each fail to recount several hours of the night. In a daze and confusion, they retreat to the group leader's warehouse- turned-home, where their individual psychological breakdowns lead them to a disturbing truth. I'm just going to say it outright: I love this film. It was, and continues to be met with hostility from fans of the original, which still quite frankly baffles me. It's not nearly as terrifying as the original film, but it is ingenious in its own way. Rather than approach a sequel with a rehash of the first film's material, co-writer/director Joe Berlinger offers something different: a narrative within a world in which "The Blair Witch Project" was real footage— a world inhabited by characters who range from unabashed believers to academic skeptics, to people who simply "thought the movie was cool." With a common interest, they set out into the woods to find some evidence—but all goes awry when one of the women suffers a premonitory miscarriage, and they are forced to retreat to the leader's home, which is where the film becomes a full-blooded psychological thriller. What is real, and what isn't? Where is the Blair Witch? Outside, lurking in the forest? Possessing one of the characters? Is she even there at all? These are the kinds of questions the script toys with, and the result is wildly engaging. The performances are top-notch, and the film is peppered with disturbing scenes and images, and some ghoulish scenarios. The score lends an oppressive tone to the movie, and it is steeped in an atmosphere of complete unease that grows more and more pervasive as the five characters bear witness to the inexplicable. The film plays its cards well and is careful in its subtlety, which leads to a downbeat and twisted conclusion. Overall, "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2" has been harshly criticized by fans who it seems haven't taken the time to try and understand what it's attempting to do. It is not a rehash of the original film, and it never aims to be. The approach taken is commendable and rather brilliant, and it manages to establish an ever-increasing sense of oppressiveness that grows on the audience, which is the real catch here in my opinion—it is genuinely unnerving to watch, and that's something rare these days. 8/10.

• wan sequel to a true original

  Buddy-512001-08-03

  In all the print that has been devoted to the original `Blair Witch Project,' most of the discussion has been centered around the remarkable advertising strategy that managed to parley a quirky, low budget independent film into a multimillion-dollar box office success story. Of far greater interest actually is the arc the film traveled in terms of its critical and audience reception. Actually, this phenomenon can be easily charted by scrolling through the reviews of the film found on either imdb.com or amazon.com. If you look first at the earliest evaluations of the film - when it was still an unknown entity riding the film festival circuit - you will note the almost universally rapturous response the movie received from viewers caught off guard by the originality of its concept and the uniqueness of its execution. However, if you continue to scroll through the reviews with the passage of time, you will notice a rather extraordinary development that occurs. At about the time the film officially opens to immense media scrutiny and unprecedented box office success, the reviews suddenly undergo an amazing change in tone. Due to the buildup of expectations resulting from the above elements, viewers begin to tear the film apart, mercilessly declaring it to be cheapjack, annoying, hopelessly overrated and totally lacking in terror or suspense. Rarely have I ever seen such a violent backlash against any film (though just try to find someone who will admit to liking `Titanic' nowadays - one begins to wonder just who were all those people who collectively managed to fork over all that cash to the tune of $600,000,000 in the United States and Canada alone). In many ways, though `The Blair Witch Project' may have made a ton of money (it is easily the most profitable film ever made), it may ultimately have been a pyrrhic victory for its makers since an audience that feels it has been `ripped off' once is not one who will be favorably inclined towards your next project. Perhaps this helps to explain the dismal box office performance of the sequel, awkwardly entitled `Book of Shadows: Blair Witch Project 2.' As one who actually liked the original film (and, yes, I saw it long after the initial media hype had died down), I can't say that I expected much from this newest addition to the franchise. The first film was such a unique work stylistically that, even less than most films, it definitely did not cry out for replication. Actually, this new film starts off rather well, choosing to acknowledge the reality of not only the original project but also the media ballyhoo and frenzy that attended it. The film cleverly lampoons the cottage industry that sprang up around the first film, catering to tourists who descended in droves on the once-peaceful town of Burkittsville, Maryland, where the original fictional `documentary' was set. Taking over the reins from the first film's creators, writer Dick Beebe and writer/director Joe Berlinger create a scenario in which a group of fans, obsessed with the original film, embark on a `Blair Witch' tour that, naturally, turns out to be more than they bargained for. By eschewing fancy special effects of any kind and hewing closely to the `reality' conferred by its documentary style approach, the original film managed to convey a real sense of mounting terror as the people involved became more and more terrified and confused by what was happening to them. The makers of the sequel attempt to create essentially the same impact here but with far less effectiveness. Part of the problem is that the demands made on a big budget studio production are obviously worlds apart from those made on a small independent film in which experimentation and imagination are often allowed - and even, at times, encouraged - to flourish. As a result, the makers of the new film violate the very less-is-more credo that made the original film work in the first place. Thus, as these new characters begin to spiral down into confusion, terror and madness, we are offered a plethora of quick cut glimpses of demons, ghosts, flashbacks etc. that are more distracting than terrifying. We could believe what was happening to the characters in the original film because the single-camera technique made it all seem so plausible and real. This film just feels like the typical stock horror film, filled with fancy techniques but little of the stuff that true nightmares are made of. More often than not, the viewer feels more like laughing at the silliness of the proceedings than gasping. Eventually, even the dialogue seems to be providing an almost subconscious running commentary on the film itself as the characters yell out at various points such pearls of wisdom as `This is too weird' and `This makes no sense.' The story does a nice job at the end showing how what is captured on film or tape may not necessarily correlate with the facts of history. And, I guess, we are also encouraged to read the film in two ways - as both a genuine horror story in which the Blair Witch is somehow exercising her supernatural powers or as a study of mass psychosis playing havoc with a group of emotionally off-kilter people. Yet, in the long run, `Book of Shadows' just doesn't seem worth the effort. Any way you slice it, a horror film that doesn't horrify has failed to live up to its calling. Stick with the original model this time around.

• It wouldn't have made sense to make the exact same style movie again.

  faust-292000-10-29

  I went into "Book of Shadows" expecting the worst, and that might be the reason I liked it. The hook of the first film was in its ambiguity and its divergence from the mainstream horror genre, hence it would've taken some seriously original writing to recreate such a film again in sequel form. "Book of Shadows" certainly didn't follow the same suspense strategy but it did present some original ideas as to how the sequel should be made. The movie is certainly less suspenseful but offers a little more gore and shock value coppled with a lot of really good heavy metal music. I liked the movie and it actually reminded me more of the "Tales from the Crypt" shows than the "The Blair Witch Project". The characters are fun to watch and Kim Director plays a very interesting goth chic...which I liked. Furthermore, the plot itself, although thin, provides many twisted and spooky scenes that make a horror film that is easy to enjoy but still leave you asking questions at the end of the movie. If you really didn't enjoy the first movie, don't bother with the second. However, if you're a fan of the genre check it out a few times.

• Very, very underrated movie which is actually really good - Spoilers

  predator43252003-02-11

  Movies that do not walk you through it and leave some interpretation are great in my book. Blair Witch 2 is one of those movies. The ending had me confused at first and then I thought about it. As I see it there are 2 different possibilities. There's the idea that what you saw the characters do is actually what happened and then the Blair Witch doctored the tapes and killed those people. I find this idea a little hard to believe because the whole thing with messing with the tapes is strange but it is the Blair Witch after all. The other idea is that they blacked out or were seeing things different when the crimes happened. Like when Kim had that confrontation with the clerk Peggy. What she thought happened was she got p****d at Peggy stormed out while leaving the cash. But what the tapes revealed was that she cut Peggy's throat. So Kim thought she didn't kill Peggy but I think she did. I believe the second theory because in the beginning Jeff says that film lies but video always tells the truth, we saw the film but the video cameras were the video. I even listened to the commentary track and the director even says himself that there are many possibilities. Whew! Enough explanation of the ending (hope I didn't ruin it). They movie is kind of ironic in the fact that it is making a big deal about the commotion of the first movie and that it was in fact not true. Lots of dream shots and other things to freak you out. I highly recommend seeing this. Plus the music rocks (like that sweet credits tune)

• Why is this film so hated?

  Red_Identity2010-01-02

  Why is this film so hated? Yes, it's pretty dumb and no where near what the original was, but what I liked is that the people in the film are aware of the existence of The Blair Witch Project, and in the beginning it even has some nice clips from real reviews. I was entertained throughout this whole film, and enjoyed the twists and turns, even though, yes, they are pretty ludicrous. The overall plot is suspenseful and mysterious, and why would anyone expect the same thing as the original? I can see why as a sequel it would not work, but as a stand-alone horror film, I thought it got the job done well. Oh well, I guess I am easy to please...