Blair Witch 2 (2000)

Blair Witch 2: Directed by Joe Berlinger. With Kurt Loder, Chuck Scarborough, Bruce D. Reed, Jeffrey Donovan. A group of tourists arrives in Burkittsville, Maryland after seeing The Blair Witch Project (1999) to explore the mythology and phenomenon, only to come face to face with their own neuroses and possibly the witch herself.

“Attracted by the film `The Blair Witch Projectu0026#39; hoards of film fans have been pouring into the small town of the film. One such group books onto a `Blair Witch Huntu0026#39; tour to camp in the woods and see the sights. When they awake the next morning to find their camera equipment smashed, 5 hours unaccounted for and their film hidden in the same spot as the film from the original movie they are unsure what happened. However as they replay the video tape they notice some very weird things.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eUndeterred by bad reviews I decided to watch this film on television the other night. Initially I was impressed by the idea, instead of following the original movie, the sequel twists the idea of the original as a documentary and presents it as a film but then uses the film to present another story that is `in the real worldu0026#39;. Conceptually this was quite clever and I was drawn in by it. Sadly this didnu0026#39;t last very long and it wasnu0026#39;t long before it became quite an ordinary film that wasnu0026#39;t creepy in any way and was actually quite dull.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe plot is interesting – interesting enough to keep me watching anyway. The twists are the end are meant to be horrifying and perhaps surprising but by then all they got out of me was an `ohu0026#39; of vague interest. For most of the film it is noisy chat and fake surprises and creepy goings-on. They didnu0026#39;t work as the film felt very trashy and uninvolving. The gore and flashed edits of violence were supposed to keep us guessing I think but they only served to numb me to the film, as did the occasional dream/fantasy sequence. It was a shame as it was a clever idea and had some good bits in it but the delivery let it down.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe direction is very plain and doesnu0026#39;t manage to build an air of suspense anywhere near as well as in the original, resulting in a rather boring series of scenes punctuated by `scaresu0026#39; that donu0026#39;t work. The cast donu0026#39;t really help either, they donu0026#39;t come across as real people and it is hard to care for such as self important group of people who are walking stereotypes – the goth, the witch, the college boy etc. At least in the original we got to see them break down and become more afraid during the film – here they could be the cast from any teen horror movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs you may have guessed Iu0026#39;m not a big fan of teen slasher movies but Blair Witch was much more than that and traded on atmosphere – that was itu0026#39;s strength. By throwing in gore from the very start and having tonnes of little imagined scenes of horror, Book of Shadows loses that strength and becomes a movie that lives and dies on itu0026#39;s ability to scare. Sadly the originally good idea doesnu0026#39;t scare and remains `interestingu0026#39; and nothing more. It is a shame that they had to make this film as it wonu0026#39;t satisfy those who like their horror creepy or those who like it bloody.”