Book of Shadows: Blair witch 2

[Blindrift]

I know I'm probably gonna get ripped a new one for saying this, but I dug this movie. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad. It managed to balence the supernatural and the psychological pretty well.
I think one of the reason's this flick didn't sit well with many peeps was because it went over their heads. The first movie was direct in it's storytelling. Pretty easy to follow. This one challenged you to use your mind. Something many movie goers dislike doing sadly.
Another reason for the films chilly reception was it's departure from the original's documentry format. I actually applauded this approach. The idea to do the sequel as a reinactment instead of a documentry was great. It kept up the theme of the first flick but kept things fresh. Let's face it, The Blair witch project was a one shot deal. The first one was so popular because people were lead to believe it was real, once they were let in on the gag, that was it. You really can't expect people with an I.Q. higher then 10 to fall for the same shit again. Doing the same type of film would just be so "Been there done that".
I noticed alot of people were unsure if the movie took place in the blair universe or the real world. The answer is it was set in the real world...sort of. The filmmakers tried to pull the wool over the audiences eye's again, it may have worked if the audience was smart enough to keep up. Supposedly BOS was set in our real world. The reinactment is said to be based on events that took place in the aftermath of the first films success. Burketsville maryland becomes a circus, and everyone is trying to cash in. Everyone know's it was just a movie but they still wanna visit the woods it was filmed, and newly formed tour guides are glad to indulge these folks. It's pointed out by these tour guides that some of the history from the first film was real burketsville history, such as the massacre at coffin rock. Even the so called Blair witch was roughly based on a real person, and the remains of her house was located in the woods. This is were the genius of the film makers shine's through.
After the first film, it was believed that the Blair witch was still real, even though the movie was fake. In fact many people still believe it, despite the fact burketsville historians have no such records. Knowing this, the film makers decided to exploit this belief and toy with the audience's heads. They made it seem like Coffin rock was real, and that the blair witch really was based on a real person, when in fact it was not. We the audience were intended to walk away knowing the movie wasn't real, but the legend behind the blair witch had some merit after all. GENIUS! pure and simple. The subtly of how this ploy was excuted was great, it's ashame most people didn't pick up on it.
As I said, this movie works the supernatural and psychological angles well, and it never tells you which side is at work, that's for you to decide. Yes the film has problems. The characters could have been given more depth, some things could have been explained better, amoung other things. But all that is somewhat forgivable because the movie does what it sets out to do, entertain and peak our curiosity about the supernatural.

So what does everyone else think?

[Cronos]

Originally posted by Blindrift
It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad

that was pretty much summed the film up for me, the script and acting werent too great and the plot seemed to get muddled at times but in the end it was quite fun and had some pretty kool scenes

[Skysaber]

I liked it.

[Donnie_Darko]

I loved it. I took it as it's own movie, and not a "sequel" to BWP. The performances were really solid, and the "gore bits" aside, it was really well done. I actually watched this movie 18 times in 2 days... but I'm nuts.

Speaking of BoS... I'm gonna put it on again right now. :D

[mshulman5]

I love this movie. I also didn't look at it as a sequel because it's totally different from the first. I actually like this movie better then the original BW. Both good movies howver I just loved the story in this one and how everything tied together. Book of Shadows is just a movie that gets an unfairly bad rap for being nothing like its predecessor.

Book of Shadows : Blair Witch 2 7.5/10

[Inglorious]

I really liked this one. I saw it as this separate path that the Blair Witch Project could have taken, but didn't. It was mysterious, and it was quite surreal. It had me wondering what was going on, what was going to go on, and what went on... which is good. The only thing that disappointed me was the ending. A little stale for the build-up.

7/10 - Blair Witch Project: Book Of Shadows, The

[Elgyn]

Originally posted by mshulman5
I actually like this movie better then the original BW.


Me too. I really loved this movie when it first came out.......after revisiting it recently, I notice some of the acting is pretty lousy. And the Marilyn Manson song at the very beginning probably turned a lot of people off (though I personally like the song). But I still really like this movie.

A "Blair Witch" sequel was a no-win situation from the start. If it was a retread of the first movie, with a DIFFERENT bunch of kids videotaping themselves in the woods, people would`ve complained that it was a retread.
So Artisan did the smart(er) thing and made it completely different than the original..........which, of course, people still complained about.

[Gluttony]

I thought it was decent fun, nothing great but better than the original. God, I hate the first movie. This was a welcome surprise and actually got me going a few times.

[Scully1888]

That's strange, I coulda sworn a lot of people hated this.

I personally loved it, and think it has a much higher replay value than the original BWP did. Once I watched the first film I found that I wasn't really able to watch it again, because you know for a fact that nothing of any interest happens until the last 5 minutes.

However, I've watched BW2 3 or 4 times now and still find it interesting, especially looking for those damn hidden images. :)

[saintofscars]

I loved this movie right up until the ending. That was a let down. I watched it with a friend recently and he agreed. Good movie, crap ending.

[Jason13thh]

It was an okay movie not as bad as people may think.

However Blair Witch was much more scary.

[The_Driller_Killer]

I actually just watched this movie again tonight. I loved it when I first saw it and it still holds up to that original viewing. I thought it was very well-written, acted, and directed. Great ending too. In my humble little opinion, it was better than the first.

[Masterbrain]

In my opinion the first BWP is better than the sequel, but the sequel rocks too! One of my alltime favorite sequels, I may say. I loved the whole videocam theme in the first one and I enjoyed that, that same theme is present in the sequel.

Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 - 3.5/5

[dellamorte dellamore]

I don't think it can match the brillaince of the original , but after all the hype has passed , and with my expectations finally in order , i can honestly say this is a very good horror film . I wanted an expansion of the events in the first film , and i was disappointed that i didn't get it , but now i realize they were right to take the series in a diff direction , it worked as a self referential spoof , a mystery , and a creepy ghost story .

Sure , some of the acting by the leads was a bit melodramtic , but it still worked . The film features some genuine chills , nice cinematography , and effective lighting , and i really like all the little clues spread throughout the film that all make sense in the end .

So , it is a damn fine film , just not as good as the original . And , i could be wrong , but some of the techniques utilized in B 2 seem to be commonplace in studio horror now , can't really explain it , but when i check it out again , i'll prob have a better idea about what i mean . Has something to do with the style .

[mcfab]

I remember when the first film came out, i was in 6th grade and there was massive hype amungst us juniors who believed the whole thing was real...please refrain from laughter hehe.

WEll book of shadows as on the other night, on early morning tv and yeh i did actually enjoy it. It was dark and i was home alone so i needed something to do, this did the job quite admirably.

Very suprising

[William Munny]

I was glad to see a thread up that praised this one, as opposed to ripping it to shreds (as most were quick to do when it first came out).

As someone pointed out earlier, the film has a high replay value, and everytime I come back to it I seem to pick up something new.

I really dig it's look and feel, too. Dark as hell.

[Draccoca]

I really liked this movie as well, I don't know how many times I've seen it now but it's really high and I alwats catch something new, I'm still looking for the hidden images and trying to figure what they mean. I've heard rumours of a third one, but nothing much more.

[Elgyn]

Originally posted by Draccoca
I'm still looking for the hidden images and trying to figure what they mean.


I think the whole deal with the "hidden images" was just sorta a gimmick.
I don`t think it really "means" anything, sad to say.:(

A long time ago, I actually figured out the whole 'sentence' you`re supposed to piece together, and entered it into the website. I forget what the website showed you as a 'reward', but it was really lame and meaningless.

[MisledYouth439]

I enjoyed this sequel mostly as a stand alone film because it didn't go into any more detail about the blair witch and the curse and whatnot, the characters just went into the woods where the ghost hangs around, and they partied. Weird shit happens and they wake up not having a clue as to what happened the night before, now the movie did make you think about what the hell was goin on and that's mostly what kept me interested, that and the dark images and all around dark feel to the movie. At best i'll think of this movie as an unofficial sequel, but still enjoyed it.

[SonnyVanHelsing]

Preach on, preach on! I thought it was great, and effectively disturbing. And, you can argue either way whether there was supernatural interference or if they were all bugfuck crazy

[William Munny]

Originally posted by SonnyVanHelsing
Preach on, preach on! I thought it was great, and effectively disturbing. And, you can argue either way whether there was supernatural interference or if they were all bugfuck crazy

That's the beauty of the whole thing, and that's exactly what Joe Berlinger was going for. However, the film (and Berlinger's vision) were comprimised by the execs at Artisan.

From IMDB:

"Unhappy with Joe Berlinger's version of the film, Artisan opted to re-shoot certain scenes to add more "traditional" horror movie elements and re-cut the movie to make it more commercial. Berlinger repeatedly states on the DVD commentary that he doesn't like the changes that were made and that they ruin the ambiguous tone of the plot."

This all makes me wonder what the original cut was like. I doubt we'll ever see it, though.

[X-Nightcrawler]

Are you kidding? This is one of the best (if not the best) mindfucks out there. It beats the living CRAP out of the first. Fantastic characterizations, atmopsheric, great directing, great acting, gore and titties, a great twist, a nice story and overly a great way to show how fucked we can get because of the media.

I'm tempted to say 10/10 but minor plot inconcistencies and MINOR acting issues (the Sheriff totally pissed me off) pull it back. Great, fantastic horror movie.

[Elgyn]

Originally posted by William Munny


This all makes me wonder what the original cut was like. I doubt we'll ever see it, though.


From what I understand, there were two major changes:

1. The opening-credits song was changed to the Marilyn Manson tune, instead of "It`s Witchcraft" by Frank Sinatra.

2. Quick-shots of gore in the opening credits (and other points in the movie) were added-in much to Berlinger`s dismay.. Though personally, I think the quick-shots of gore added to the dread-filled atmosphere the movie put out.

[VincentPrice]

Three simple words sum up this film for me.



Erica Leerhsen naked.

Need I say more?

[normanbatesjr]

Originally posted by VincentPrice
Three simple words sum up this film for me.



Erica Leerhsen naked.

Need I say more?
Would've liked to see the Goth chick get naked as well. :D

But yeah, very underrated flick.

[heavy!!!]

i certainly didnt hate this movie but i dont think it was underated it was seen at the time as a poor sequel to the Blair Which Project and it was a poor sequel. It didnt link itself with the original well at all and with a little tweaking could have been a seperate entity based on a different legend. i think then the film would have been judged on it own merits. It also kinda ruined the whole backstory around the original hence a prequel movie regarding the history of the Rustin Parr et al will now seem redundant.

It basically killed the BW but as a movie on its own it certainly has merits of it own, i kinda feel bad for the director as it was his first movie!

[happy_killmore]

I liked it, its alot more fun to watch (more replay value) than the first IMHO

[Joshmo]

Outdoes the shitfest original in every aspect.... tone, acting, storyline, cinematography, supernatural and psychological aspect... this is up there with Session 9 for people who like shocks AND thinking at the same time.

[wheresdonnie?]

Wow. I've never actually seen the film but assumed I wasn't missing anything because of all the negative publicity. But judging by the opinions given by you guys, maybe I'll check it out.

[heavy!!!]

The movie was ok but no way as good as the original and it was certainly no Session 9.

[jagged halo]

Book Of Shadows worked better for me as it didn't rely on the ridiculous hype of it's predecessor it's a film not an overblown piece of cinematic bullshit. Blair Witch is an appalling movie, it's seem to have garnered recognition because it was filmed using a couple of hand held camcorders, big deal, does this excuse the flimsy story line then? One of the most overrated horror movies of our time, for sure.

[heavy!!!]

I have to disagree the original movie had a lot of good and well thought out back story, especially, the mini programs aired around the time of its release and on the DVD fleshing out the mythology, Ellie Kedgewick and Rustin Parr etc.

But i think that was one of the main things about The blair Witch it divided audiences my brother who is a real horror freak like myself thought it was dog shit, and generally we like the same movies!!!