Face-Off: Blair Witch vs. Cloverfield

Three student filmmakers trek their way on into the Maryland woods to get to the bottom of a local legend known as the Blair Witch. After questioning a few local residents, they head into the trees with camera in hand, freak occurrences and mind unraveling ensue.


The granddaddy of found footage films, this was a breath of fresh horror air when it came out. Very little information was given about the myth that it focuses on, we were just as much left in the dark as these characters were. Very enthralling story, that was hammered to death throughout the following years.

Slow, but not boring by any stretch of the imagination. We jump right into finding out what this whole local legend is all about, then follow our characters as their lives go from bad to worse. Enough went on with the characters and how they were reacting to their situation that had me hooked enough, not once did I stop giving a sh*t. That said, the films most exciting moments were definitely few and far between.

Not much in terms of all out scares in this film. Maybe it would have been different if I had seen it when it first came out, or shortly thereafter. I became desensitized by all the found footage knock-offs by the time I gave Blair With the time of day. I honestly found the slow deterioration of the sanity of the characters to be more unsettling than the supernatural element. The scene where it’s revealed what happened to the map left me wondering what kind of sh*it the characters were going to pull next. Nothing more scary than what humans are pushed to when they’re put in a situation like this.

Now this is what I’m talking about, by this point business sure picked up. Remember how I said I had actually seen films like the Paranormal Activity trilogy and such before catching this film? Didn’t matter. The final scene in that house was extremely suspenseful for me. Do not know what it was. Less was going on then it felt like, no? Well, there is a reason the woods are a backdrop for a film like this, not a damn thing that these people could do to keep themselves from their fate. Especially without a map. What an idiot.

The official website for the Blair Witch has a bunch of goodies. Delves into the myth of the Blair Witch further (dating all the way back to 1785), in depth profiles of the student filmmakers, the “aftermath” of the events of the film (photos included). It really hammers home the theme of this being a genuine course of events. It took the public by storm. To see what I mean, check out the website here.