Blair Witch2016

The movie is as good a Blair Witch film as anyone could have faithfully delivered.

Conceptually I don’t think found footage films have aged well. It was charming back in the nineties as a different way of storytelling but not when everyone has an iPhone or whatever the concept of camcorders and finding the footage is badly dated. The shaky camera was especially nauseating to me in the first half. Story wise it’s a sequel but the formula is identical to the original, albeit greatly finessed. That’s not a bad thing as the production quality is greatly improved with a more refined pace, incredible sound design and more supernatural shenanigans. This is the best of the franchise but that is not saying much as they are all distinctly unremarkable. But that previous sentence is saying a lot about the excellent marketing of the first film without which I would never be writing this review. Credit to the film, it held my attention, had the best claustrophobia scene I’ve ever seen and at least it’s better than Slender Man (2018), well everything is better than that.

Above all, Blair Witch is a triumph of sound design. The cracks, crunches and rumbles from deep in the woods enhance a terror that’s pierced only by the beam of a flashlight.