This is the film that really started the big swing of docu-style horror films, and I think it was a stroke of genius. Nothing spells fear more than something that feels personal - something that feels like it could happen to you.
I saw this film originally in the theaters, and because I was a big nerd I knew the backstory or how they made the film, but I was in a theatre packed with a lot of people who actually believed some of the rogue marketing and thought that they were watching a real found-footage film - and oh how delightful that was for me - and I think that's a lot of why I still adore this film: it did what the best films do and created a sense of magic around itself. The marketing campaign was simply brilliant, and would be hard to do again now. Bless them for taking a golden opportunity. Shame the filmmakers haven't really lived up to what they showed talent for here.
The story is simple: a young filmmaker wants to make a documentary about a witch in a small community - and while traveling through the woods to the locations she was said to haunt the threesome of filmmakers get lost, and never return. And this is the footage they recorded whilst in there. Very interesting stuff. If you've never seen it give it a go. Again, you kind of need the pop culture reference for this one - and at this point it's film history. Bizarre.
p.s. the image at the top from the film was etched into my brain for DAYS after I saw this the first time....
No comments:
Post a Comment