Home Entertainment You review THE BLAIR WITCH: A surprisingly fun watch

You review THE BLAIR WITCH: A surprisingly fun watch

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Last night was our shared screening of the Blair Witch and thanks to you, our readers, what a fun night it was! I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did, and I certainly didn’t expect to see Kervyn covering his face with his ape-like hands! That being said I admit that I was also pretty unsettled throughout most of it, damn, that underground scene…

So let’s see what you all have to say. This time we have a few Youtube clips of you loving and hating the movie as well as the usual few sentences below. We are going to start growing the Youtube space so if you want to get involved like share and say something next time!

Nick Reay:

I must say I went in without much hope for this movie. I watched the first a few weeks ago and it has aged in my opinion (and not in the good way). So I was surprised when I walked out of the cinema grinning like a Cheshire cat at how tense I was for the majority of the film! Pretty decent acting, a brilliant sound score mixed with the usual ‘picture of my nose and face screaming’ and boom, a load of fun. A few people made comments that they didn’t like the first person, you have to remember the first movie WAS a first person and tampering with that style would make it very NOT Blair Witch. Personally I think Adam Wingard’s Blair Witch did a good job standing up to the original Blair Witch Project albeit with a much higher budget (this movie cost $5 million to make in comparison to the first, which cost only $60,000 and made a whopping $248.6 million!) I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys found-footage films and horror, just don’t go in expecting anything new (it is literally The Force Awakens of the Blair Witch series) 3/5

Kervyn Cloete:

The original Blair Witch Project was lightning in a bottle. A very creepy bottle. It effectively kickstarted the found-footage horror genre, and through groundbreaking use of viral marketing provided a meta-creepiness that nothing thus far has been able to emulate. And with that in mind, any sequel will essentially be judged inferior. But while this new chapter, directed by The Guest and You’re Next‘s Adam Wingard, may not be breaking any new ground, it sure knows how to convince me to never go camping in the woods EVER. Sure, some jump scares are overwrought and blatantly telegraphed, and there’s a whole superfluous arc involving a character’s injury that serves no purpose other than to make viewers gross out, but when Wingard and co are on point they deliver big. One scene in particular in a tunnel is sure to leave any claustrophics squirming their way backwards right through their seats. All in all, fantastic sound design, great pacing, a storyline that actually gives viewers some credit to piece it together themselves and unrelenting atmosphere make this a worthy follow-up. (3/5)

Tracy Benson:

I don’t do well in horror movies, and I watched most of Blair Witch while hiding behind my hands. What I did manage to see was a fairly decent horror movie. Obviously it’s lost the shock and awe factor of its predecessor, The Blair Witch Project, you can’t repeat an experience like that once it’s happened. The sequel follows the original pretty closely for the most part: jump scares, quick cuts, shaky-cam and oodles of crying and snot bubbles. All the horror movie tropes are present and accounted for, there’s definitely nothing new in that regard. If you’re a fan though, of The Blair Witch Project or horror movies in general, you’re going to love it. I will admit it was a fun movie to watch, purely for the reactions of everyone in the cinema. We all screamed together, there was popcorn flying everywhere from people freaking out, and almost everyone was shouting at the screen with “no, don’t go in there!” and “oh, they’re totally going to die”. (2.5/5)

Andrea Aroomoogam:

I for one must say that the movie was extremely disappointing. I was expecting more. It was hard to watch, all it was for me was blurred images with a lot of screaming. I thought there might even be more to the story line but there wasn’t.

Liza Smith:

Here’s my two-sentence review: You only need to know two things: Do not bother to buy popcorn it will just go flying around; Never get caught in the woods after dark. Ever. Even when you want to look for your missing sister. 3.5/5

Nevlynne Dowman:

Where do I start. Firstly, in my opinion there was hardly any storyline. It was a weak remake and a bad attempt at a horror movie. Secondly, the loud sudden noises failed to scare, it was more distracting than anything else. Lastly, many things were not concluded and just became insignificant. Don’t get me wrong, it had all the elements of a good horror movie, but it didn’t quite come together.
I’d rate it a 1/5.

Sean Izaakse:

The first launched a new genre of horror film, this one was more entertaining but very predictable. Also just torch the forest if you’re the last one to go and take something to defend yourself with when you go into the creepy forest, unlike these guys.

Ruandre Janse Van Rensburg:

The perfect movie to get you into the mood for camping 😛

Nic Gonzalez:

As far as found-footage horror films goes, this was a pretty solid one. While it doesn’t break any ground in terms of offering something brand new to the genre, it did what it was made to do well, which is to build & maintain tension, and then deliver one hell of a scare in the climax. The last 15-20 minutes were pure torture to the anxiety levels, which is exactly what I was hoping for. Apart from a couple of missed opportunities and the clichéd jump-scare popping up fairly often, it was an enjoyable and highly entertaining horror. 3.5/5

Garth Kaestner:

If anything Blair Witch is an ode to the original movie. As a highly niche genre there is only so much that can be done for a ‘found footage’ psychological horror film, and in most cases all the requirements have been met… even if less so on the ‘psychological’ side. The film may not appeal to the traditional horror fan but if you’re after numerous cheap frights and an abundance of frantic panic, then Blair Witch is worth your while. 2.5/5

Cherie Kleynhans:

It was very scary, and a very good movie and I enjoyed it a lot 🙂 The only thing is that is was a bit frustrating because they made it so that everything gives you a fright, even standing on a stick! Which got a bit much! 3/5

Kean Malcolmson

As with most it had its pros and cons; it was definitely enjoyable with the ramped up scares compared to original so still had the wife clutching to me throughout, however I do think they abused the “jump scare” factor a bit much which took away from the overall suspense.  I’m not really a fan of the fact that you actually catch glimpses of the witch. I think part of what made the original great was that you never had that reveal and it was left to the mind. I do like that they had a couple of nods to the original though, was a nice touch. 4/5

Imke Ortmann

I am extremely glad I did not pay actual money to watch it, I don’t know why I was expecting anything better than the first one but I maybe expected some sort of resolution. At the end of the day it was the same movie, just with updated tech available for the idiots going into a haunted forest and a lot more predictable deaths. I feel it had potential, but somehow absolutely nothing new was added. At the end of the day, however, if it wasn’t for the legend sitting next to us who provided the absolute best comic relief I would have walked out half way through. I thoroughly enjoyed the laughing vibe we created and am sorry (not sorry) for whomever we disturbed. Movie: 1/5 Experience: 11/5

Once again thanks to Times Media Films and we hope to see all our readers at the next screening. Remember, we do this for you so if you enjoyed it, let us know!

Last Updated: January 4, 2017

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