Curious about the fact that Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 was in no way referenced in the new film, I asked the filmmaker what he considered to be part of the larger universe going forward, and he explained in great detail: It is a shame that they had to make this film as it won't satisfy those who like their horror creepy or those who like it bloody.The continuity of the Blair Witch franchise was something I talked about at length with screenwriter Simon Barrett a few weeks when I had the chance to interview him over the phone. Sadly the originally good idea doesn't scare and remains `interesting' and nothing more. By throwing in gore from the very start and having tonnes of little imagined scenes of horror, Book of Shadows loses that strength and becomes a movie that lives and dies on it's ability to scare. As you may have guessed I'm not a big fan of teen slasher movies but Blair Witch was much more than that and traded on atmosphere that was it's strength. At least in the original we got to see them break down and become more afraid during the film here they could be the cast from any teen horror movie. The cast don't really help either, they don't come across as real people and it is hard to care for such as self important group of people who are walking stereotypes the goth, the witch, the college boy etc. The direction is very plain and doesn't manage to build an air of suspense anywhere near as well as in the original, resulting in a rather boring series of scenes punctuated by `scares' that don't work. It was a shame as it was a clever idea and had some good bits in it but the delivery let it down. The gore and flashed edits of violence were supposed to keep us guessing I think but they only served to numb me to the film, as did the occasional dream/fantasy sequence. They didn't work as the film felt very trashy and uninvolving. For most of the film it is noisy chat and fake surprises and creepy goings-on. The twists are the end are meant to be horrifying and perhaps surprising but by then all they got out of me was an `oh' of vague interest. The plot is interesting interesting enough to keep me watching anyway. Sadly this didn't last very long and it wasn't long before it became quite an ordinary film that wasn't creepy in any way and was actually quite dull. Conceptually this was quite clever and I was drawn in by it. Initially I was impressed by the idea, instead of following the original movie, the sequel twists the idea of the original as a documentary and presents it as a film but then uses the film to present another story that is `in the real world'. Undeterred by bad reviews I decided to watch this film on television the other night. However as they replay the video tape they notice some very weird things. When they awake the next morning to find their camera equipment smashed, 5 hours unaccounted for and their film hidden in the same spot as the film from the original movie they are unsure what happened. One such group books onto a `Blair Witch Hunt' tour to camp in the woods and see the sights. Attracted by the film `The Blair Witch Project' hoards of film fans have been pouring into the small town of the film.
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