Blair Witch 2016 Spoiler Free Movie Review

Set 20 years after the events of the first film, Lisa; a film maker, is making a documentary on ambiguous loss where one of her subjects is James whos older sister Heather went missing along with two of her friends while camping in the woods. James comes across some footage on YouTube that has been recently found in the woods which he believes shows his sister. Lisa and James along with two other friends go into the woods hoping to find more clues related to what happened to Heather...

The announcement of Blair Witch came as a shock to many horror fans, especially the ones who had been following the developments of Adam Wingard's new film The Woods which was revealed as Blair Witch at it's first screening at Comic Con. This is a direct sequel to the first movie and rightfully ignores The Book of Shadows.
I got to see this as a mystery movie at the cinema. I was so happy when I saw the title as you may know I loved the first film and been looking forward to seeing this since it's announcement. I have to say I wasn't disappointed with this sequel however I wasn't blown away either.

The movie has some faults and the biggest problem I had was with the acting at the beginning of the movie. It felt like the actors was acting and not giving a natural improvised performance which was done so well in the first movie. I will point out that the acting got better as the film went on but I would have liked the characters to be believable from the start.
My other problem was that there was also a large amount of unnecessary jump scares. I'm a sucker for jump scares, they get me every time and I don't mind them but this movie had many of times when it was just the main characters coming out of a bush or just standing there when a swinging camera locks on to them.

There are many positives about the film which I won't go into to keep it spoiler free but I will say where this film succeeds and will be remembered for is the final 30 minutes. You will witness one of the most intense sequences that lasts for half an hour without a break for a breather. You will be begging for the movie to end just to get your heart rate down to an acceptable rhythm again.

If you are a fan of the first movie then you should enjoy this. It goes over territory which you will be familiar with from the first film and expands on the myths. If you didn't like the first film and I appreciate The Blair Witch Project is the Marmite of horror movies then there is nothing here for you.

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The Blair Witch Project 1999 Revisited

It’s been 17 years since The Blair Witch Project graced our screens and with the upcoming sequel I thought now's a good time to revisit the granddaddy of found footage movies.

Sure there were found footage movies before The Blair Witch Project but none of them kick started the sub-genre the way The Blair Witch Project did. Cannibal Holocaust incorporated found footage in the movie and was very and still is very controversial but it never opened the floodgates for the influx of found footage movies that followed The Blair Witch Project.

The main reason there are so many found footage movies now is down to the success of The Blair Witch Project. Made with a budget of only $60,000 Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick managed to make a whopping £248.6 million worldwide.

Now I can’t talk about The Blair Witch Project and not mention the brilliant and never duplicated marketing campaign. The movie was advertised as the actual found footage of three film student Heather, Joshua and Michael who went missing while filming a documentary on the Blair Witch. They created a whole folklore surrounding the Blair Witch which was turned into a TV documentary which broadcasted just before the film’s release. The TV documentary had interviews with relatives of the missing students, local residents, investigators and even historians. So I don’t mind saying I went into that movie as a 14 year old thinking it was actual found footage and that the Blair Witch had a real place in history.

What also contributed to my naivety was the book by D. A. Stern called The Blair Witch Project A Dossier. The book includes The legends, myths and facts surrounding the Blair Witch, links to Rustin Parr, interviews with the victims' friends and families and Heather's journals which was supposedly found with the footage.

Having absorbed all the background information I could find on the Blair Witch (and missing the crucial fact it was all made up) I was ready for the movie and I remeber loving it. It scared the shit out of me. It was different to anything I had ever seen and any horror that was released at the time. The way it told the story being part documentary part first person horror without any music score was a work of genius.

It was a bout a week later when I found out the whole story was made up and I was still impressed. Even though I had been had big time I was still able to part take in the whole Blair Witch experience the way the makers wanted it to be experienced and I can't see a movie giving me that overall experience again.

The question now is does it stand the test of time? With only having it on DVD I gave it a recent watch and even though I've seen the movie many times over the years I am still impressed with it. The picture quality makes it a product of its time, I haven't seen a Blu-Ray version so don't know if the picture has had an upgrade but it looks like it was made in the 90's by film students which is exactly the way it should look. They didn't have IPhones with HD cameras back then so I would be disappointed if they enhance the footage. The acting and script can't be faulted apart from the whole kicking the map in the lake situation but I did enjoy the fallout that followed. There's also little moments I have only just picked up on that impressed me like the part Heather is discussing editing suggestions on footage they shot that day.

The scares still have the same impact, who isn't going to shit themselves if while camping in the middle of nowhere you hear children playing during the middle of the night? I still love the end scene in the house with the handprints on the wall and the cameras just being knocked out of their hands and not showing the witch just adds to the mystery.

I can easily say that The Blair Witch Project is one of my best horror movies, not for the film itself but the whole experience it created at that moment in time. I look forward to when my children are old enough to watch it and I'll try and sell it to them as a true story, I'll dig out the book and watch the documentary to try and create the same experience I went through before they watch the actual movie.

Review: Marvelry's Curiosity Shop

Marvelry's Curiosity Shop by John Brhel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What a great age we live in when you can be contacted on Twitter and asked to review a book by someone on the other side of the planet, which is then sent directly to your Kindle ready for you to read.

You can argue all day regarding the pros and cons of e-readers but you can't deny that it has given aspiring writers a platform to have their work published and access to a worldwide audience.

Marvelry's Curiosity Shop by Brhel and Sullivan is a collection of 12 short stories all based on cursed items sold by Marvelry; a retired magician who now owns an antique shop.

The stories are all varied in the way the items haunt their new owners, some work out ok for the customer and others don't have such a happy ending.

The stories seem to lack any tension for them to be classed as scary and are over to quickly which is a shame as there are some great ideas in these stories and I love the central connection with Marvelry who you get to know more with each story. I also love the artwork on the cover, I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover but you should give credit when it's due.

I'm confident Brhel and Sullivan will only get better with their craft and I look forward to future releases.

3/5

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The Conjuring 2 Movie Review

How many times have you gone into the sequel fearing it won't be as good as the first? Well you have nothing to fear here... that's not totally true; you do have something to fear here you have a lot to fear with The Conjuring 2 which I believe is far better than the first one.

James Wan really pulls out the scares in the follow up to his 2013 The Conjuring. The story focuses on the Enfield haunting. Set in 1977 London, England; Peggy Hodgson is a single mum of five children who asks for help after she believes her youngest daughter Janet maybe possessed. Ed and Lorraine Warren are sent to investigate.

Not only am I impressed with the scares in the film which come in the form of jump scares and slow burn tension building I am really impressed with the way James Wan recreates England in the 70's. For someone that isn't even from the country I have to give credit for the amount of research that must have gone into this project to get the feeling right.

The movie has a great cast with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprising their roles as Lorraine and Ed Warren; they are joined with great performances by Frances O'Connor who plays Peggy Hodgson, Lauren Esposito who plays Margaret Hodgson and the stand out performance from Madison Wolfe as Janet Hodgson.

When it comes to real life hauntings like the story this film is based on I am somewhat of a sceptic, I don't believe in ghost so in order for me to enjoy a film that is advertised as the true story from the case files of the Warrens I have to try really hard to turn the sceptic side of my brain off and enjoy it for what it is... Which is one of the most scariest films I've seen in a long time.

5/5

Excited For The New Ghostbusters Movie

As we are only weeks away from the release of the new Ghostbusters movie I want to put it out there how excited I am for it.

Growing up in the 80s and 90s; Ghostbusters was a big part of my life. I collected all the toys (which I wish I kept in the original packaging now), watched all the cartoons and can't count how many times I've seen the movies.

I remember the second movie coming out and was so excited with the build up; all the promotional gifts that you got with kid meals at Burger King, the comic series where the second movie was told with the characters from the Real Ghostbusters and all the other promotions I tried to squeeze my mum and dad for. I remeber loving the 2nd film and although it doesn't stand the test of time I loved it as a kid and still do now.

I've been waiting and waiting for a third Ghostbuster movie and after a lot of false starts with certain actors not wanting to take part we finally got a computer game which most of the cast took part in and it now stands in for me as the third movie. The cut scenes and music really make it special and I truly enjoyed it.

When the reboot was announced I was sad that the third film was never going to happen but I managed to get over it. When I saw the trailer I can see why they had to reboot and got excited for it.

Ghostbusters is a family film and although I would have loved to see the original cast taking their original roles on the big screen that movie would be aimed at me and people aged 30 plus. I'm not sure my children (boy 8 and girl 4) would take to four men older than their grandparents being chased by ghosts. Even if the original cast only had a bit part where they introduced new recruits you still have a huge gap to explain what the ghostbusters have been doing since the last movie. Where do you go from having a giant Marshmallow Man attacking New York and then taking the Statue Of Liberty for a walk? I think if a third movie was ever going to work and be a big money success it should had been made at least 15 to 20 years ago.

I'm going to go into the reboot with an open mind and if I love it I will write a review about it. If I hate it then you won't hear another word about it from me as I like to give recommendations not shit all over someone's work.

One thing the new movie will never be able to do is change any of the memories and love I felt and still feel for the original movies. I just hope it creates the same joy for my children as the original did for me.

Review: Blood Harvest

Blood Harvest by S.J. Bolton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Welcome to Heptonclough! A small village in the Pennines. If you're into ghostly sightings, creepy folklore, missing children and pagan rituals then this is the place for you.

This is the third book from Sharon Bolton  (known as S J Bolton when initially released) who has gone on to release a further six books plus some short stories.

The story starts in a graveyard where a landslide due to heavy rainfall has unearthed a childs grave who must have been having a sleepover as two extra bodies where found along with the gave's supposedly only occupier.

The story then goes back a few months and follows Harry Laycock the new town vicar, the Fletcher family who has recently moved into the area, Evi Oliver a Psychiatrist who is concerned for one of her patients from Heptonclough that goes for walks along the moors looking for her daughter who died in a house fire and numerous other supporting characters that contribute to the build up for a great whodunit that will keep you guessing right till the end. I love the amount of twists that Sharon Bolton throws into this story. My wife who is better than me at calling out a killer also got this wrong.

Although I love horror stories and movies I don't believe in the supernatural so I would like to point out the genius way Sharon Bolton creates a supernatural environment and later explains what caused it.

What I loved the most about Blood Harvest is the location. Now I might be a bit biased with this opinion as it is set very close to where I use to live. Although Heptonclough is a made up place the surrounding area is very real and Sharon Bolton captured it perfectly. I loved the references to The Witch Way bus service which is a real bus service, Rawtenstall Market and other local references that I couldn't help but smile when I came about them.

Sharon Bolton is a gifted author who has created a very enjoyable book with relatable characters that covers some very dark human behaviour where you feel a real sense of danger for the children involved.

4.5 / 5


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Review: HEX

HEX by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's been a long time since a book has creeped me out this much. At some points while reading I kept thinking the witch was stood at the side watching me read which is when you know the book is doing what the author planned out to do. So I would like to thank Hodderscape for sending me this book and for the nightmares.

Hex is the worldwide debut from Thomas Olde Heuvelt having already had success in Holland with 5 novels Hex is the frist to be translated into English. However this isn't a straight translation, Thomas went back and rewritten the whole book to give it an American setting.

I think the set up is brilliant. The residents of a small town in the the state of New York called Black Spring are under the curse of a 17th century witch called Katherine, The Black Rock Witch. If you were born there or moved there you can't leave. If you spend any extended amount of time away from Black Spring; say a two week vacation you become suicidal and must return or your suicidal tendencies will get the better of you. Katherine whos arms are chained and eyes and mouth are sewn shut has full access to the town; she is seen walking the streets, the woods and she can also appear in your house stay as long as it suites her then disappear again. The town is under strict rules and a high tech surveillance team called HEX who monitors Katherines movements and keep a watch on the residents and outsiders as Katherine is their secret and they can't risk outsiders getting involved as opening her mouth or eyes will be devastating. Unfortunately for the rest of the town a group of teenagers are sick of the restricted life and plan to make Katherine viral.

Thomas Olde Heuvelt has demonstrated the great ability of creating a town and making you feel like one of the residents. The story follows multiple characters as they go about their lives in Black Spring and this helps you normalise living with a seventeenth century witch that is haunting your town. Just when the situation becomes normal to you thats when Thomas Olde Heuvelt pulls the rug from underneath you!

Although the story is set in America to me it still has a European feel to it. The town feels older than the USA actually is. I would be more than willing to read the original story if it ever gets translated into English just to see how much has been changed. But don't let that put you off as this is a real page turner even when you want to cover your eyes cause you can feel the witch is watching you.

I look forward to more from Thomas Olde Heuvelt hopefully we won't have to wait long for his other releases to be translated.

4.5/5

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