Blair Witch (2016) product reviews

I remember working for Princess Cruises when the first Blair Witch came out. I had numerous passengers coming on to the ship telling me all about this 'true story where 3 friends disappeared' and that witches were true. Missing posters were scattered around various locations in the States saying there was a reward for information regarding their disappearance. So naturally when I returned to New Zealand after my assignment was completed, one of the first things I did was go to the movies. Sitting there believing it was entirely true I was wrapped up into the saga wanting answers - oh the days before Google.

I think one of the reasons the first movie was so convincing was because the three actors were unknown. But unfortunately they seemed to have forgotten this selling point as five minutes into the movie I recognized Talia (Valorie Curry) from the Twilight movies, so the illusion was broken straight away. Any falsehood of it even being remotely true were shattered for me right then.

Another area the first one worked (which upset a lot of people and eventually became one of the reasons for its downfall) was because you could hear everything happening. All dialogue was beautifully done and you did not miss anything. With the new version the sound at the beginning was inconsistent so you would have to turn it up at one stage as conversations were being missed but then you were scrambling for the remote to turn it turn as the music would be blaring. It was frustrating to say the least. But as the movie progressed they seem to have forgotten this point anyway and everything seemed to remain at a neutral level.

As with all sequels, they bring new elements into the movie. In this case it was time and the absence of daylight and just the long continuous night time. I personally thought this was completely silly and no real explanation was given. The first time you knew something was amiss was when they woke at 2 pm and then the next time was when the ran into Lane and Talia but then you were not sure if they were just acting. I think they tired to add too many twists with no real reasoning behind it and you were left a tad confused. Also with a majority of the movie being shot in the dark you missed a lot of valuable information and the introduction of Voodoo found me having to rewind the scene just to see what actually happened. I also found most scenes with Lane were rather vague and in the end I was left wandering what his role actually was.

I personally would rather watch the real Blair Witch where you saw the beginning explained with no shaky camera footage and a story that you could really sink your teeth into. Where you got to witness what happened with the children and the blood. The resulting witch trail which ended up in her being tied to a tree followed by her revenge on the children, their families and afterwards the town folk of Blair. I think that would be more convincing then the story I just watched.