MM D: Adam Wingard. U.S. 89 min. Sep 11, midnight, Ryerson Sep 15, 4:45 pm, Scotiabank 2. Rating: NNNN
Director Wingard and screenwriter Simon Barrett (You’re Next, The Guest) apply their savvy genre sensibility to found-footage horror. Working in secret, they made a direct sequel to Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez’s The Blair Witch Project that playfully deconstructs its source while also reminding you how potent it was.
Set in 2014, the new movie follows James (James Allen McCune), kid brother of the ill-fated Heather, who’s never stopped looking for his sister. When a YouTube clip suggests she’s still alive in the woods outside Burkittsville, James and a few friends – including film student Lisa (Callie Hernandez) – outfit themselves with lightweight cameras and set out to find her.
Wingard and Barrett use advances in camera technology (earpiece cameras, drones, smartphones, etc) to create a more sophisticated experience that still honours the original film, and they do some very clever stuff with the mythology of the series while delivering the requisite jump scares and atmospheric tension.
If there has to be another Blair Witch movie, this is the way to do it.
