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8 Things You Should Know Before Seeing ‘Blair Witch’

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Blair Witch

The sequel to The Blair Witch Project was released this weekend and apparently many of you either hated it or just chose not to go see it. As you know, many of us (but not all of us) here at Bloody Disgusting were huge fans of the film, but that’s the beauty of opinions, right? Everybody’s got one.

As evidenced by it’s opening weekend take of $9.6 million (almost double its production budget but nowhere near what it needed to make to cover all the money Lionsgate spent marketing the film), horror fans did not turn out in droves to see Blair Witch like so man analysts predicted they would. Perhaps it was all of the negative reviews that started pouring in for it late last week, or the D+ CinemaScore it received from audiences (though it should be noted that the original received a C+ CinemaScore back in 1999), but for some reason people just did not want to go see this movie.

For those of you that didn’t make it to the theater this weekend, but are still considering seeing the film, I decided to help refresh your memory on the mythology of the Blair Witch franchise. The original came out 17 years ago, so you’d be forgiven if your memory is a little fuzzy. 

1. The Blair Witch’s name is Elly Kedward.

Kedward was accused of witchcraft in 1785 and was sentenced to execution. Rather than hang her, the residents of Blair (now Burkittsville), Maryland took her out into the woods and tied her to a tree. She was left to die of exposure. Despite being tied to a tree, her body was never found.

Blair Witch

2. She has a penchant for killing children.

Turns out the townsfolk were right about Kedward, but they royally pissed her off by executing her. Of course, she didn’t die, and instead continued to sneak into town and kidnap the children of the parents who sentenced her (she’s basically a female Freddy Krueger but without the dream powers). The children were never seen again, unless you count all of the handprints in Rustin Parr’s house (more on that in a bit).

Blair Witch

3. Five men were ritualistically murdered at Coffin Rock.

In 1886 a young girl named Robin Weaver went missing. She returned to town three days later, unharmed, and told the residents that the witch was capable of floating in the air. Her feet never touched the ground. The search party that went looking for Robin consisted of five men. Those men were ritualistically murdered at Coffin Rock in the woods. Their bodies were found nude, tied together and disemboweled with Pagan symbols carved into their foreheads. A different search party found their bodies and then went to get help. When they returned, the men’s bodies had disappeared.

Blair Witch

4. In the 1940s, the Blair Witch made Rustin Parr murder seven children.

Parr is the most famous victim of the witch’s powers. Parr was a hermit who kidnapped eight children and brought them back to his house in the woods. He would bring two of the children into his basement and murder one of them while making the other stand in the corner and face the wall. He only left one alive, a young boy named Kyle Brody. Parr claimed that he did all of this under the orders of the Blair Witch. She eventually told him that she would release him if he went into town and told everyone what he did, so that is exactly what happened. He was tried and hanged, and the parents of his victims went and burned down his house.

Blair Witch

5. Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard disappeared in the October of 1994.

Heather, Michael and Josh were three college students who went into the Black Hills to film a documentary on the Blair Witch. The last footage of Michael was of him standing in the corner just like Rustin Parr’s victims (see above image). All three students disappeared and were never seen again, but their footage was found one year later and is the subject of the 1999 film The Blair Witch Project. 2016’s Blair Witch will follow Heather’s brother James as he heads into the woods with his friends to try to find his sister almost 20 years after she disappeared.

Blair Witch

6. The Blair Witch is said to be half human and half animal.

This is one of the goofier aspects of the legend, but a woman living in Burkittsville in 1994 told Heather Donahue and her two cameramen that she had seen the witch before. She claimed that the witch was a hairy beast, and not fully human at all.

7. The Blair Witch uses cairns mark her victims for death.

Cairns are just piles of stones typically used as burial monuments. Heather, Michael and Josh came upon seven cairns when they were filming their documentary, signifying the graves of the seven children that Rustin Parr murdered. The next day they found three cairns at their campsite, letting them know that the witch had marked them for death.

Blair Witch

8. The Blair Witch uses stick figures to warn her victims that she is coming for them.

Not much is known about the stick figures that the witch hangs in the trees of the Black Hills, but it seems to be a warning to travelers in the woods. It could also be that they are voodoo dolls of some sort, as evidenced by a rather spoiler-y moment in the trailer for the new film.

Blair Witch

A journalist for Bloody Disgusting since 2015, Trace writes film reviews and editorials, as well as co-hosts Bloody Disgusting's Horror Queers podcast, which looks at horror films through a queer lens. He has since become dedicated to amplifying queer voices in the horror community, while also injecting his own personal flair into film discourse. Trace lives in Austin, TX with his husband and their two dogs. Find him on Twitter @TracedThurman

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

LEPRECHAUN

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

LEPRECHAUN RETURNS sequel

Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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