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[Review] ‘Blair Witch’ is a Horror Game-changer That Will Completely Wreck You

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Images courtesy of Lionsgate

It’s impossible to know when the next big thing is coming, but I always know it when I see it.

Since its inception in 2001, Bloody Disgusting has been a driving force of the hype behind of all of the game-changers, whether it be the rise of J-horror with Gore Verbinski’s The Ring, “torture” films like James Wan’s SAW, or found-footage with Oren Peli’s Paranormal Activity. Now, producers from all three (Roy Lee, Lionsgate, Steven Schneider, respectively) have aligned to resurrect The Blair Witch Project, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez’s seminal horror film that introduced found-footage to the masses in 1999.

Our beloved genre has been in an endless funk, and there’s bizarre irony to the notion that a found-footage sequel to the film that gave birth to the subgenre is our savior. Talk about coming full circle.

Found-footage is basically a precursor to virtual reality, so it’s not all that surprising that you’ll see a resurgence in the next few years. But what many filmmakers will miss is that viewers will be embracing this approach not because of the first-person perspective, but because of the emotional experience.

This brings us to Blair Witch (shot under the pseudonym The Woods), Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett’s* assault on the senses that will leave many viewers shaken to the core.

Theatergoers will need not to have seen The Blair Witch Project or its sequel, Book of Shadows, to enjoy Blair Witch. Barrett keeps everything in canon while using the original film’s mythology against the viewer.

In Blair Witch, a new tape is discovered on the outskirts of the woods where Heather Donahue and her crew went missing years ago. It looks as if Heather is still alive, so her brother assembles a crew (with the aid of two locals) to document their search for her. After setting up camp, bizarre things begin to transpire, many of which also happened in the first film.

THE WOODS | via Lionsgate

Here’s the thing about Blair Witch that’s a bit of a spoiler – this is your only warning – Wingard and Barrett are magicians using sleight of hand to distract the audience. It’s pretty clear that the duo know a lot of horror fans were disappointed or underwhelmed by The Blair Witch Project and its finale (no disrespect intended). This film pretends to be that, and while the audience believes more and more that they’re watching a quasi-remake of the original, Wingard and Barrett are preparing a third act twist that’s as intense as any horror film has ever been.

Blair Witch won’t affect seasoned horror fans (as much), but rest assured that it will destroy everyone else. This film will hurt people. It’s the emotional experience that transcends traditional narrative storytelling and ascends to a place of Nirvana. What I mean by this is that, whether they can verbalize it or not, moviegoers understand the basic structure to a story. So, while someone watching Blair Witch may think they know what’s going to happen next, they don’t. The film breaks the mold of traditional horror and pushes the boundaries to the absolute brink.

While the complete annihilation of the narrative will throw viewers for a loop, Wingard sucker-punches them with a flurry of the most intense and jarring sound design in the history of horror, which is going to leave many viewers rattled. The sound is simply one of the many well-designed “props” in this relentless funhouse of terror thats coup de grâce is the claustrophobic tunnel sequence that will have everyone squirming for the exits.

Some will laud it, others will loathe it, but make no mistake: Blair Witch is that game-changer horror fans desperately have been waiting for. It will usher in a new breed of genre films that are targeted at creating an emotional experience above all else. “Scary” is probably an understatement as this may just be the first film since The Exorcist that will leave younger audiences scarred for life.

*Full disclosure: Both V/H/S films were produced by Bloody Disgusting.

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Horror movie fanatic who co-founded Bloody Disgusting in 2001. Producer on Southbound, V/H/S/2/3/94, SiREN, Under the Bed, and A Horrible Way to Die. Chicago-based. Horror, pizza and basketball connoisseur. Taco Bell daily. Franchise favs: Hellraiser, Child's Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Scream and Friday the 13th. Horror 365 days a year.

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‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ Adds “Chucky” Actor Teo Briones and More to Lead Cast

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Chucky Actor Teo Briones
Pictured: Teo Briones in "Chucky" Season Two

The Final Destination franchise is returning to life with Final Destination: Bloodlines. With filming now underway, THR reports that three actors have joined the lead cast, including “Chucky” actor Teo Briones.

Brec Bassinger (“Stargirl”) and Kaitlyn Santa Juana (The Friendship Game) join Teo Briones, who played Junior Wheeler in season two of “Chucky,” as the leads in the sixth installment of the horror franchise.

Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein (Freaks) are directing the fresh installment that also includes Richard Harmon (“The 100”, Grave Encounters 2), Anna Lore, Owen Patrick Joyner, Max Lloyd-Jones (The Book Of Boba Fett), Rya Kihlstedt (Obi Wan Kenobi), and Tinpo Lee (The Manor) among the cast.

Production is now underway in Vancouver.

What can we expect from the upcoming Final Destination 6? Speaking with Collider, franchise creator Jeffrey Reddick offered up an intriguing (and mysterious) tease last year.

“This film dives into the film in such a unique way that it attacks it from a different angle so you don’t feel like, ‘Oh, there’s an amazing setup and then there’s gonna be one wrinkle that can potentially save you all that you have to kind of make a moral choice about or do to solve it.’ There’s an expansion of the universe that – I’m being so careful,” Reddick teased.

Reddick continued, “It kind of unearths a whole deep layer to the story that kind of, yes, makes it really, really interesting.”

Final Destination: Bloodlines is written by Lori Evans Taylor (“Wicked Wicked Games”) and Guy Busick (Scream), with Jon Watts (Spider-Man: No Way Home) producing.

Producers on the new movie for New Line Cinema also include Dianne McGunigle (Cop Car) as well as Final Destination producers Craig Perry and Sheila Hanahan Taylor.

This will be the sixth installment in the hit franchise, and the first in over ten years. Each film centers on “Death” hunting down young friends who survive a mass casualty event.

The latest entry is expected in 2025, coinciding with the original film’s 25th anniversary.

 

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