Movies
Here’s What the ‘Blair Witch Project’ Co-creator Thinks of the Sequel…
Back in 1999 Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick’s The Blair Witch Project became a box office smash, and has since been widely considered one of the scariest movies ever made, as well as the Godfather of found-footage.
In just under a month, Lionsgate is to release Blair Witch, a surprise sequel that was directed by Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett, who previously collaborated with Sanchez on V/H/S/2. And while we’re huge fans here on Bloody Disgusting, I think every horror fan wants to know what the creators of The Blair Witch think about it.
Sanchez joined the Found Footage Files podcast where he explained just how good he thinks it is, likening it turning everything “up to 11.”
“It’s just full-blast ‘Blair Witch’,” he explained. “It’s really creepy and the last third is just crazy. It’s just all over the place. It just does not let you go, you know? I’m really happy to have been a part of it… it kind of progresses the found-footage genre a little bit which I think is really cool.”
He continues: “It’s really, really well grounded in the original. And I think that the fans of the original will get a lot out of it. It’s kind of a recognizable…it’s almost like you’ve been, like kind of a deja vu, but then it turns into just a — like I said, it kinda takes our film and blows the doors off and goes nuts with it, in a really really good way.”
He’s not kidding, here’s a blurb from my review:
” ‘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.”
In Adam Wingard’s Blair Witch, “A group of college students venture into the Black Hills Forest in Maryland to uncover the mysteries surrounding the disappearance of James’ sister who many believe is connected to the legend of the Blair Witch. At first the group is hopeful, especially when a pair of locals offer to act as guides through the dark and winding woods, but as the endless night wears on, the group is visited by a menacing presence. Slowly, they begin to realize the legend is all too real and more sinister than they could have imagined.“
James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez, Brandon Scott, Valorie Curry, Corbin Reid, and Wes Robinson star.
Blair Witch will destroy audiences on September 16th.
[Related] Why ‘Blair Witch’ is so Important and Exciting to so Many People
Released by Eli Roth’s label The Horror Section last year, Joe Begos (VFW, Christmas Bloody Christmas) horror movie Jimmy and Stiggs is getting an official spinoff movie.
Variety reports that director Sebastián De Caro has acquired the Argentine spin-off rights to Jimmy and Stiggs from The Horror Section, and he’s not planning a straight up remake.
“The film will follow new characters facing the same extraterrestrial threat in Argentina, expanding the universe Begos created into new territory,” Variety details in their report.
Eli Roth and Joe Begos will Executive Produce the upcoming spinoff movie.
“Working with Eli Roth and Joe Begos is an incredibly exciting adventure,” De Caro said. “Jimmy and Stiggs struck me as a brilliant kind of madness — it blew my mind with its energy and humor — and the chance to expand that universe in my own country is the biggest creative challenge I’ve ever taken on.”
Eli Roth said in a statement shared by Variety this afternoon, “Horror is truly global, and any story can be applied to local culture. I cannot wait to see how this film honors and expands the universe of a wildly original film by the one and only Joe Begos.”
Meanwhile, you can watch Joe Begos’ Jimmy and Stiggs on Digital outlets now. The drug-fueled, neon-soaked alien invasion splatterfest is written and directed by Begos, who shot the film in his apartment during the pandemic.
A perfect storm of lousy news sees out-of-work filmmaker Jimmy spiral into a bender, during which he claims to have been abducted by aliens. Fearing their return, he contacts his old friend Stiggs to help him gear up for war. Begos stars alongside Matt Mercer (Contracted), practical alien puppets, and a whole lot of gore captured on 16mm film.
Daniel Kurland wrote in his review, “The world needs more playful, gonzo small-scale-yet-apocalyptic horror films like Jimmy and Stiggs. It’s a movie that has constant tricks on display and perpetually sprays blood in the audience’s face, but there’s an earnest center to it all.”
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