Ghost Upon the Floor

      I hadn’t seen “The Blair Witch Project” in a great many years. In compiling the film list for this month, I wanted to cover the proper subjects—for example, vampires, ghosts and witches. When thinking of how I can more properly represent witches, the film occurred to me, and I wanted to see how it held up, given up how controversial it has been, going back all the way to 1999 when it was initially released.

      In 1999, the low budget horror film "The Blair Witch Project" was released. It's legacy would alter the course of popular horror movies for the next nearly two decades. The "found footage" genre went mainstream with the shakily shot film, alleging to have been real, found in the woods. The three people in the movie shown making a documentary of their own on a legend of the Blair Witch, a woman put to death for being a witch in the woods of Maryland, were also real. This was in simpler times, when the Internet did not so easily dispel (or, spread) rumors. The documentary, of course, was fictional, as were the actors, the film and the legend of the Blair Witch.



     However, that did not stop the film from becoming, at the time, one of the most successful independent films of all time, and a national phenomenon. The spirit of the "Blair Witch" would live on in parodies, a hastily produced sequel, and, most importantly, the formation of a genre. While lower budget horror films had experimented with the found footage concept-- where a film or portion of a film is presented as filmed from the characters' point(s) of view-- nothing so cemented the idea, or the effectiveness and bankable nature of the genre, in popular culture like the Blair Witch. While the hastily produced sequel, "Blair Witch: Book of Shadows," abandoned the concept, some of the most popular and successful horror films and franchises-- "Paranormal Activity" and "V/H/S"-- of the last 15 years took the found footage concept and ran with it to great fortune.

"Blair Witch" (2016)

 And so, roughly 17 years later, we have "Blair Witch," a sequel made and initially promoted in secrecy under the title of "The Woods." Nowadays, it is far easier to accomplish the marketing and buzz the original Blair Witch film did in 1999 without the aid of the social media we have today. While the years may have passed, little seems to have changed with how audiences are reacting to "Blair Witch." Critically and in terms of general audience opinion, the flick seems to have divided viewers. Some see it as an updated twist on a winning formula; others see it as derivative and dull. Yet others see it falling somewhere in between.

"The Blair Witch Project" (1999)

 So what do we think of "Blair Witch"? In this reviewer's opinion, there is more here to enjoy than not. Surely, with the technology available today for recording trips into the deep woods in search of a supernatural entity, there were opportunities the film missed. While it did feature a drone camera, it seems that so many more scares could happen on today's recording equipment. Also, while the film takes a bit to get its footing-- telling the story of the original's Heather's brother wanting to go into the woods looking for her all these years later-- the narrative is less of a slow burn than Heather's movie. And while the original film can be looked at through eyes that don't see anything supernatural about it-- this new edition into the Blair Witch lore takes an early, and far more firm stance on whether or not a supernatural force, the Witch, is at play.

"Blair Witch" (2016)

 For all the film's faults, it works so well by venturing in the footsteps of the original. There is a fear very primal about being lost in the woods, being hunted, and not knowing the nature of that which seeks you. There are some fantastic scares, creeps and questions in this film, and, this reviewer believes you can do far worse at the movies this theater than to see "Blair Witch." Scary, effective and shades of being both original and nostalgic, "Blair Witch," is one of the better scary movies to be released this year.

"The Blair Witch Project" film poster (1999)

 I've always been fascinated by the history of urban legends. Trying to trace the trail back to when the first time the story was told about the ghostly hitchhiker, or the man with the hook at a lover's lane. And this is why I became rather enthralled when I quite accidentally stumbled upon the- for lack of a more accurate term- legend of the Slender Man.


 After coming upon what appeared to be an urban legend I had never heard before, a quick Google search of the "Slender Man" gives you what appears to be a complete, detailed and time-tested history of a mythical supernatural creature; tall and slender, often dressed like a man, but with no discernible, or blankly white, face. Think of a darker Jack Skellington. The Slenderman has been reportedly sighted near children who have subsequently disappeared-- captured in black and white photos, and, even audio footage. For all the Slenderman's purposes, he seems nothing but the Bogeyman's latest incarnation-- even if he has something of a patchwork of sightings throughout history, in everything from old German woodcuts to accounts of Allied soldiers in World War I encountering Slendermen as German soldiers on the battlefield. The story which has sprung up on the Slenderman is detailed on a "Creepypasta Wiki" entry, a website I previously knew nothing about, but is apparently a forum where people submit brief, horror themed short stories which are called creepy pasta, rather than a short story. 

 This mythos, while not entirely convincing, seems, at least for yours truly, as if it could have benefited from the less is more approach of more modern urban legends (like the Blair Witch), rather than trying to create a new character who has literally been present from the beginning of time. However, I do find the speed and popularity with which the legend of the Slender Man has taken off to be impressive-- making use of all the Internet age's tools to spread stories. In fact, the whole legend of the Slender Man originated entirely from a contest on an Internet forum to create creepy supernatural characters and images. Given how easily online forums and other social media has birthed this first urban legend created entirely from the Internet, I would imagine the Slender Man is the first of many to be created online in years to come.

 There is also quite a bit of debate online over whether the Slender Man can truly be called an urban legend or if he is just an Internet meme (or trend), as an urban legend has historically been a story which developed, lasted and transformed to last over time. Can a tall tale told instantly in this time of rapid, world-wide digital communication become, so fast, its own urban legend? Or is the Slender Man simply one of many of the Bogeyman's centuries old transformations and different characters? Perhaps, only time will tell. As of now, we have the many pieces the character has spawned to enjoy-- all kinds of Photoshop and other art (some genuinely creepy) and amateur video. And there is even a film titled "The Tall Man" coming out this fall about a legend/entity that abducts children-- although the filmmakers apparently deny any connection to Slenderman (and, in their defense, bogeymen-type characters who abduct children-- whether Michael Myers, Freddy Kreuger or Pennywise the Clown-- are nothing new.)

 You know you're born this way from a very young age. I can remember being a kid, just in grade school, and checking out the ghost story books in the library. Anxiously awaiting a new episode of "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" on Nickelodeon. And knowing there were things out there far scarier.

 Submitted for the approval of our Midnight Society, tonight I give you the episode of the Nickelodeon show, "Are You Afraid of the Dark?," which ran from 1990-1996 on the children's programming channel in the United States and Canada, that most had its effect on my young subconscious.

 Perhaps no episode had the impression on me that "The Tale of the Manaha" did. Years later, when I saw "The Blair Witch Project" in the theater for the first time with my friends, and was so terrified I couldn't sleep that night at a friend's house at a sleep-over party, I'd remember this episode, and where the fear of what happens when you're lost in the woods first comes from.

 It's a pity that kids today don't have shows anywhere near the like of this one.



YouTube User: ClassicSlime