Curse of the Blair Witch, a mockumentary which premiered on SyFy as a promotional piece before the release of the original film, actually proves to be a better follow-up to the 1999 hit than either of the sequels. In all fairness, it’s hard to follow in the footsteps of an iconic horror film as critically and commercially successful as The Blair Witch Project. Why is it that a gimmicky television special is an equally unsettling and more natural successor to the original’s legacy than both two multi-million dollar films that came after?
The main conceit behind The Blair Witch Project was that it was promoted as a real documentary; it was said that the Maryland film students behind it were actually missing, and the terrifying legends of the Blair Witch were centuries old. In reality, it was all meticulously developed by the real filmmakers, who also created copious supplemental materials to corroborate the “authenticity” of their film. Ultimately, a decision was made to focus exclusively on the footage “shot” by the film students. At a runtime of 81 minutes, the movie scratches the surface of the mythology before the horror of the main characters takes center stage. When the distributor Artisan Entertainment made a deal with SyFy (then known as the Sci-Fi Channel) to produce a featurette promoting the film’s release, the filmmakers found an opportunity to edit the additional material into a short mimicking the TV documentary style popular at the time.
The special, Curse of the Blair Witch, helped to flesh out the Blair Witch both tried to expand on parts of the mythos without the involvement of the original filmmakers, to mixed receptions. With Curse of the Blair Witch streaming free on multiple platforms, let's revisit why this 45 minute promotional tool is truly the best follow-up to the horror classic.
Why Curse of the Blair Witch is Better Than the Sequels
What makes Curse of the Blair Witch stronger than the sequels is the way it doubles-down on everything that made The Blair Witch Project so unique to begin with. As mentioned above, the sequels attempted to tell new stories with spins on the mythos. On the other hand, the SyFy mockumentary is a direct continuation of the original film by its creators, and helps to answer its lingering questions.
It utilizes faux-archival records, eyewitness s, and even newsreel footage to expand on the origins of evil characters like witch Elly Kedward and child murderer Rustin Parr, who are only briefly covered in the first act of the actual film. It also explores the aftermath following the disappearance of the student filmmakers, including news reports and interviews with their family , professors, and friends. This provides extra insight into the characters and their motivations, while also adding weight to the horror of the original film.
While the documentary format style can be occasionally cheesy, this only helps add to the feeling of authenticity and makes it all the more terrifying. By utilizing this format, Curse of the Blair Witch is tonally on point with the original film and therefore a perfect companion piece. Between the found footage film and the fake TV doc, they both work to further the conceit that all of this is real. Compare this to the sequels, which eschew these techniques to present more traditionally-produced horror films. Those films break the illusion that The Blair Witch Project created. Curse of the Blair Witch solidifies it.
