Shadowy Man

...and now I'm afraid to go to sleep.

I know it is several years late, but when it was out in the theaters I never got around to seeing it.

I've always been interested in seeing though, as I like to stay up on pop culture and it was quite the phenomenon, regardless if it was actually good or not; it has its critics.

So, this weekend I had a coupon for Blockbuster non-New Release rental and I picked it up.

Holy crap it totally freaked me out!! By the end of the movie, my heart was racing and my eyes tearing. I think there's something inherent in our nature to respond to seeing terror in others, and man, I don't know how exactly they did it, but they definitely conveyed terror like I'd never seen it before.

Normally I don't go for scary movies, but normally scary movies are so ridiculous, or gory, that it is easy to remove yourself from the situation.

I was totally sucked in to this and the last scene still sends chills up my spine thinking about it.

I watched it this evening in my apartment alone and now I have nothing to comfort me except trying to stay up as long as possible so my thoughts can go to something else. My cats won't be too much comfort since they will make noises in the middle of the night and probably freak me out more.

Nostalgic Pushhead

I love that movie.
Everyone seems to hate it, but I think its brilliant.
Okay, not brilliant, but its really good, and I'm no fan of horror movies.
I love the whole mythology behind it. And the acting is great. Must rewatch it soon.

And lastly, I heard the sequal is attrotious, so avoid it.

Shadowy Man

Well, I'm off to sleep now...

...hopefully I won't have any nightmares!!

If you don't hear from me in the morning, send someone by my place to check on me....

Walross

But for one small thing I may have liked it. I mean it's shot well, and definitely well acted, but... when are we going to get a horror movie where the main characters are actually smart? Following the compass causes you to walk in circles? Follow the goddam stream! It will eventually lead to the ocean. The evil thing comes at night when you're sleeping? Sleep during the day and travel at night. The evil beasty gets you while you're alone? DON'T SPLIT UP! If I could see a (so called) horror movie where the characters make the right decisions (ie what I would do ) and still got f*cked up, I would be very very happy. Alas, Hollywood seems determined to populate it's horror movies with idiots.

Calzaer

Welross:
Dog Soldiers. You must see Dog Soldiers. Only one or two mistakes get made, and they're immenently understandable (well, ok, except for the guy who accidentally impales himself on a tree while running away, but that was an abberation and easily overlooked). Better, only one line in the entire movie is a derivative of a line on the List of Things to Never Ever Say (it's based on "Is that all you've got?").


***
Anyway, about Blair Witch...

I think the entire obnoxious, annoying, grating, fingernails-on-chalkboard movie is worth suffering through for the last 10 seconds.

Walross

Thanks Calzaer,

I'll check Dog Soldiers out,

Walross

velvetfinger

i too loved the BWP and, yes, the sequel is verr verr bad. i think somehow the climax manages to touch something primal within us, and only a few films have done that, such as Jaws, Night of the Living Dead and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Shadowy Man

Well, I made it through the night.

I had gone rock climbing yesterday, and luckily that experience was mentally intenstive enough that it, rather than the movie, dominated my dreams.

The last ten seconds though.... yeah. It wasn't actually until a couple of hours after I was done watching that I remembered what someone had said that explained why Mike was standing in the corner... but that image is spine-chilling.

Writer@Large

The whole point was to imply that the compass was unreliable--that the Blair Witch was fucking with them. Note how much trouble they had navigating the forest with the map, too ... but only after that first night, after they attract the attention of the Witch.

--W@L

Reverend Ruin

I'm convinced that the detractors of the film purposely ignore the fact that they DID follow the stream. It lead them back around to the same spot.