(This review may contain spoilers).
Despite watching so many horror movies, I had yet to see this movie until a couple of days ago, as I plan to see the sequel later this week.
As the first found footage movie, I thought this was a really neat idea… but at the same time, I felt it was quite tame. It did feel very much like a documentary… but although the real horror was supposed to be in what you didn’t see, it didn’t really seem that scary.
I thought the most interesting part about this movie was the conflict between Heather, Josh and Mike. It was really easy to see and experience their desperation as they became lost, quite apart from what was going on. And I did think the camera angles worked really well. It was good that there was quite a bit of tension… though I couldn’t quite figure out how they’d been able to survive for so long; then again, it seemed like the days all seemed to run together… especially as they seemed to get cabin fever.
It was interesting to learn the legend of the Blair Witch and I felt the locals seemed to add a new dimension to the movie, especially since they seemed to feel like real people, as opposed to just actors playing a part.
This movie was disjointed, but I felt that helped to add to its authenticity. It was easy to care about Heather in particular, but the scenes where they made camp just weren’t as scary as they could have been. The ending was really only the scary part… but that worked with the unseen being the most effective. And there was a good link-in to the earlier scenes.
I still intend to watch the sequel, but I hope it will be more like this with the found footage aspect… even though the trailer seemed to suggest part of this movie would be mirrored.
Ink of Blood 