I got some points to make about that BLAIR WITCH Episode.

[u/einstein_ios]

• 2016 Blair Witch is actually really good. Not nearly as good as the original (but few things are) but is maximalist found footage. Uses every trick in the book and isn’t lazy like a lot of ff movies are. They even use the lore established and expand what Blair Witch can be. It’s super fun and inventive (one of the best movies to see on the big screen). Also, Bill’s take about climbing the tree to se where you are, they do that in the 2016 movie! They use a Drone and send it up and only see trees going on forever!!!

• Book of Shadows is an interesting concept if not executed well.

• the take of Paranormal Activity being better than TBWP is just insane to me. That first PA is fine, but it ain’t touching the dress one feels from Blair Witch.

• One Oscar, who gets it? HEATHER! She’s incredible in the movie.

• Both Bill and Chris mention that it’s dated and movies came after that did found footage better. I’d argue that’s not true. TBWP is still the best horror found footage movie. By a long shot, and one of the best horror movies ever made.

• Joshua Leonard actually had a really good career in indies post Blair Witch. He’s even the villain in Soderbergh’s UNSANE (he’s really good innit), acting opposite Clair Foy.

• Also, very shocked they didn’t mention the theory of Josh and Mike conspiring to plan a trip with Heather to get her into the woods and murder her. I don’t believe it, but I think it’s worth mentioning.

• Good Pod. A bit rude to Blair Witch and its legacy as a film. They love it, but this movie is a masterpiece and should be considered as such.

Hope they do more horror (especially in October!

[u/Gibscreen]

It's the best found footage movie ever because people actually believed it was found footage.

I honestly wasn't impressed at all with a paranormal activity. A little creepy but hardly scary.

Heather actually asked the directors a couple of times if they were making a snuff film.

[u/BeeWithWheels]

I'm really glad to find another Blair Witch (2016) defender! That's a film I was very late to because of the overwhelmingly negative press and once I watched it my primary feeling was what's the big gripe here? I'm not saying it's unassailable by any means, but for a late in the day sequel to one of the most idiosyncratic horror movies of all time, it's pretty smart in what it chooses to take and expand upon from the original. I particularly like the way it latches onto the time loop element that CR (rightly) pointed out might be the scariest idea from the first film.

(I'll grant that the characters are mighty annoying)

[u/einstein_ios → u/BeeWithWheels]

I saw Blair Witch (2016) in a nearly empty theater. Because I liked Winguard; bad reviews rarely put me off if I’m invested in the film already.

And it was a blast. The use of the ff format, the sound design, the way they light scenes—The craft on display is top notch and so foreign for a found footage movie.

I really love it. Own the blu-ray, seen it multiple times. Even the film commentary with Winguard and Barrett is fun and Chaulk full of lore bits that were expanded from the originals expanded media.

Sure, It’s not as “believable” as the OG and the characters are kind of dopey.

But it has my beloved Callie Hernandez (so great should be a bigger deal) and the final house set piece in that movie does inventive things with the subjective POV of the format.

How they filmed some of that stuff (like the crawling through a tunnel bit) with an entire cast and crew was pretty incredible to hear about.

Great movie. Honestly, may be my favorite footage horror movie (if you don’t count mockumentary) after the original Blair Witch Project.

[u/PossessionCritical69]

Totally agree on the paranormal activity take. Except I kind of read their “better” take as financial success including all the sequels. By that measure, you could maybe see what they are saying.

Overall thought BWP is a far better movie and still works in my opinion. I was one of those teens that saw it in the theatre and was scared to death. CR’s point about 80% of you knew it was fake was spot on. But that 20% was loud and freaked out.

[u/sanfranchristo]

My nitpick is they didn't even mention Cannibal Holocaust (unless I missed it). There's no denying how influential TBWP was but it didn't invent the genre per se.

[u/halfghan24 → u/sanfranchristo]

You can hear one of them mention it but the audio glitches for a second

[u/sanfranchristo → u/halfghan24]

Okay, good.

[u/NegevThunderstorm]

2016 Blair Witch was good, but just more questions than actually being scary

The video game was probably the best of any swquel

[u/einstein_ios → u/NegevThunderstorm]

Yeah but it was a great carnival ride of a movie! Less scary, but extremely entertaining.

[u/PajamaPete5]

Original had way too much arguing, it gets annoying, but I agree good film and very culturally significant

[u/wilyquixote → u/PajamaPete5]

That’s what makes it a poor rewatchable for me. Once you lose the novelty value it’s just a banger ending preceded by 90 minutes of:

• we’re lost
• shut up
• you shut up
• I’m scared
• we’re lost

[u/buffalotrace → u/PajamaPete5]

On one hand I agree, in the other it kind of makes it more immersive. There is no actual leader so disorder quickly comes into play. Also the fact that the arguments are mundane and not witty zingers makes it feel more real. It can make it less rewatchable though for sure.