# Was the Blair Witch Project supposed to be scary because it umm... wasn't. Spoilers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 14, 2003, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571 "2003-04-14T05:59:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NutMagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@NutMagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutMagnet)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/21 "2003-04-14T15:17:49Z")
Yes. It was creepy, not scary, but can someone explain the end to me? Was that the missing guy standing there or the guy with Heather? What’s he looking at? Has she dropped the camera or has she been whacked? Who/what whacked her? I was kind of losing interest by that time and the end caught me by surprise, so I never understood just what went on. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/22 "2003-04-14T15:20:55Z")
That movie creeped me out for days. The handprints on the wall, and the “kids” running past the tent and shaking the walls … man. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/23 "2003-04-14T15:22:16Z")
We just don’t know – which is exactly why it is creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/24 "2003-04-14T15:25:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NutMagnet \* > Was that the missing guy standing there or the guy with Heather? I dunno. I _think_ it was the guy with Heather. > [@](#): > > What’s he looking at? Has she dropped the camera or has she been whacked? Who/what whacked her? If memory serves, the legend of the Witch said that she would force one child to stand in the corner while she killed the other. The implication when the camera drops is that Heather has either been grabbed or killed by the Witch. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/25 "2003-04-14T16:03:26Z")
This “movie” still pisses me off! I was cheated out of precious time and money! I swear, during the “movie” I could hear the theater manager in the projection room counting money and laughing till he wet his pants. * * * She told me she loved me like a brother. She was from Arkansas, hence the Joy! ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/26 "2003-04-14T16:07:28Z")
It was the one-armed witch. But I think her butler was in on it too. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/27 "2003-04-14T16:35:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gatopescado \* > I swear, during the “movie” I could hear the theater manager in the projection room counting money and laughing till he wet his pants. You could _hear_ him wet his pants? Man, that’s some serious urination. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/28 "2003-04-14T17:27:59Z")
Confession time: I am one big fraidy cat. Just about anything scares me. As a kid I had nightmares about the monsters on _Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea_. I _still_ get nervous thinking about the salt vampire thing on _Star Trek_. But _Blair Witch Project_ did absolutely nothing to me. I think it was because I found the characters so profoundly unappealling … I wanted them to just hurry up and _die_ already. And I didn’t find it implausible, or significant, that they managed to get lost in such a small area. It was not a hostile uncharted wilderness that led them astray, nor was it the malign influence of the Witch … it was the fact that all three of them were gormless plonkers who could probably get lost in a phone booth. The film didn’t scare me, and I didn’t enjoy it. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/29 "2003-04-14T17:43:27Z")
I liked the _Blair_-type Scooby-Doo (commercials? shorts?) they were showing on Comedy Central (I think). Especially the one that has Shaggy standing in the corner, and the monster jumps out at the camera. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/30 "2003-04-14T18:01:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gorgon Heap \* > \*\*It was the one-armed witch. > > But I think her butler was in on it too. \*\* Communism was only a red herring! ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/31 "2003-04-14T18:03:45Z")
So what about it, folks who weren’t scared by it: are y’all heavy readers? Daniel ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/32 "2003-04-14T18:04:50Z")
Velma: “Daphne! Come back! It’s only Scrappy Doo!” Daphne (running): “I KNOWWWWW…” ---
**Author:** ![Keith\_Berry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/22d042/32.png) [@Keith\_Berry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith_Berry)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/33 "2003-04-14T18:08:05Z")
I hated the movie when I saw it in theatres. The unbelievable hype had led to a packed movie theatre at 4 pm on a Thursday and it was obvious from the first frame of the film that the audience didn’t know what the hell they were watching. A grainy cheap film with no stars, no technical values, no music, no special effects, a lot of screaming, a completely off-screen villian, and a ambigous ending? Not what they wanted to see at all after hearing that it was the scariest film since “The Exorcist”. As for myself, instead of watching the film, I got more interested in watching the audience watch the film. By the end they were clearly bored and many people were talking. When the DVD came out I gave it a second spin. It’s definately a interesting experiment and while it never really scares, it does have a effective mood of doom and despair and the ending is creepy enough for me. An average film, but it’s right up there with “Citizen Kane” if you compare it to the godforsaken and absurdly awful sequel, which is seemed like a case study in how pointless a movie can be. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/34 "2003-04-14T18:14:31Z")
I suspect it’s at least partly generational. I’m about the same age as the characters in the movie. I was in college when the movie came out, and could remember goofing around in the woods getting high with my friends pretty recently. (Well, I could remember _some_ of it!) These were **cultivated “woods” an acre big, with extensive jogging trails** , and we could scare ourselves pretty easily at night, even when sober. I could very easily imagine some of my friends being stupid enough to try to talk me into going into some real woods, me being stupid enough to agree, and all of us being stupid enough to die out there in easily navigable terrain because we couldn’t agree on how to read a map. I thought BW was possibly the scariest movie I had ever seen. Think about those Nickolodeon “horror” shows for kids. When you’re eleven, your scariest semi-believable nightmare is that your parents and teachers are aliens plotting to takeover the planet. When you’re 21, it’s that your dumb friends might take you out in the woods and get you killed. When you’re in your 30s, it’s that your 11-year-old daughter might really be the spawn of Satan! At any other age, those plots might be amusing, but they won’t tap into your deep psychological concerns. (Also, consider that some people want an adreneline shock from Freddy jumping out of the closet at them. Blair Witch is not that kind of scary movie. Because I don’t believe in monsters, aliens, or supernatural serial killers, those movies might shock me, but they won’t ever keep me awake at night. BW showed nothing at all that was factually impossible. That made it much, much scarier and creepier, IMO.) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/35 "2003-04-14T18:16:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DanielWithrow \* > \*\*So what about it, folks who weren’t scared by it: are y’all heavy readers? > > Daniel \*\* _Very_ heavy reader. Movie didn’t scare me. Maybe the Blair Witch was making them walk in circles, but I’m with **Lizard** - I wanted to shout in their faces, “don’t _cross_ the damned stream a second time, _follow it downstream_!” If the Blair Witch can make streams run downhill in a circle, Escher staircase fashion, _then_ the old biddy will impress me. ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/36 "2003-04-14T18:19:04Z")
The website for the movie was creepier than the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/37 "2003-04-14T18:26:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DanielWithrow \* > \*\*So what about it, folks who weren’t scared by it: are y’all heavy readers? > > Daniel \*\* I thought it was a cute stunt but not terribly scary. And I read more than any ten people you know, likely. I literally read _all the time_. I always have a book in pocket and whip it out (such as it is) for any down time. Lady Chance says she’ll throw books in my casket so I won’t be bored in hell. That’s how much I read. ---
**Author:** ![pcarney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ea5d25/32.png) [@pcarney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pcarney)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/38 "2003-04-14T19:06:10Z")
That movie scared the hell out of me, but alot of people I know thought it was dumb. Maybe it was playing on my fear (as a kid) of the woods. I used to go camping, and be up half the night, terrified that a great, evil ‘something’ was outside of my tent. Maybe it was my fear of camcorders…or profane hippies. Either way, it got to me but good when I saw in the theatre. I don’t want to see it again because I know it won’t have the same effect on me. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/39 "2003-04-14T19:23:43Z")
I thought _Blair Witch_ was one of the scariest movies ever made. And for exactly the reason the filmmakers intended; by never showing you what was scaring the cast, your mind was free to imagine whatever you would be scared of in a similar situation. It was a movie you had to get involved in to enjoy; you couldn’t just sit back and expect it to be handed to you. To answer other questions in the survey: yes, I saw it in a theatre; yes, I knew it was fictional when I saw it; no, I hadn’t seen the website; and yes, I read a lot. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571/40 "2003-04-14T19:50:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RTFirefly \* > \*\*_Very_ heavy reader. Movie didn’t scare me. > > Maybe the Blair Witch was making them walk in circles, but I’m with **Lizard** - I wanted to shout in their faces, “don’t _cross_ the damned stream a second time, _follow it downstream_!” If the Blair Witch can make streams run downhill in a circle, Escher staircase fashion, _then_ the old biddy will impress me. \*\* That would be pretty sweet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-blair-witch-project-supposed-to-be-scary-because-it-umm-wasnt-spoilers/168571.md?page=3)