Page 205 - Student: dazed And Confused

'however, despite ... a subtle and implicitly nasty ending, Blair
Witch fails to be a good horror film because it's just not scary.'
(LeBlanc and Odell, 2001, p47)

The further question arises of what is scary? Scary is, perhaps, ripe for further discussion

and definition at another time but for now, The Blair Witch Project is scary because of how it

sounds. No-one can deny that screams are terrifying when you can see neither the

screamer or the reason for the screaming? Is there not something spooky about hearing
breaking twigs and rustling forestry when there should be nothing alive in the woods?

Around halfway through the film scenes begin to appear where almost total screen darkness

is teamed with shrieks and sobs. This technique was instantly a hit and the idea of pairing
this raw and unproduced footage was copied many times. Nothing is scarier than hearing

flesh rip and not see it. Blair Witch took that concept and pushed it as far as they could.

This was partly for budgetary reasons but it transcended financial concerns in terms of

giving the public an intelligent horror where the audio track was more important than flashy

visuals (www.avclub.com).

Just as important as the screams, the crying, the moving amid the trees are the things the

audience don't hear. There is no clever atmospheric scoring in the depths of the woods.
There is no saleable rock or dance track pulsing through the branches. Such familiar tools

do not feature here but the film is far from silent.

'We took that approach not only because of what made us
scared when we were kids, but also because we don't have
the budget to have, you know, Freddy Krueger coming out and
chopping people up.
(Dan Rymick, www.avclub.com)

Underscoring the body of the film is a constant and reedy buzz of crickets, crunching leaves

and breath of the actors. Far from being comforting and reassuring that there is life out
there it is creepy and adds a more sinister edge to proceedings. Insects and foliage are the

only signs of life and viewers empathise with the characters; they are isolated and alone on

the screen and we feel that too.