Some IMDB links to back this up: if I recollect, aside from side stuff, there's three proper movies in the Blair Witch franchise. (Or 'franchise,' depending on your opinion!) First there was 1999's
the Blair Witch Project, which was absurdly profitable since it cost figuratively about $60 to make, and kicked off a barrage of
'found footage' horror that continues to this day. It was quickly followed by
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 in 2000, and I am not 100% sure I, or anyone, saw that one; although I'm pretty sure they advertised the hell out of it in comics of the time and it had the mandatory nu-metal soundtrack to show they had a budget now. They tried again in 2016 with
Blair Witch, which was more of a direct sequel to the first; I had it on in the background last month and am unsure on the title character's powers? Best guess, the Blair Witch can make people stand in the corner, interferes with wi-fi, and can mimic voices like the Predator? Geez, pick a lane already...But why should filmmakers and producers be the only ones to cash in here? Why not Mark and Sergio? From 1999,
Sergio Aragonés' Blair Which? #1, story by Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier, art by Sergio Aragonés, letters by Stan Sakai.
Sleepy, small town Burkittsville MD is a typical American hamlet; in that it's full of rubes and loudmouths. When word gets out some college kids are filming a "movie" in the woods, rumors and stories fly; mostly of lies parents told their kids to try and get them to behave, or at least shut up for five minutes. "The Blair Witch will get you if you don't stop touching yourself," that sort of thing. As talk spreads, a group of scouts head out for a camping trip, including one with a Hi-8 camera and a dream: to shoot a documentary about a fake horror legend and sell it for big bucks!
But, the scouts are close enough that the hopelessly lost and terrified college kids can hear them yelling and roughhousing (although apparently not talking normally) as well as find bizarre items like cairns of stones (where the scouts buried their trash) and weird pagan crosses (failed craft project/bear traps). The scouts also find the creepy house in the woods, explore it, get bored, and leave; all before the college kids arrive. And the end of the movie occurs, as a demolition crew implodes the derelict house! The tapes are later found, thrown away, found again, sent to Hollywood as a joke, and the rest is history!
I'm guessing Sergio and Mark didn't like that one. Although, that could be jealousy over the dump trucks full of money somebody made outta that. (Not the actors, pretty sure they were shorted there!) I don't think I had this issue new, but they (and Dark Horse) appeared to get this out pretty quick: gotta strike while the iron is hot, I suppose. Aside from craft, repetition, and craft, a lot of Sergio and Mark's career seems to be based on "no one could be
that stupid!"/someone is of course that stupid, and they were 110% correct there.
6 comments:
“A lot of Sergio and Mark's career seems to be based on "no one could be that stupid!"/someone is of course that stupid, and they were 110% correct there.”
More like 2024 said "no one could be that stupid!" & 2025 said someone is of course that stupid, and they were & currently are that right. 🤦♂️
I did in fact watch Book of Shadows, and it is a very loose definition of a sequel in that the events of the first movie did happen but this movie is a proper movie compared to the “found footage” movie of the previous one. It’s ok for what it is but, both movies are truly night & day of each other, even if ambiguity and the aspect of the Blair Witch are the common threads for both. Never watched the 2016 proper sequel, nor do I intend to because it looks every bit as dumb as some people felt about the 2000 version. If it’d been up to me, I’d have brought back the found footage feel of the first as a proper bookend and go from there.
"Smells like Mick Jagger's armpits!" made me laugh.
I watched the 2000 film at some point, on VHS maybe? There were parts that were creepy, in that sense of the film letting your imagination run wild about what's happening, but I definitely remember getting to the end and wondering what all the fuss was about this.
The ending was pretty decent overall with the twist with the pregnant woman. Can’t say the fact that the main group of characters killed those tourists was all that surprising given no other suspects were presented to confuse the audience. Good soundtrack though. I think for me the fact that it was a traditional movie compared to the found footage element of the first is what ultimately kept me from enjoying it more than I did.
Yeah smelling like Mick Jagger’s armpits is oddly specific 🤔
You might be right, maybe they should've gone back to found footage; but that would imply at least two and probably more film crews met untimely ends out there. Which would make hunting season really uncomfortable. "Crap, another film cannister." "Ugh, Super-8. 'Hey, let's make our deaths arty.'"
There’s a theory that the Blair Witch has time-manipulation powers & sent the cast of the first crew through time back to the 40’s to be killed off by Rustin Parr, thus explaining why their tapes were found underneath the foundation of his house in the woods despite that being impossible. Apparently time manipulation was used in the 2016 film as well, thus further giving proof to said theory. Perhaps if said 2016 sequel had gone the found footage route but during modern times like was kinda attempted in the actual 2016 film, it might’ve been more successful. Or not. Only modern horror films from certain modern studios like A24 seem to actually know how to craft a successful horror movie these days.
I got a bunch of Sergio Aragones Funnies last month, and they’re basically retreads of his issue of Solo. In this case, that’s a good thing- it was one of the better issues of the series, if you haven’t read it. Also got a couple issues Actions Speak and Louder Than Words- not as good but still solid.
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