History Film / BlairWitch

''Blair Witch'' is a 2016 horror movie, written by Simon Barrett and directed by Creator/AdamWingard (of ''Film/YoureNext'' and ''Film/TheGuest'' fame) and a direct sequel to ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject''. Two decades after the disappearance of student filmmaker Heather Donahue, new footage is found in the woods of Burkittsville, Maryland and posted online. A new group, led by Heather's brother James, head into the infamous woods with two local guides and the benefits of modern technology [[HopeSpot in the hopes that Heather might still be alive after all this time]]. Things ultimately take [[FromBadToWorse a turn for the worse]].

If the original ''The Blair Witch Project'' was best known for its ViralMarketing campaign, what ''Blair Witch'' might be best known for is the amount of secrecy it went through before its reveal. During its production as ''The Woods'', only select members of the production staff and the main cast had the real script during the filming, everyone involved had to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and even most people at the distributor, Lionsgate, had no clue of the true nature of the film. Promotion for the film was done as ''The Woods'' with a "switch" being done during the SDCC screening itself with the social media account names and IMDB details being changed. Even [[https://twitter.com/Simon_Barrett/status/756718704063160320 the giant sign]] in the lobby of the Comic-Con screening was changed from ''The Woods'' to ''Blair Witch'' branding while the film was still rolling. What resulted was one of the most unexpected horror movie revivals in years.

->''“I think it was the UPM (unit production manager), he was talking to one of the producers,” recalls Wingard. “He said, ‘This script is really cool but it seems like a real knock-off of ''The Blair Witch''.’ It was like, ‘Oh, wait, you haven’t actually gotten the '''real''' script? We should get that to you.’”''

** Again near the end, the camera briefly focuses on the floor of the Parr house where one can see [[spoiler: [[BrickJoke the map from the first film]]]]. This one was so hard to spot that the creators offered a [[UpToEleven 400 dollar reward for anyone who could find it.]]

* BodyHorror: The injury to [[spoiler:Ashley's]] foot rapidly escalates into this.
** The brief glimpses of the creature stalking James and Lisa show it to be tall, pale and emaciated. [[spoiler:And it's apparently not the Blair Witch herself, but a victim of hers.]]

''Blair Witch'' is a 2016 horror movie, written by Simon Barrett and directed by Adam Wingard (of ''Film/YoureNext'' and ''Film/TheGuest'' fame) and a direct sequel to ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject''. Two decades after the disappearance of student filmmaker Heather Donahue, new footage is found in the woods of Burkittsville, Maryland and posted online. A new group, led by Heather's brother James, head into the infamous woods with two local guides and the benefits of modern technology [[HopeSpot in the hopes that Heather might still be alive after all this time]]. Things ultimately take [[FromBadToWorse a turn for the worse]].

''Blair Witch'' is a 2016 horror movie, written by Simon Barrett and directed by Adam Wingard (of ''Film/YoureNext'' and ''Film/TheGuest'' fame) and a direct sequel to ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject''. Two decades after the disappearance of student filmmaker Heather Donahue, new footage is found in the woods of Burkittsville, Maryland and posted online. A new group, led by Heather's brother James, head into the infamous woods with two local guides and the benefits of modern technology [[HopeSpot in the hopes that Heather might still be alive after all this time]]. [[AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame Things ultimately take]] [[FromBadToWorse a turn for the worse]].

* AlwaysNight / TheNightThatNeverEnds: The group end up trapped inside a seemingly neverending night after the second day.
* AsideGlance: [[BlackBestFriend Peter]] gives one upon spotting a confederate flag on Talia and Lane's wall.

If the original ''The Blair Witch Project'' was best known for its ViralMarketing campaign, what ''Blair Witch'' might be best known for is the amount of secrecy it went through before its reveal. During its production as ''The Woods'', only select members of the production staff and the main cast had the real script during the filming, everyone involved had to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and even most people at the distributor, Lionsgate, had no clue of the true nature of the film. Promotion for the film was done as ''The Woods'' with a "switch" being done during the SDCC screening itself with the social media account names and IMDB details being changed. Even [[https://twitter.com/Simon_Barrett/status/756718704063160320 the giant sign]] in the lobby of the Comic-Con screening was changed from ''The Woods'' to ''Blair Witch'' branding. What resulted was one of the most unexpected horror movie revivals in years.

* BrownNote: Legend says that the Blair Witch is so horrifying, looking at her will kill you immediately. [[spoiler:However, Lisa (and by extension the audience) sees her multiple times and survives. In the climax, the characters reason that standing in the corner like how Mike did in the original film actually ''protects'' you from the evil entity. [[VoiceChangeling Too bad the witch]] [[MindScrew has another way of getting people to look behind them...]]]]

** It is never revealed just what, exactly, burrowed into [[spoiler:Ashley's foot]], or why.

* StableTimeLoop: As part of the time bending nature of the woods. [[spoiler: The movie is kicked off when Lane and Talia find a video tape showing a blurry figure who James assumes to be Heather running through the witch's house. During the movie's climax, the exact same footage plays out in real time, revealing that the figure was actually ''Lisa'' the whole time, meaning the video tape was all a ploy from the witch to lure in more victims, specifically James.]]

* RememberTheNewGuy: Despite being Heather’s brother, James wasn’t mentioned in any of the past media of the Blair Witch series.

* CatScare: Happens a lot, unfortunately.

* DeathGaze: Legend says that the Blair Witch is so horrifying, looking at her will kill you immediately. [[spoiler: However, Lisa (and by extension the audience) sees her multiple times and survives. In the climax, the characters reason that standing in the corner like how Mike did in the original film actually ''protects'' you from the evil entity. [[VoiceChangeling Too bad the witch]] [[MindScrew has another way of getting people to look behind them...]]]]

''Blair Witch'' is a 2016 horror movie, written by Simon Barrett and directed by Adam Wingard (of ''Film/YoureNext'' and ''Film/TheGuest'' fame) and a direct sequel to ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject''. Two decades after the disappearance of student filmmaker Heather Donahue, new footage is found in the woods of Burkittsville, Maryland and posted online. A new group, lead by Heather's brother James, head into the infamous woods with two local guides and the benefits of modern technology [[HopeSpot in the hopes that Heather might still be alive after all this time]]. [[AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame Things ultimately take]] [[FromBadToWorse a turn for the worse]].