Blair Witch

"There's something evil hiding in the woods."

2016 1h 29m EN

😐

5.2

MID

★5.2TMDB · 2,100

ThrillerHorror

Synopsis

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Students on a camping trip discover something sinister is lurking beyond the trees.

“There's something evil hiding in the woods.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

James Allen McCune
James Donahue
Callie Hernandez
Lisa Arlington
Brandon Scott
Peter Jones
Corbin Reid
Ashley Bennett
Valorie Curry
Talia
Wes Robinson
Lane
Heather Donahue
Heather (archive footage)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Adam Wingard
Writers: Simon Barrett
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

89 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 9.0× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 10 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Blair Witch Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Adam Wingard, shot by Robby Baumgartner. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Adam Wingard. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Louis F. Cioffi shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

James Allen McCune and Callie Hernandez and Brandon Scott carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Adam Wingard directs. Robby Baumgartner behind the camera. Adam Wingard scores. Louis F. Cioffi cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

189 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Made its money back 9.0× over at the box office.
3Released 10 years ago.
4Part of the "Blair Witch Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Adam Wingard, shot by Robby Baumgartner. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Adam Wingard. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Louis F. Cioffi shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8James Allen McCune and Callie Hernandez and Brandon Scott carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "There's something evil hiding in the woods.".
10IMDB entry: tt1540011 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 20 themes, including "tree", "river", "camping", "tent".
12Released under 13 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Robby Baumgartner
Original score: Adam Wingard
Editing: Louis F. Cioffi
Production design: Tom Hammock
Costume design: Katia Stano
Makeup / hair: Mariah Crawley
VFX supervisor: Takashi Takeoka
Sound: Jeffrey A. Pitts
Stunt coordinator: Loyd Bateman
Runtime: 89 min · 1h 29m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $5,000,000
Box office: $45,172,994
Return: 903% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Blair Witch (2016)

Part of

Blair Witch Collection

A psychological horror found footage film series about a local legend known as the Blair Witch.

Also by

Adam Wingard

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Frank Ochieng2016-09-19
When The Blair Witch Project burst upon the cinematic scene in 1999 it was an unspeakable breath of fresh air because it deviated away from the conventional creepers that marched to the same old boo-enhanced beat. Sure, The Blair Witch Project certainly was not blessed with the most creative screenplay nor could anybody definitively state that the acting was convincing to the point of no return. Nevertheless, the genuine shocks were ideally realized due to the execution of this little indie terror tale that managed to sell a morbid mystique that translated into a gory goldmine at the box office. Hence, The Blair Witch Project became an unlikely sensation trending around its distinctive flair for what has become the ubiquitous and overused found footage genre nowadays. Indeed, The Blair Witch Project sparked a creepy curiosity and gave birth to a unique movement in horror flicks where it managed to formulate a whole refreshing perspective to digesting frightfests based on the art of eerie suggestion through the power of promotion. Of course the “promotion” in this case presented a group of periled young people (the typical expendable guinea pigs in this kind of cinema) armed with cameras as they explored the Maryland-based woods that would end up creating a speculative frenzy about what remained through the lens of shaky images as these sitting ducks ran for dear life. Thus, the atmospheric vibes and presumed doom of these wandering targets in the woods captured a whole welcoming imagination to the manner in which little imaginative horror gems could rival the big-budgeted spook spectacles coming out of the Hollywood machine. Naturally, The Blair Witch Project (as most horror-based original blueprints) was enthusiastic to capitalize on its big screen impact but not without the amount of success it originally generated the first time around. Some may recall the tepid sequel in 2000’s Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 that left a dull mark for those that were stimulated by the amazing first installment. Now it would take a 16-year gap to wipe off the nostalgic dust of a boorish Blair outing for another entry in the pale and anemic imitation Blair Witch. Unfortunately, director Adam Wingard (“You’re Next”, “The Guest”) has no absolute vision or hearty energy to channel Blair Witch into a scary showcase worthy of its own garish identity. Wingard and screenwriter Simon Barrett merely conjure up a shadowy copycat of The Blair Witch Project’s goose-bumpy reputation as Blair Witch is rendered a listless retread. Look, there is nothing wrong with attempting to recycle the spirit of an unassuming ground-breaking horror fable that gave considerable forethought to how movie-going fans viewed scary movies in general. Still, there is a time and place for gloom-and-doom experimentation in the heart of the wicked-minded woods that worked its magic prior to the millennium age of movie-making. However, 17-plus years later there is no excuse for Blair Witch to be lame and lazy in its artificial scares given its continuation to carry on The Blair Witch Project’s haunting bloodline. Blair Witch’s premise centers on the special bond of a brother-sister duo…or shall we say brother-missing sister duo. James (James Allen McCune) wants to look into the 20-year disappearance of his sister Heather who vanished in the Black Hills Forest. James is almost certain that Heather is alive and well. Furthermore, he contends that perhaps Heather is an instrumental part of the Blair Witch legend that exists. So James sets out to investigate his sister’s whereabouts but not without his entourage joining him. Among James’s friends that journey into the deep woods are Lisa (Callie Hernandez), boyfriend-girlfriend team Peter and Ashley (Brandon Scott and Corbin Reid) not to mention a couple of tour guides in Lane and Talia (Wes Robinson and Valorie Curry). In particular, Lisa has another reason to go trekking through the fearsome forest with James and company–she needs to bring along her camera and record her adventures for a film school project. And so James and his crew foolishly set out to chase the notion of survivalist Heather as Lisa concentrates on her agenda to helm a documentary-style thesis for her film-making studies. Soon, the telegraphed chaos ensues for which Blair Witch fanatics are accustomed to by now. The serving of the repetitive shaky cam, the so-called spontaneous hysterics and nerve-racking aura of the surrounding woods comes off as a hammy, inconsequential effect. The chills and thrills are relentlessly watered-down. Plus, Blair Witch does not effectively utilize its low-budgeted charm to convey the mounting tension…at least to the degree that made the original edition more appealing in its small scare toxicity. Routinely, Blair Witch is manufactured with all the creativity and originality of a haunted house’s creaky door searching to be lubricated. There is nary any genuine shocks or jolts that register with an impacting punch. The recipe for Blair Witch is a shameless by-the-dots regurgitation of the aforementioned 1999 trail-blazing woodsy terrain-terror treat. The film gets off to a rather clumsy start spotlighting lapses of silly-minded fodder to compliment the toothless scares. Sadly, the gradual build-up is relentlessly standard and morphs into typical cheesy slasher fare with an obligatory methodical pick-off of the scattering youthful prey. The only positive take that Blair Witch wears with a badge of honor is its advantageous usage of technological upgrading (both demonstrated on screen based on the characters’ sophisticated equipment in the storyline and the behind the scenes shoot). In being a louder and flashier production does not automatically constitute Blair Witch as a well-received found footage horror show. In fact, Wingard’s twitchy narrative fails despite the applied modern-day filming flourishes. In hindsight, transparent scares just does not cut it anymore in the realm of the horror universe. Structurally redundant as it travels down the familiar wooden path, Wingard does have high regard for the reminiscences of The Blair Witch Project’s legacy but it is too bad that he could not emphasize his cinematic appreciation more soundly in this woefully flaccid, forest-bound frightener. Blair Witch (2016) Vertigo Entertainment 1 hr. 29 mins. Starring: James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez, Brandon Scott, Valorie Curry, Wes Robinson, Corbin Reid Directed by: Adam Wingard MPAA Rating: R Genre: Horror Critic’s rating: * 1/2 stars (out of 4 stars) (c) Frank Ochieng 2016
Reno2017-01-14
★ 6/10
The history repeats, and so the story in some sequel films! This is the third film is the 'Blair Witch' film series, but the second film from the story perspective. Anyway, I haven't seen the other sequel, you do not have to be familiar with that to follow this one. So I saw it, but what I thought is, basically this film is exactly same as the first film. Just the characters and timeline changed, that's all. They had nothing much of choice, so the story was repeated with the modern equipments. A new set of people, including a brother of one of those went missing two decades ago, heads to the same woods to investigate. But soon they all begin to witness strange, horrifying events. Now it becomes their survival game of getting out safe from there, but would they? Is what the film's end to notify us. If you are a horror genre fan, particularly about the killing stuffs, then you might enjoy it. Other than that it was not scary, well, it was not for me. The today's generation might enjoy it better, but if you are like above 30 and already saw the original, this will be an average or trash. So young people should watch it. For me, it was okay, because I was not expecting anything from it. So I hope they end it here, no to another sequel or the reboot. 6/10
GenerationofSwine2023-01-14
★ 1/10
It's one of those crap remakes, where they take an original that everyone loves, then they dumb it down to reach the Millennial Generation, and then they make it worse. The original was more psychological and made to seem realistic. This one seemed more like a slasher film. But I guess that is what happens when you start remaking shows to appeal to people that don't want to think at all. In the original, it was really your imagine that created the scares. In this one its made for people with no imagination to run wild and the difference is self apparent. Stay away. The premise just doesn't work for the new generation's tastes.