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What I Thought:
Book Of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 is definitely my kind of flick, and I saw it without knowing so, which made it more effective.
It is not a sequel to the other movie, this one played real, the Blair Witch Project was released and of course, someone was
going to go to Black Hills to explore and here's what you get to fuck with a bitch of a witch! Hey...I rhyme!
This one is more of a psychological mind fuck and also plays like a documentary. We start off with news clips of people talking
about the myth of the Blair Witch and how scary the first movie was, then we go to a very disturbing scene in a hellish asylum
and cut back to a group of young adults in search for a good scare (cue Marilyn Manson's "Beautiful People"). And that's how
the flick plays, like a surreal, dark, gothic and very confusing mindfuck (I had to watch it twice to fully get it) but in
the end, the movie is a grim tale that explores the darkness of the human heart.
Once again, the movie pretends to be real (but real or not, the movie works on it's own two feet) and gives you the opening
card with your "This are actual events thta happened after "The Blair Witch Project" was released, in 1999. To protect the
identities of the people involved, some names have been changed" (that's why every character carries the name of the actor
playing). It shows us a bunch of people going through hell after a night of heaven and it's ugly. The ghosts and supernature
play a big role here (I think there's even a possesion subplot) and I appreciated that, there are millions of apparitions,
hallucinations and scary whatnots. The atmosphere plays big and it is great, the directing is stylish and modest but it's
beautifully shot, there is an extended shot of the outside of the house with the shadows of the trees and sun passing by,
cue to a dark gospel of a soundtrack...brilliant.
The characters are a huge plus! Special mention to Erica Leersen who plays the hot witch, Kim Director also does great as
the misunderstood goth girl and her scene in the mart was priceless, she reads her lines with style and could be the best
player here. Every other character does good. The sheriff is the worst player here and he annoyed the living fuck out of me.
The script is smart (the movie doesn't play in straight chronological order, which is good) but flawed. Some questions regarding
the character's pasts are left unanswered like Erica for one, why have her parents been avoiding her? She explains they hated
her being a witch but "The Leersens don't have any daughters"? Come on. The dialogie is at times cheap but handled well and
some of the scares were way too predictable (guy sitting in a rotating chair...he doesn't answer...There you go!).
In the end, Blair Witch managed to avoid falling on the weight of it's predesessor and stands great alone, a thrilling and
chilling psychological mindfuck that made me think and question my own sanity, long live the witch!
Gore:
Some but quick. There's someone munching on a dead owl, quick glimses of people getting bashed in the head, stabbed and gutted.
There's a dead corpse that looked gross (for me anyway), a slashed chest and some more quick blood.
Overall Rating:
"8.5/10". Fun, scary, disturbing and in the end satisfying...I don't get why critics piss on this so much. This is one of
my favorite fixes ever.
review by Leon Sakau
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