Whistlin' Past the Graveyard

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Rating: R

Runtime: 81 minutes

Box Office (in today’s dollars): 200 million (approximately)

Characters: Heather Donahue, Josh Leonard, Mike Williams

Favorite Quote: “I’m scared to close my eyes. I’m scared to open them.”

Favorite Scene: The end scene where Heather sees Mike standing in the corner

Favorite Character: Heather

Other need-to-see nineties movies directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez: none

I remember reading about this movie and believing the events were real . . . up until about three days before it hit the theaters. To be fair, this was before the internet was everywhere, in my world anyway. I had to travel a distance to find a theater that was playing it, and even though I saw it during the daytime, I was so scared driving home. Who would have thought piles of rocks, stick people, and a bag of teeth could be so terrifying?? The movie itself is basic: there are only three main characters, and it’s only about 80 minutes long. But so much happens (or doesn’t) in that small amount of time that you are on the edge of your seat (or under it). Heather is the “leader” of the group, so she is my favorite. Josh isn’t around for much of the movie and Mike is kind of a jerk, so it was easy to choose her.

The movie is designed to be improvised, so the dialogue feels so real . . . because it is. My favorite line from the movie is delivered by Heather, even though the snot running from her nose is a little distracting. “I’m scared to close my eyes. I’m scared to open them”, is something I could see myself saying in that situation. The scene that was the most scariest was also my favorite and it still gives me chills just thinking about it. Mike standing in the corner and Heather dropping the camera . . . I couldn’t get out of the theater fast enough!!

This review has taken me a while to write. I watched this movie for my blog in September of 2019. I then moved into a house in October in Vermont, after living in an apartment for 14 years in New Hampshire. My mom died two weeks later, and then I got married two months after that. I just didn’t have the drive to sit down in front of a computer and type. But I can now move on to the next movie. I’m finally finished.

Next movie to review: The Iron Giant