The 1999 film The Blair Witch Project was produced in documentary style, but how much of the story was actually true?
Since its introduction in 1999, people have wondered how much of the Blair Witch Project was based on a true story. Was there ever a Blair Witch? Was the footage of the students actually found in the woods after the three novice documentary-makers turned up missing?
The Blair Witch Project: Background and Storyline
In The Blair Witch Project, three students trek into the Maryland woods to investigate the legend of the Blair Witch. They never return. The film consists of footage from their video equipment, which was found abandoned in the woods a year later.
Before they set off, the three had explored local legends in the town of Burkittsville, which was formerly named Blair. Townsfolk appear reluctant to talk, but stories slowly emerge about a hermit, Rustin Parr, who kidnapped and murdered seven children in a house in the woods. Parr turned himself in and confessed to the crimes, but told the police that the spirit of a witch executed in the 18th century caused him to commit the murders.
The shaky webcam documents the story of the three students getting lost in the woods. Heather, Michael and Josh begin to hear spooky sounds at night and discover strange objects left outside their tent which leads them to believe something supernatural is out there. The trio grow more and more terrified as they become even more lost, cold, and hungry. One member of their group, Josh, suddenly disappears. The remaining two hear screams but cannot find him. A bundle is discovered outside the tent which contains human teeth. The two follow anguished cries to an abandoned house in the woods. The footage abruptly stops after what appears to be an encounter with the Blair Witch within the basement of the house. The camera then fades to black.
The Blair Witch Legend—Intentional Confusion
So, how much of the Blair Witch is true? Not much, except the town of Burkittsville. There is no Blair Witch legend and there never was a Blair Witch Project. The entire story was fabricated. The hoax was well-planned from the beginning, and part of an extraordinary marketing ploy which included the intentional filming of a phony documentary complete with a website devoted to the legend's backstory and the making of a faux documentary which was presented as true.
The film, directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, was one of the first to be marketed on the Internet. The website, which contained false newspaper reports and pages from Heather's fake diary, was a real first of its kind. It is no wonder that when the website appeared, many people took it for a true story. After the film came out, the little town was encroached upon by curiosity-seekers and souvenir hunters.
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Inspiration for the Blair Witch Film and Similar Legends
Though there may be some tales of witches and hauntings around Burkittsville, none are matched to the fictional Blair Witch or the Blair Witch Project. The filmmakers drew from many sources to create the Blair Witch legend, including the Salem Witch Trials, the play The Crucible, and inspiration was also drawn from the Bell Witch, a prominent legend of a haunting in Tennessee.
The 1999 independent film The Blair Witch Project was a huge box-office success, whose gross sales far exceeded its very low budget. A 2000 sequel, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 did not share the success of the first film.
The "shaky webcam" and faux documentary effect spawned a whole host of films directed in this style, such as Cloverfield and Paranormal Activity.
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