'Blair Witch' Review: Generation Selfie Gets Lost in the Woods

Legend has it that the early short film “Arrival of a Train” — which showed a train pulling into the station at La Ciotat — so jolted 1896 audiences who had never seen a movie before that they actually fled the theater to avoid being run over. The closest modern audiences have probably come to that level of interactivity was in 1999, when “The Blair Witch Project” offered, for many filmgoers, their first experience with found-footage horror, and the film’s resemblance to first-person documentary unsettled viewers who felt they were watching real, terrifying events unfold before their eyes.

No doubt 1913 audiences would have suppressed a yawn at “Arrival of Yet Another Train,” and similarly, 2016 viewers can’t be expected to be terrified by “Blair Witch,” a sequel/remake that never strays far enough from the original to create a unique brand of terror. Sure, the camera equipment is more sophisticated now (these hikers bring a drone with them), but we’re left with another group of young people running, crying and screaming their way through the woods.

On paper, this should be a slam-dunk: “Blair Witch” is the product of writer Simon Barrett and director Adam Wingard, whose previous collaborations “You’re Next” and “The Guest” rank among the 21st century’s most acclaimed indie horror projects. But not even they have figured out a way to make this movie stand on its own. The filmmaking duo guides us on a slightly different path, but it’s clear early on that the destination will be all too familiar.

See Video: 'The Woods' Trailer Turns Out to Be 'Blair Witch Project' Sequel

This time around, college student James (James Allen McCune, “Shameless”) wants to head into the Burkittsville woods in the hopes that his sister Heather (played by Heather Donahue in the original) might still be alive; his interest is renewed after seeing a clip online posted by “dark web” denizen Lane (Wes Robinson). James heads to the forest, accompanied by lifelong pal Peter (Brandon Scott, “Grey’s Anatomy”), Peter’s girlfriend Ashley (Corbin Reid) and documentarian Lisa (Callie Hernandez, “La La Land”).

They’re joined by Lane and his girlfriend Talia (Valorie Curry, “American Pastoral”), even though Peter and Ashley are less than delighted to have the company of someone who hangs a giant Confederate flag in his living room. The real hero of “Blair Witch” is editor Louis Cioffi, who has to weave together footage from four earpiece cameras, two handhelds and that drone, making all of it coherent and, ostensibly, frightening.

Also Read: Will 'Blair Witch' Beat 'Bridget Jones's Baby' in Box Office Battle of Long-Delayed Sequels?

But familiarity is the enemy of fright, and as these meat puppets venture further and further into the haunted woods, they hit all the same beats as their 1999 predecessors, from getting lost (GPS is no match for the Blair Witch) to finding those creepy stick-figure men hanging in the trees. Barrett takes a stab at a few new ideas — Is one of the group faking the witch’s mayhem? Might Heather actually still be alive after all this time? — but the opening crawl (letting us know that what we’re seeing comes from tapes and memory cards found on May 5, 2014) pretty much announces that we’re doing to do the hokey pokey one more time.

(If there are any references to the ill-fated “Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2” this time around, they slipped right past me.)

Also Read: Adam Wingard's 'Death Note' Jumps From Warner Bros. to Netflix (Exclusive)

“Blair Witch” does manage to generate occasional moments of tension, particularly when it strays from the first film’s narrative and peeks into some new dark corners. (One hiker’s injury allows for some chillingly bloody moments.) The cast is game, if not called upon to do much, and cinematographer Robby Baumgartner (“The Guest”) lights the film in a way that’s creepy and atmospheric, even if he has to hand the bulk of the camerawork over to a bunch of actors.

The ideal audience for “Blair Witch” is probably anyone who never saw “The Blair Witch Project,” but that’s not the best target demographic for a found-footage horror movie. This new batch of unhappy campers might be more comfortable with taking selfies than their predecessors, but their wilderness survival skills certainly aren’t any better.

18 Summer Movie Winners and Losers: From 'Captain America: Civil War' to 'Ben-Hur' (Photos)

As this summer's movie season ends, we take a look back at the hits, misses, rising stars and the downright disastrous.
Various
Winner: "Finding Dory"
Disney's long-awaited "Finding Nemo" sequel cashed in on 13 years of anticipation, as it became the number one movie of the year with $480 million at the domestic box office. And with the movie still yet to open in several major foreign markets, it could clear $1 billion worldwide.
Disney-Pixar
Loser: Jared Leto
While audiences and critics largely approved of the actor's take on The Joker in "Suicide Squad," his part was heavily cut when the studio made major changes to the movie to make it lighter in tone. A bad move on both parts.
Warner Bros./Jared Leto
Winner: Spider-Man in "Civil War"
An epic win for both Marvel Studios and Sony as audiences roared at the arrival of Spider-Man (Tom Holland) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The web slinger left quite an impression, became meme fabulous, and launched his own trilogy with the first film arriving next summer.
Disney-Marvel
Loser: "Ghostbusters"
Even with fabulously funny ladies in Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Melissa McCarthy, the franchise reboot did not live up to fantastic fan hype. Nor did it sink as far and fast as detractors would have hoped. Sony Pictures is still undecided on a possible sequel, so there still might be some fight left in “Ghostbusters.”
Sony
Winner: Kevin Hart
The comedian starred in two of the top 10 summer movies, "Central Intelligence" alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and "The Secret Life of Pets" -- the latter having so much success that it warranted a sequel announcement less than a month after its release and has currently made more than $350 million in North America.
Getty/Universal
Winner and Loser: "Sausage Party" and its animators
Seth Rogen's raunchy R-rated comedy was one of the sleeper hits of the summer, rolling to $80 million at the box office on a $19 million budget. But that windfall didn't benefit the movie's animators at Vancouver's Nitrogen Studios, who are alleging they were shorted on overtime pay and threatened with not receiving credits on the movie if they quit.
Sony
Winner: Scary Movies
It started with "The Conjuring 2" as horror movies and scary thrillers alike became the summer's most consistent money makers. Made on much smaller budgets than studio tentpoles, movies like "The Shallows," "The Purge: Election Year," "Lights Out" and "Don't Breathe" represented the highest profit margins of the season.
Universal
Winner and Loser: "Warcraft"
Legendary's video game fantasy epic made just $47 million in U.S. theaters on a $160 million budget, and scored an abysmal 28 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. But people are already talking about "Warcraft 2," as its $386 million in foreign box office revenue -- more than half from China -- more than made up for its flop at home.
Legendary
Winner and Loser: Chris Pine
There's no doubt that the actor got a lot of exposure this summer, appearing in both "Star Trek: Beyond" and indie darling "Hell or High Water." But while the "Star Trek" sequel is the sixth highest grossing movie of the summer with just more than $151 million, it was made for a whopping $185 million. On the other side of the spectrum, "Hell" is set to be the highest grossing indie of the summer with nearly $9 million and counting.
CBS Films
Loser: "Independence Day: Resurgence"
When it came in $10 million lower than predicted -- at an estimated $41.6 million for its opening weekend -- this 20-years-later sequel quite literally bombed. "Resurgence" didn't feature the original's lead Will Smith, plus the other returning cast members, including Jeff Goldblum and Liam Hemsworth, weren't big enough box office draws.
20th Century Fox
Winner: "Bad Moms"
This plucky matriarchal comedy came through for young STX when the studio really needed a win. Starring Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Christina Applegate, "Bad Moms" made back its $20 million budget in its first weekend alone, going on to amass $124 million and counting worldwide.
STX
Loser: "Ben-Hur"
It was never exactly clear where the demand was for a new "Ben-Hur," and the box office proved that out, as MGM and Paramount's remake of Charlton Heston's 1959 chariot-racing epic ran aground to just $19.6 million to date on an estimated $100 million budget. Heston's three-and-a-half hour original made $74 million.
Paramount
Winner: Sigourney Weaver
A healthy mix of the original male “Ghostbusters” popped up in Paul Feig’s all-female reboot, but audiences were truly waiting for the queen of the '80s classic, Sigourney Weaver. who pops up near the end as mentor to Kate McKinnon’s character. Weaver also got an aural cameo (and onscreen shout-out) in the summer's biggest hit, "Finding Dory."
Getty Images
Loser: "Popstar"
This comedy would have perhaps fared better at the box office if it were rated PG-13 instead of R. There's also the fact that Andy Samberg can't open a film as a leading man as titles perform better when he's lending his voice to an ensemble animated film.

Also Read: 5 Reasons Why Andy Samberg’s ‘Popstar’ Is a Lonely Island at the Box Office
Universal
Winner: Mike Birbiglia
The self-deprecating Birbiglia emerged as a considerable directing talent with the funny and tender “Don’t Think Twice,” about an improv group that confronts its future when one member achieves the success they’d all been hoping for. Birbiglia has been a heat-seeker since his debut “Sleepwalk With Me,” but with the helpful hand of his producing partner and NPR personality Ira Glass, he’s finally broken through.
The Film Arcade
Loser: "Free State of Jones"
One of the more expensive bombs for upstart distributor STX Entertainment starred Matthew McConaughey. It proved that the only type of Civil War film that worked this summer involved Marvel superheroes, not Confederate soldiers.
STX
Winner and Loser: Margot Robbie
The Australian beauty hit the jackpot as Harley Quinn in the comic book movie hit "Suicide Squad." But she didn't get good reviews -- or box office grosses -- for her role as Jane in "The Legend of Tarzan." Many said Robbie was one of the best parts of the Warner Bros. antihero film, while "Tarzan" made a weak showing stateside, earning only $125.9 million against its hefty $180 million budget.
Warner Bros.
Winner: "Captain America: Civil War"
This supercharged sequel sped into the billion-dollar club after only two weeks in theaters, also going on to become the highest-grossing film in the "Captain America" series. Great reviews and new characters like Spider-Man and Black Panther helped the Disney-Marvel movie become second highest-grossing movie of the summer, just behind Disney-Pixar's "Finding Dory."
Disney-Marvel