The Blair Witch Project

It is to the "Blair Witch" filmmakers' (and I am talking about Myrick and Sanchez, not Donahue, Leonard, and Williams) great credit that for the most part, they get away with the central conceit that three tired, hungry, lost, and above all, frightened-out-of-their-minds documentarians would still keep rolling footage under the dire circumstances in which they find themselves -- for that is one of the movie's only shortcomings (even though the majority of the audience won't notice or won't mind). The Project's plus column, however, is far longer than the minus one, as the very fabric of the improvisational techniques employed holds together an authenticity virtually guaranteed to send shivers down the backs of all but the most road-hardened horror vets. The interplay among Donahue, Leonard, and Williams is refreshingly funny in the early stages, which only ratchets up the intensity when doom seems to be knocking (or howling or scratching or leaving creepy tokens outside the campers' tent). The Blair Witch Project has all of the necessary sequences to assure its cult status (I love the stick figures) and the mysterious, dread-filled ending will most certainly set fans arguing -- once they catch their breath.