Cast (in credits order)
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 Movie Trailer
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000) Official Trailer - Horror Sequel Movie HD
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 Movie Description
In "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 Movie" follows a group of fanatics obsessed with the Blair Witch legend following the first release of the film. One of them is a mentally unstable local; a husband-and-wife team of graduate students studying Blair Witch; a self-proclaimed Wiccan; and a depressed goth.
The five camp in the ruins of Rustin Parr's house, where the Blair Witch tapes were "found," and experience a mental blackout in which they fail to remember several hours of each night.
In a daze and confusion, they retreat to the warehouse-house of the group's leader, where their personal psychological breakdowns reveal the disturbing truth to them.
I'm going to say it straight: I love Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 movie. It was, and continues to be, met with hostility from fans of the original, which still quite frankly baffles me. It's not nearly as terrifying as the original film, but it's simplistic in its own way.
Rather than watch the sequel rehash the first film's material, co-writer/director Joe Berlinger offers something different: a narrative within a world in which "The Blair Witch Project" was actual footage—a world in which the characters resides.
To shameless believers, to academic skeptics, to people who merely "thought the movie was cool."
With a common interest, they head out into the woods to find some evidence - but everything goes awry when one of the women has a premature miscarriage, and they are forced to return to the leader's house , where the film ends up being a bloody psychological thriller.
What is real, and what is not? Where's Blair Witch? Lurking out in the woods? Wearing one of the characters? Is he there too?
These kinds of questions play havoc with the script, and the result is wildly engaging. The performances are top-notch, and the film is full of disturbing scenes and images and some terrifying scenarios.
The score gives the film an oppressive tone, and it is completely immersed in an atmosphere of unease that becomes more and more pervasive as the five characters bear witness to the inexplicable.
The film plays its cards well and is careful in its subtleties, which leads to a downbeat and twisted conclusion.
Overall, "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 Movie" has been heavily criticized by fans who don't seem to have taken the time to try and understand what it's trying to do. This is not a rehash of the original film, and it never aims to be.
The approach taken is plausible and rather brilliant, and it manages to establish an increasingly oppressive feeling on the viewer, which in my opinion is the real catch here - it's really unnecessary to watch, and that's somewhat rare these days. .
In an article titled "Telling the Untold Story of the Blair Witch Project", the authors thoroughly explain how, after the absolutely incredible success of TBWP, the small independent studios that came together to produce the film were purchased by Artisan. was (who produced the sequel).
The original creators asked Artisan to give the publicity (both acclaim and backlash) time to cool down before releasing the sequel, for which they had many intense ideas. However, the artisans were not there for the story, for the creativity, or for continuing the original original creation.
They were there for the money. They bought the rights to the franchise to try and milk it dry, and that means hitting the iron while it's still hot from all the buzz surrounding the original film. It was meant to be a sequel, stat.
The above article refers to Book of Shadows movie as an "atrocious" film that completely buried the franchise, snuffing out the flame of potential to become a supernatural horror masterpiece.
It also drew comparisons to Batman and Robin, icons of bad cinema. I'm here to tell you otherwise. Not because I'm some teenage rebel or pathetic Age-Lord saying that bad = good for the sake or brawl, but because I truly and honestly feel that Book of Shadows movie got a raw deal. I'm here to say that this was the perfect sequel to TBWP.
First - setting. Thousands of people are making the journey, actually the pilgrimage, to the Black Hills forest where the original film was shot, or rather - where the footage allegedly made by the original missing students was found.
The small town has become a tourist attraction, and everyone has their own opinion. Some enjoy the extra attention. Some want to be left alone and feel attacked. And some good ol' Americans like to live out the American dream and make some bucks by offering tourist attractions.
This is how four tourists (again, with the same names as the actual cast members for complete authenticity effect) find themselves on a business tour. This is how things start to go wrong.
The choice of stereotypical characters is very reminiscent of classic slashers. a "Wiccan" who never misses an opportunity to state how annoyed she is with how witches are treated as evil beings when they are actually "daughters of nature"; a goth poser claiming to be psychic; a romantic pairing composed of a believer (perception creates reality) and a skeptic (group delusion and collective hysteria); and the tour manager, a stoner with a past of mental illnesses.
However, each character is beautifully developed, providing excellent service to the plot. By the end, anyone paying attention will be able to tell why each character type was chosen for the film.
Ultimately, what really makes Book of Shadows movie great is that it truly feels like a fan-art film made for a cult classic, even though it came out just a year after the original.
I saw TBWP yesterday, and Book of Shadows Film made me feel like it's been ages. The narrative that drives the plot presents the whole incident as ridiculous, mocking those naïve people and is actually quite pathetic for the original film's publicity stunt, all the while showing the blunt and harsh scenes that involved raise more than reasonable doubts about being a supernatural power.
The ending is, of course, the final brilliant move and an excellent conclusion while coping with a plot twist with a tragic outcome.
Now, yes, the entire film is very much a franchise that toots its own horn and catapults itself to the status of a cult classic.
This is arrogance bordering on arrogance. But don't forget that these are different makers and a different studio, so they're basically paying homage to the original creators. Yes, they are doing this to lay the foundation for their future success, but still, it comes across as sincere and innocent in the film itself.
Crowds of movie fans attracted by the movie 'The Blair Witch Project' are flocking to the movie's small town. One such group books a 'Blair Witch Hunt' tour to camp and sightsee in the woods.
When they wake up the next morning to find their camera equipment smashed, 5 hours unaccounted for and their film hidden in the same spot where the original film had their film, they are unsure what happened. However when they replay the videotape they see some very strange things.
Undeterred by the bad reviews, I decided to watch the film on television that night. Initially I was impressed with the idea that, instead of following the original film, the sequel breaks the idea of the original as a documentary and presents it as a film but then uses the film to present another story.
does for what is 'in the real world'. Conceptually it was quite clever and I was drawn in by it. Sadly, it didn't last very long and it wasn't long before it became a generic movie that wasn't scary in any way and was actually quite dull.
The plot is interesting enough that I keep watching anyway. The twists are meant to be horrifying and perhaps surprising in the end, but by the time they were passed out of me was an "ugh" of vague interest.
It's noisy chat and fake surprises and creepy antics for most of the movie. They didn't work because the film felt too pointless and disjointed. I guess the gore and glossy editing of the violence were supposed to keep us guessing, but they only served to numb me into the film, as did the occasional dream/fantasy sequence.
It was a shame as it was a clever idea and had some good parts but the delivery let it down.
The direction is very plain and doesn't manage to create an air of suspense anywhere near as well as the original, resulting in a boring series of scenes, punctuated by 'scarers' that don't work.
The cast doesn't really help either, they don't come across as real people and it's hard to care as a bunch of self important people playing on the stereotypes goth, witch, college guy etc.
At least in the original we've seen them break down and become more terrified over the course of the movie where they could be the cast of any teen horror movie.
As you might have guessed I'm not a huge fan of teen slasher movies, but Blair Witch was much more than that and traded on the atmosphere which was its strength.
By throwing in gore and scantily clad scenes of horror from the outset, Book of Shadows movie loses that power and becomes a movie that lives and dies on its ability to scare.
Sadly a basically good idea doesn't scare and remains 'interesting' and nothing more. It's a shame they had to make this movie because it won't satisfy those who like their creepy horror flicks or those who like it gory.