BLAIR WITCH 2 MOVIE
BLAIR WITCH 2 PROFESSIONAL

Joe Berlinger: It's funny, it's a movie that I have tried to push out of my consciousness as being the totality of my work. In that regard, even though the initial reaction wasn't what you expected, have you experienced people growing fonder of it over the years, now that there's been more distance from the original Blair Witch Project? Prescient Ideas (Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival/Artisan Entertainment)Ĭ: Before we get too deep into conversation, the first thing I want to make sure you know is how many people love this movie wholeheartedly.

Header photo courtesy of Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival/Artisan Entertainment In honor of the film's recent 20th anniversary, caught up with Berlinger to talk about the legacy of the film, its growing fandom, and witnessing the 'death of truth' become a reality. More recently, it only takes a brief glance at social media to see how many people buy into conspiracies surrounding politics, viruses, or even that the Earth is flat. In 2014, for example, two young girls stabbed their friend in hopes of warding off the figure 'Slender Man,' who was born on the internet in a photo editing contest as storytellers began passing off terrifying tales as reality. Much like the original Blair Witch Project conflated fiction as fact, Book of Shadows' fiction unintentionally became fact.

BLAIR WITCH 2 PROFESSIONAL

Understandably, while audiences and critics were disappointed with the film, so was Berlinger, who hoped to have his name removed from the film, though he ultimately left his name on the picture, knowing the countless personal and professional ramifications of such a decision. In post-production, the studio decided they wanted a more traditional horror film, demanding arbitrary scenes of violence be inserted and that the final scene, which was meant to be a shocking narrative revelation, by interspersed throughout the film, thus robbing the film of much of its suspense. The question, then, was whether these fans were influenced by an actual supernatural presence or if it was merely their devotion to the film that ignited a mania in them, driving them to violence. The original story followed a group of Blair Witch Project fanatics as they travel to the Burkittsville, Maryland woods, experience bizarre occurrences, and realize they played a part in a horrible crime.

Billing a work of fiction as a piece of nonfiction went against many of his beliefs, setting a dangerous precedent of willingly erasing the line between reality and a farce. Despite the cast and crew doing interviews and appearing on talk shows, the studio promoted the film as genuine 'found footage,' which was aided by websites crafted to help sell that authenticity, a gimmick that excited some yet frustrated Berlinger. Additionally, one of his goals with Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 was to shine a light on the dangerous decision by a movie studio to intentionally mislead viewers into thinking The Blair Witch Project was actually depicting three missing filmmakers. Instead, the filmmaker made the bold choice to offer a meditation on the nature of violence in the media and fanaticism.

Previous films like Brother's Keeper and Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills tackled real-life murders, resulting legal proceedings, and lasting cultural impact of such events, giving him unique insight into grim subject matter, which the studio was likely hoping he would embrace for a found-footage continuation of the previous film. Enlisting a documentarian to deliver a horror film was an ambitious move, one which even Berlinger himself didn't entirely agree with.

Blair witch 2