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Having seen the first Blair Witch Project with agreeable but weary assessment, I sat down to watch Book Of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 last night with a large chip on my shoulder. I absolutely knew that the filmmakers had blown any chance of creating a workable franchise, since this first sequel seemed geared at the Urban Legend crowd. Bring some fresh-faced pseudo-teen performers with smart mouths, a "follow the bouncing ball" script and some neo-Marilyn Manson songs on the soundtrack, and boom! You've got your next-year Hollywood sequel. Just let the number crunchers at Artisan count the till.
There's a slight problem with that scenario, though. Much as I was surprised to find, Blair Witch 2 is actually decent. No, it's more than that....it's pretty damned good.
Blair Witch 2 works on a few levels, not the least of which is self-parody. The opening shots feature a spattering of television commentary on the media reaction to the Blair Witch Project phenomenom from two years ago, including a hilarious newscast shot of the country-bumpkin sheriff running off spectators by bellowing into a megaphone, "There is no g--damned Blair Witch!" The idea is that Heather, Mike and Josh really did disappear, and their footage was found, but a lot of folks think it's a bunch of BS. And now a rag-tag group of college-aged kids get together on the grounds of what used to be the fabled Rustin Parr home and, with their various cameras and microphones, decide to shoot their own little observation piece on this little patch of woods in Burkittsville, Maryland.
All is well and cheery as these hedonists guzzle Moosehead beer and make Blair Witch jokes (when I heard "How many Heather Donahue's does it take to change a light-bulb?" I was utterly drawn in). They are even accosted by a group of tourists doing their own Blair Witch hike, and after a hasty confrontation as to who has territoriality on the site, the tourists grudgingly saunter on. Meanwhile, our heroes sink into a booze-induced sleep. When they awaken the next morning, it becomes apparent that something dark has happened during the night, and they are somehow involved.
From this point, sanities begin to unravel. One character suffers a miscarriage which seems to come back to haunt her. Another character invites the group to his fortress-like retreat deep in the woods, where he's been studying the Blair Witch phenomenon and using computer technology to unlock devestating secrets. Yet another character, a practicing member of the Wicca religion, is thrust into the role of trying to decipher what is afoot here, though she is painfully unable. And then there is the token goth girl, who wields a mean fingernail file....though she doesn't know it until later on.
Without giving away any more (and trust me....this write-up barely scratches the surface of what's to come in Blair Witch 2), it is sufficient to say that the conclusion completely turns the tables on all that has transpired before it. This is an ending that sticks in your throat. I like those.
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This film stands to put off both fans and non-fans of the 1999 original film alike. Purists will not like the straightforward "movie" approach here that replaces the handheld-camera documentary technique so prevalent in the original. Non-fans, meanwhile, will tend to wonder why they bothered making a follow-up to what they saw as an unworthy contender in the canon of modern horror.