Everyone Who Saw ‘Paranormal Activity’ to Blame for ‘Blair Witch 3′
by Britt Hayes
That’s right, if you saw Paranormal Activity, you are now one of the many to blame if and when a new Blair Witch film comes out. The Star is reporting that a new Blair Witch installment is under way. Speaking with co-writer and director of the first film, Eduardo Sanchez, The Star reports:
They’d pick up from where the original left off, pretending Blair Witch 2 never happened. The duo recently went on a drive through their original Blair Witch haunts, about a half hour from Sánchez’s Maryland home, looking for inspiration.
They’ve worked up a treatment for a new story, which would involve original cast members Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams, albeit in smaller roles.
“We’re at the step where we’re about to pitch to Lionsgate, which owns the movie rights now. It’s pretty much up to them. They can completely squash it or greenlight it.”
Here’s something I AM on board with: pretending Blair Witch 2 never happened. When that film came out, I was 15. Things were different then. I listened to Marilyn Manson and carried lunchboxes as purses, so naturally, I enjoyed the film. But I am older now, and with great age comes great responsibility…or something to that effect. Basically, I realize what a crap fest that second film was and still is.
As for the first film – when I first watched it, opening weekend in a packed theater, I won’t lie: it scared me. Well, let me clarify: two parts of that film scared me. When the trio are in their tents, hear noises, and come out to inspect, only to find a folded cloth containing what appeared to be teeth, hair, a finger, and what I believe was a fucking tongue – that was scary. And of course the last 5 minutes of the film were pretty terrifying as well. Of course, around the time of the film’s initial release, people started discovering that it was indeed not a true story, which took away some of the power the movie had over audiences. Add to that about 10 years of aging, and most people will now tell you that they hated The Blair Witch Project.
I think people really just hate the marketing schemes and how gullible they were, or maybe they’ve seen it too many times. And then there were 5 years of spoofs of the infamous Heather Donahue crying, snot bubble close-up that wouldn’t let up in movies and television shows. Every kid I went to high school with went into the local woods with a video camera. I personally haven’t watched the movie in years, so I don’t know what I think of it now. It was successful and frightening in its own time, and perhaps without that shitty sequel leaving a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, we would’ve all moved on by now and let it go.
But now because of the success of Paranormal Activity, we’ll have a whole new Blair Witch to know and love and/or hate accordingly. In Sanchez’s interview with The Star, he doesn’t give an indication of where this new plot would go. I imagine it’s a rehashing of the first film, but with new characters, who most likely attend the same college the original trio did, and go into the woods 10 years later intending to discover “what really happened”. A third film was talked about for years with the intention to make it into a prequel, focusing on the mythology of the Blair Witch – more of a period piece/origin story. Obviously that is not the direction they’re working on now. Whatever direction they take, we’ll keep you posted.
