The Blair Witch Project or: An Electrifying Achievement in Terror and Realism (Film Analysis)

In 1993, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez began development on what would eventually be a low-budget horror film told entirely through handheld cameras from a first-person perspective.  The concept came from how both men found documentaries on the paranormal scarier than traditional horror films.  The end result was a sixty-thousand-dollar indie film called The Blair Witch Project.  The tiny film would end up grossing over two-hundred and forty-eight million dollars at the box office, a ratio of one dollar for every ten-thousand, nine-hundred, and thirty-one made.  The Blair Witch Project would end up in the Guinness Book of World Records for "top budget box office ratio" for a mainstream feature film, becoming one of the most financially successful, well-recognized, and influential indie films from the 20th century.  It spawned a sequel, a remake, multiple video games, books, comic books, and even a real documentary on the film’s production.  The film revived the found-footage genre as well as popularizing the idea of telling stories using the first-person perspective.

Halloween: 2018 (Film Review)

2018’s Halloween is an oddity among the slew of 2010s’ sequels and reboots.  It’s a direct sequel to the original 1978 Halloween, wiping all previous sequels from the continuity as well as ignoring the Rob Zombie remakes.  This makes 2018’s Halloween the franchise’s second soft reboot (after Halloween H20), third direct sequel to one of its first installments, and third film to be titled Halloween.  Unique and rather strange to this film, however, is it’s the first direct sequel to share its predecessor’s title—done obviously for marketing purposes (easier to market the film as a standalone feature than a sequel to another film made forty years ago) while making it a pain to write about.  As such, I will be referring to the newest Halloween as 2018 from this point onward.

Oculus (Halloween Special!)

Oculus is a strange case of horror genre idiocy, with the knowledge of how to destroy the monster (in this case an ancient, demonic mirror which controls people through illusions; causing them to perform unspeakable acts against themselves and their family) being researched, understood and set-up by our protagonists.  The only problem is the characters fail to follow their own plan; defying all common sense until it’s too late.  Video surveillance reveals reality under the mirror’s illusions; yet while they set up several recorders and own phones capable of filming, both protagonists rely on their eyes (which has been proven to fail) while rarely utilizing the cameras.  They know the mirror can absorb life from dogs and plants to increase its power, yet go right ahead with setting plenty of plants AND a dog around its range; granted it’s so they can prove the mirror’s power (which was able to frame their dad for murder), yet wouldn't that be similar to proving Freddy Krueger’s existence…by spreading terrifying rumors he’ll kill you if you believe in him?  These cases of forgetful stupidity make the mirror’s victory seem hollow and unsatisfying, not to mention bleak with all the misery it puts our protagonists through, yet never getting equal retribution.