If you hate this The Blair Witch Project sequel, you may want to give it a second chance.
The Blair Witch Projectwas such a sensation, people are still talking about it 25 years later.
But heres the thing: Its actually a stellar sequel if you just lower your quality bar a smidge.
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 / Artisan Entertainment
The Movie Within a Movie
They couldnt just go ahead and make another found footage movie.
Everyone fell for it the first time, so they wont fall for it again.
Why not subvert all expectations and play into the fact that the originalBlair Witchwas just a movie?
And thats what it is inBook of Shadows.
And thats where we go from a normal little tour to a horrifying nightmare.
They wake up with their campsite destroyed and a nearby group of tourists murdered in witchy ways.
Artisan Entertainment
And thats just the beginning.
Its fun to feel like youre immersed in the action.
But Ive never been so motion sick as I was when I saw the first movie in the theater.
Artisan Entertainment
Instead, its just a traditional steady-cam horror movie, which is fine by me.
But unlike the original, this one had a cast member become well-known after the fact.
Our unhinged tour guide Jeff is played by Jeffrey Donovan.
Artisan Entertainment
The Ridiculousness of Widdershins
Now, Im not saying this is a perfect movie.
But the parts of the movie that are silly land firmly in the so bad its good category.
Much of the dialog feels like an afterthought.
For instance, the Wiccan woman, Erica, mentions widdershins but never explains what it is.
Its mentioned a few more times in the climax and just seems like gibberish.
It turns out that its just a Scottish way to say counter-clockwise and has some spiritual connotations.
Since its just thrown out in the script without any care, it makes the dialog feel weird.
And thats whatBook of Shadowsdoes.
File this one under twist endings.
The Movie Everyone Hated
Theres a reason why everyone forgot about this movie: They hated it.
The directors original version didnt have the insane asylum scenes or the footage of the murdered tourists.
He wasnt happy with the final cut, but that doesnt mean we cant be.
