Yesterday brought us a brand new full-length trailer for the highly-anticipated Blair Witch. A two decades late sequel to the 1999 found footage phenomenon, this is one very delayed follow-up that has the potential to do just as much business as the original. Why? Adam Wingard, that’s why.
The horror auteur behind modern genre winners like You’re Next and The Guest is experienced in crafting truly chilling moments that don’t feel contrived. He’s a skilled filmmaker, and working from a script by his long-term collaborator Simon Barrett, Blair Witch becomes an exciting prospect indeed.
This newest batch of TV spots are a smidgen less spoiler-heavy than the recent trailer. The above preview, titled “Remember,” includes a neat throwback to the first film, showing the group of youngsters gathering their equipment and testing it before they roll into the woods. About five seconds later there’s a lot of screaming and people being flung by invisible forces, but still, this is what we’ve come to expect from the Blair Witch. Second up, “Curse” opens with a traipse into the hut from the final shots of the 1999 flick, and leads nicely into a reveal: the main character is the brother of Heather Donahue’s character.
While I’m incredibly excited to see the finished film – I’m a huge fan of the first – I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Lionsgate won’t spill the beans too early. Keeping the whole thing hush-hush all this time was a masterstroke. We need more events like this and 10 Cloverfield Lane, purely for the fact that we then get to see films without having anything spoiled beforehand. Blair Witch looks scary as hell, so let’s hope that we don’t see the witch, or anything else until we take our seats.
A group of college students venture into the Black Hills Forest in Maryland to uncover the mysteries surrounding the disappearance of James’ sister, who many believe is connected to the legend of the Blair Witch. At first the group is hopeful, especially when a pair of locals offer to act as guides through the dark and winding woods, but as the endless night wears on, the group is visited by a menacing presence. Slowly, they begin to realize the legend is all too real and more sinister than they could have imagined.
