!!!WARNING: SPOILERS EVERYWHERE!!!First, I'll go over the plot and back story of The Blair Witch Project as a basis before I exhibit my views on Blair Witch 2.
The folklore or mythology, established by The Blair Witch Project and Curse of the Blair Witch, takes note that Elly presumably makes her presence known to the community of Blair/Burkitsville, MD every 40, 50 or 60 years. So that's about every generation.
1785-1786
Elly is accused of bloodletting by children of Blair, MD. Kedward is found guilty of witchcraft and banished. Afterward, her accusers and many other children disappear. Assumed to be a curse, the townspeople flee.
~40 years~
1825
Eleven witnesses testify to seeing a ghostly, feminine hand pull ten year old Eileen Treacle into shallow Tappy East Creek. Her body is never found and for thirteen days after the drowning, the creek's water becomes unusable and is full of strange bundles of sticks.
~60 years~
1886
Robin Weaver, eight years old, goes missing and a search party is dispatched. Robin returns but the search party does not. A second search party is sent and they're found on top of Coffin Rock, disemboweled and tied together at the arms and legs. Robin tells the inquiring townsfolk that she was lead into the woods by a ghostly woman.
~60 years~
1940-1941
Seven children are abducted from Burkittsville, MD. A hermit by the name of Rustin Parr goes into the local market, saying he's "
finally finished". Suspicious townspeople send the police to his cabin in the woods, where they find the seven children ritualistically murdered and disemboweled in his cellar. Parr admits to the murders, claiming a ghostly old woman who lives in the woods told him to do it. He is hanged for his crime and his house is burned to the foundation.
~50 years~
1994-1997
Three college film students, Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael Williams, go into the woods of Burkittsville, MD to shoot a documentary about the mythology of the Blair witch. In the footage, they are haunted by strange noises and physical anomalies, the biggest of which is seeing and going into the supposedly burned down, but strangely intact, Parr house to look for Josh, who goes missing first out of the three.
After a year of failed searches, an anthropological dig lead by the University of Maryland finds a dufflebag containing the cameras, film and tapes used by the three students. The structure of the hole in which the bag was found is an anomaly because it seems as if the bag materialized in the earth, rather than being physically buried.
Haxan films agrees to edit the footage together chronologically for the families of the missing.
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Blair Witch 2 is about fans caught up in the hype of The Blair Witch Project who visit the Parr house ruins on a tour of the first film's shooting locations. After a night of drinking and doing drugs, they black out.
They wake up the next day to find their cameras and other possessions torn, broken and thrown around them.
Eventually, it's learned that they killed another tour group during the blackout in a ritualistic fashion, presumably under the control of Elly.
The events of Blair Witch 2 take place only six years after 1994, breaking the established generations pattern, which is the main reason I don't like it. As a side story or a spin-off, it's okay, I suppose, but I can't accept it as canon.
I generally dislike the characters, as they act like buffoons. The hauntings aren't subtle or ambiguous at all in comparison to the first film.
As a standalone movie it's mediocre, as a sequel to Blair it's absolute garbage.
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As for The Last Broadcast, I find it miles better than BW2. In fact, I find the build up of TLB to be better than Project.
Don't get me wrong, I love The Blair Witch Project, but I find the lack of depth into the mythology that's in the main feature to be a bit disappointing.
The Last Broadcast is about two hosts of a public broadcast TV show called "
Fact or Fiction?" which is a show about the paranormal. They are given an idea via IRC on the internet that they should do a show about the
Jersey Devil. They join up with a sound man and a psychic and journey out into the
Pine Barrens to broadcast a live show, hoping to catch the creature on tape. Three go missing, but the supposed psychic gets out and calls 911.
Authorities soon find the bodies and/or remains of the missing three and of course the psychic is the first and only suspect. The evidence against him is overwhelming, and he's sent to prison where he eventually dies.
After his death, more clues are found. It is suggested that the murder was actually performed by a creature.
Distorted VHS tape is later sent in by an anonymous mailer as more evidence. The extremely blurred face of the humanoid-looking killer can barely be seen on the tape, so it's sent out to have the image repaired.
The ending is unforgivably bad, IMO. I won't state the ending here, you'll have to watch it.
Anyway, after my long winded spiel:
The Last Broadcast > Blair Witch 2