|
Post by mrtnflmngak on Sept 17, 2016 7:54:50 GMT -6
I definitely took that it was the witch taking his voice to turn her around. It was the exact same line, exact same sound bite that he'd said a minute before. I thought the witch used some audio hallucination for James to turn around then one for Lisa.
|
|
|
Post by slimetent on Sept 17, 2016 7:57:40 GMT -6
After watching the movie 3 times now, my opinion has unfortunately dipped quite a bit. I think initially seeing the movie in a surprise screening just added so much to the experience - but overall it just doesn't carry that same sense of authenticity that BWP nailed. My initial quibbles have grown into major issues with the film overall. Still don't hate it, but I certainly don't love it. PROS - any reference to the first film.
- any reference to the Blair Witch mythology
- the set design of Parr's house (the spot-on recreation of the basement gave me chills)
- some of the additions to the lore/rules (Talia's stickman death, Lane being Parr 2.0, expansion of the time loop concept)
CONS - the jump scares are incredibly stupid and inane. 90% of them were the characters randomly bumping into each other, but how is that even possible? Talia says that sound travels far in the woods.. well that doesn't seem to apply to their footsteps as they never seem to hear each other until it's time for a convenient jump scare. It's so utterly contrived that it completely took me out of the movie each time it happened.
- the dialogue felt overly scripted and the acting was quite poor on the most part. A big part of what sold the authenticity (and heightened the sense of immersion) in BWP is the improv performances. That said, I think Callie Hernandez (Lisa) did a great job at acting genuinely terrified - especially in those last 20 minutes of the movie.
- the sound design, shot framing, and digital artifacts are completely unrealistic. Why are they looking at ear cams when conversing? Why the 'digital noise' sound effects and artifacts every time a cut occurs? Why are there ominous bass notes orchestrating random events? It all gave it an incredibly 'over-produced' feeling.
As a Hollywood-produced found footage movie I give it a 7.5 (out of 10). As a Blair Witch sequel I give it about a 6.5.
|
|
|
Post by Tweek on Sept 17, 2016 8:04:51 GMT -6
The sense of realism was missing. Felt like I was watching actors rather than real events.
|
|
|
Post by slimetent on Sept 17, 2016 8:08:18 GMT -6
Agreed. As much as this is a sequel it felt more like a Hollywood, big-studio backed version of the original.
|
|
trey
rock pile disturber
I see a dirty behind!
Posts: 199
|
Post by trey on Sept 17, 2016 9:30:12 GMT -6
Slimetent: Agreed on all points. I did like the movie, but you point out all of the things I didn't like about it as well.
|
|
|
Post by Tweek on Sept 17, 2016 9:41:53 GMT -6
The Blair Witch Cult book gets a mention too. Casual viewers wouldn't know what that is. Nice reference!
So is Lane this movie's Rustin Parr? Or maybe Kyle Brody? He said he had been out there before. Maybe Elly put the whammy on him and let him leave to bring others out there for sacrifice? Just a random thought.
Kinda cool that it stayed dark out and morning never came. Time runs differently out there it seems. And Lane's statement that it had been 5 days since they left the main group while for the others it was the same day. That was clever.
|
|
trey
rock pile disturber
I see a dirty behind!
Posts: 199
|
Post by trey on Sept 17, 2016 9:49:34 GMT -6
He did "joke" about that when they were all hanging out and still getting along, I think around the campfire. Something like "Maybe she used me to lead you all here!" When he said that, I nodded, thinking that had been the case already.
|
|
|
Post by Tweek on Sept 17, 2016 9:55:24 GMT -6
Wish they had done more with the drone. Really was no point to having it other than luring Ashley up a tree.
|
|
mitabrin
crosser of fallen logs
Posts: 7
|
Post by mitabrin on Sept 17, 2016 11:37:14 GMT -6
Yeah... The drone was really useful only to establish, that The Black Hills forest became basically endless... Imo though the idea of having a drone would be kinda pointelss with the "eternal night" setting of the movie... When it's pitch black you probably wouldn't be able to see much from a drone camera.
|
|
trey
rock pile disturber
I see a dirty behind!
Posts: 199
|
Post by trey on Sept 17, 2016 12:24:40 GMT -6
I guess you could chalk this up to the Blair Witch being really savvy about keeping up with technology and screwing with intruders in her woods that way. Way back when: she drags a little girl into a shallow creek. 1940s: She talks a hermit into kidnapping and murdering kids. 1990s: College kids with film and video cameras go in thinking it's a big joke and wind up dead. 2014: Milleneals growing up in the age of being obesssed with documenting every single thought they have go in with their state of the art recording tech and get majorly phucked over. Works for me.
|
|
|
Post by Tweek on Sept 17, 2016 13:37:34 GMT -6
I think I enjoyed it more the second time. Since I knew the plot already I was more focused on the dialogue and the background details.
Only about ten people in the theater this time as well. This movie ain't gonna break no box office records. A shame.
|
|
|
Post by Anarchist86ed on Sept 17, 2016 13:44:14 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by Tweek on Sept 17, 2016 16:27:35 GMT -6
Ashley's foot injury bugged me. What was the point? One minute she's near death and the next she's running around the woods and climbing trees like nothing happened? And about the drone. Those sure must be some great batteries in that thing for it to still be working after being on all that time. And shouldn't she have turned it off before heading up the tree? Good way to lose some fingers reaching for that thing while it's on. That's what I expected to see when she reached for it. Anyone know what all Lane says to Lisa before he drops her down to the tunnel area? I've seen it twice and still couldn't make out all of it. Today I kept reaching for my imaginary remote to turn on the subtitles
|
|
Woll
rock pile disturber
Posts: 176
|
Post by Woll on Sept 18, 2016 4:17:01 GMT -6
Saw it last night. It was better than expected, but my expectations weren't so high to begin with. I was horribly disappointed by what everyone said was an amazing last 10-15 minutes. The false scares were obnoxious. It was like every time a character decided to abruptly jump into frame, they slapped two boards together to make a loud bang. Gone are the days of subtle noises in the night, now they're extremely loud so you can't possibly miss them.
The foot injury and parasite added nothing to the story, and as far as I can remember, had nothing to do with the folklore, so I'm not sure why it was in the movie. I did like the mentions of the Tappy East Creek incident and the bit about Elly being left out in the woods, I expected Parr to be mentioned.
The whole don't look at the witch or you'll die thing was silly. And the only way in which the Blair gets you is being out there at night? You mean to tell me nobody went hunting or something at night in those woods for so many 40 to 60 year intervals? What about Eileen Treacle? Was her family at the creek at night? Why? Did the Robin Weaver search party go out at night? Why?
Not too crazy about Elly being shown as a spider/slenderman like thing. Shouldn't have been shown at all.
|
|
|
Post by Tweek on Sept 18, 2016 6:22:15 GMT -6
Jump scares (and the loud noise that goes along with it) really destroy suspense and tension. And it's just characters walking up (silently I might add) and then bumping into each other. Talia said sound travels far in these woods. Apparently not. Unless it's the invisible T-Rex knocking down trees. Or whatever that was. Then it's unrealistically loud. So much for "found footage". I suspect that, in the attempt to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, the jump scares were put in. Modern audiences equate things popping into frame with loud sound effects as horror. Darn fool kids'll never learn. Such is the state of the genre these days.
Since time is so warped in this movie, I had a thought. When they are outside the house and James thinks he sees Heather with a flashlight in an upstairs window, maybe that's actually future Lisa running around? Or James himself?
So you die instantly if you look in her eyes. Since when? So Elly is Medusa now?
Lane has a beard the last time Lisa sees him. Didn't start the movie with one. Wonder how much time passed for that character? And did he get any good footage after he and Talia left the main group?
Know what would have been a cool ending? Run the closing credits with a shot of Lisa standing facing the corner. Knowing that as soon as she turns around, she's dead. Wondering how long she can keep standing there. Knowing the monster is right behind her. Waiting. And right at the end of the credits the light dies on the camara. THE END.
|
|
|
Post by Tweek on Sept 18, 2016 7:51:44 GMT -6
I realize my negative comments could lead one to think I didn't like it. Not so. The nods to the original were great. And numerous. Lisa doing a documentary like Heather did. Drinking at the motel the night before. The shot looking back at the vehicles as they enter the woods. The shot of Lane through the flames of the campfire. Crossing the creek. Ending up back at the campsite after walking all day. The vision of Peter standing in the corner during the house scene. The giant stickman that Talia bumps into. There are more but those come to mind right now.
|
|
mitabrin
crosser of fallen logs
Posts: 7
|
Post by mitabrin on Sept 18, 2016 9:23:32 GMT -6
Yeah... I remember that at one point James sees Peter standing in a corner for a split second... My initial thought was, that it wasn't a hallucination and James and Peter's "timelines" crossed for a moment.
I'd say it isn't a rule, that you die instantly, but rather Elly is determined to kill everybody who looks directly at her. Probably the writers just wanted to give some real purpose, to the act of standing in the corner and make a subtle nod, to the fact that originally we've never seen the witch... I mean... If Elly is a ghost of a witch tortured and killed by the citizens of Blair, then it'd make sense that her ghost became a driven by rage wraith (the typical logic of legends). If she was mutilated because of the tortures, then also you can figure out why she may not want to be seen, her killers literally turned her into a monster.
|
|
|
Post by Tweek on Sept 18, 2016 9:28:52 GMT -6
The song Lane was listening to in his truck:
The nightclub songs:
|
|
mitabrin
crosser of fallen logs
Posts: 7
|
Post by mitabrin on Sept 18, 2016 9:46:43 GMT -6
I realize my negative comments could lead one to think I didn't like it. Not so. The nods to the original were great. And numerous. Lisa doing a documentary like Heather did. Drinking at the motel the night before. The shot looking back at the vehicles as they enter the woods. The shot of Lane through the flames of the campfire. Crossing the creek. Ending up back at the campsite after walking all day. The vision of Peter standing in the corner during the house scene. The giant stickman that Talia bumps into. There are more but those come to mind right now. Well... it is normal for long time fans to nitpick and overanalyze everything... especially since the original told such a subtle story. In the end I'd say it was really fun to see witch in action again... after all chances for a real continuation of the story were really small.
|
|
|
Post by Tweek on Sept 18, 2016 10:02:10 GMT -6
Here's a theory. It seems (at least before this film) that the witch appears differently to different people. Mary Brown saw one thing. Robin Weaver saw another. I'm thinking Lisa and James saw her differently too. James saw fake Heather and was following her through the house. Lisa (and her camera) saw naked Slenderman. Just a thought.
|
|
|
Post by Tweek on Sept 18, 2016 12:38:10 GMT -6
What do you think about the ending? Having it end just like the first one was a bit unsatisfying. How would you end it? I've got some ideas. I would do a fake-out ending where Lisa thinks she has escaped. Let her get all the way back to parked (locked) vehicles. Realizes that James has the keys. While checking the vehicles for an unlocked door she happens to glance back down the trail and sees something... bad. Begins furiously pulling at the nearest door handle and something grabs her by one leg and begins dragging her slowly back into the woods. Think Paranormal Activity 1 when Katie gets dragged down the hall by the invisible demon. Like that. The End.
Not terribly original. But it might have been cool to see.
|
|
eone
crosser of fallen logs
Posts: 16
|
Post by eone on Sept 18, 2016 12:52:23 GMT -6
Sorry don't know how to do spoiler tags, so don't read if you don't wanna see them So I tried really hard to be into this when I watched it in the theatre, and I thought it was sort of ok, but since I came out I’ve been getting angrier and angrier at the feeling it was just too much of a wasted opportunity.
Yea the references and expansions on the original were cute, but I’m sure the witch didn’t use her full repertoire back in ‘99 and some new moves should have been included - maybe different ritualistic objects cropping up, some weird s--t being spotted from above by the drone or even just some of the less obvious elements from the original making a re-appearance, like the blue slime. The new stuff there was, like the foot parasite, just seemed out of place and didn’t amount to anything.
I also think the plot should have gone further rather than just stop in basically the same place as before. Like there was enough cast members for a full coffin rock sacrifice scene, or at least Lisa and James find the missing ones tied up like the search party was. Or even find Mike, Heather and Josh’s skeletons arranged in a pentagram or something That’s the kind of different stuff I wanted to see, not just the same but things as before, just turned up a notch.
I like the screwed up time development, but apart from that I though most of the new ideas were underwhelming, like the tree fall on the guy. Having him simply vanish would have been creepier. And this whole stand in the corner so you don’t look at her and die thing, that doesn’t explain Mike doing in the first movie – how would he have known? And why wouldn’t he have yelled out the Heather to do the same if he had? I felt like this movie explained away some of the creepiness of the first film but didn’t explain enough of other things that would have been cool to know. Add to all that same crappy acting in places, and I give it a disappointing 3 out of 5 stars. I hope there’s another sequel coming that actually takes us somewhere genuinely new and innovative.
|
|
|
Post by Tweek on Sept 18, 2016 12:55:15 GMT -6
Put spoiler inside [ ] at the beginning and /spoiler inside [ ] at the end. It's UBB code. I was hoping they would visit Coffin Rock. But I suppose that wasn't an option since they were filming in Canada.
|
|
mitabrin
crosser of fallen logs
Posts: 7
|
Post by mitabrin on Sept 18, 2016 14:20:23 GMT -6
Here's a theory. It seems (at least before this film) that the witch appears differently to different people. Mary Brown saw one thing. Robin Weaver saw another. I'm thinking Lisa and James saw her differently too. James saw fake Heather and was following her through the house. Lisa (and her camera) saw naked Slenderman. Just a thought. Yup, I had a similiar theory. I think that if the witch really had the ability, to look diffrently everytime, then she would retain the fact, that we never know what she looks like.... If the film does good and they'd make more sequels, then the mystery would still exist.
|
|
|
Post by Tweek on Sept 18, 2016 14:25:08 GMT -6
My take on it is that we have yet to see her true form. At least I hope that's true.
Still can't believe Lisa fell for the old "look, your shoe's untied" trick. And right after James got Gotcha'd. Only in a horror movie.
|
|