In 1994,

three student filmmakers entered the woods in

Burkittsville, Md. to make a film about the legend of the

Blair Witch. A year later, their footage was found.

If you are

watching the film, "The Blair Witch Project,"

you are watching their footage. At least, that's the

premise.

The film

began generating buzz when it took the Audience Prize at

the 1999 Sundance Film Festival and then the Youth Award

at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

This

fictional documentary opened last Friday in limited

release. The only theater in Georgia that ran the film

was the Tara Theater in Atlanta. It sold out nearly every

show since Friday at 2:30 p.m.

"The

Blair Witch Project" is very deserving of the buzz

and it may be the scariest movie to hit screens in over a

decade.

The story

is presented as reality and the actors portray

themselves. To give the film even more credibility (and

attention), a documentary about the Blair Witch,

"Curse of the Blair Witch," was created,

showing clips from the movie and segments with the people

of Burkittsville. It premiered Sunday evening on the Sci

Fi Channel and will most likely air several more times

this month.

Both the

television program and the film are presented so

seriously that real chills develop. The film is shot on

16mm film and Hi-8 video from the two cameras our

ill-fated crew uses for their documentary. Heather

Donohue, the director of the documentary, Joshua Leonard,

the camera man, and Michael Williams, the sound man, find

their key destinations very early on. They are excited as

they film segments at Tappy Creek and Coffin Rock.

The terror

begins when they realize they are lost deep in the

forest.

Unlike

recent horror films, "The Blair Witch Project"

gets its scares from what it doesn't show the audience.

All of the

night scenes are incredibly dark. The cameras jerk

violently, as you can see only glimpses of the crew

running. There is no gore and there are no shots of the

witch.

As for

things that go bump in the night, "Blair Witch"

has a million of them. The sound is incredible and, in

some scenes, all there is. You are hearing what they

heard and your mind plays all the same tricks along with

them. The directors of the film cast it with seasoned

improv actors and nobody easily recognizable from any

other projects.

The actors

reportedly spent several days in the woods themselves,

generating a basic form of a script to fit the several

plot points the directors had left for them. The dialogue

is completely realistic, and at some times profane.

If you're

like me and have been searching for a good scare, be sure

to check out both the movie, "The Blair Witch

Project" and the television program, "Curse of

the Blair Witch." I consider the two scariest movies

of all time to be "The Exorcist" and "The

Shining." I would easily put "The Blair Witch

Project" among those films as genuinely scary. It is

rare to find a horror film that is so innovative and

against common convention.

Let's just

say I won't be running around the woods at night any time

soon.

"The

Blair Witch Project" opens in wide release July 30.

The show "Curse of the Blair Witch" will run

sporadically through July on The Sci-Fi Channel.

<!--##############