The Blair Witch Project: Definitive Collector's Edition from Lionsgate is a must-have for found footage fans (physical media review)
The Blair Witch Project's mark on the horror genre is undeniable. After the film released in theaters in 1999, it spawned a wave of found footage imitators. It also utilized a genius marketing campaign, including a website, missing persons flyers, and mockumentaries to make it seem like three student filmmakers actually died in the Maryland woods, while trying to document the Blair Witch.
Now, more than 25 years after the indie film upended the horror genre, Lionsgate has released The Blair Witch Project: Definitive Collector's Edition, which features impressive packaging, loads of special features, including new interviews with the directors, production crew, and cast members, and a restoration of the film (the restoration was done by Second Sight and initially released through that boutique label in 2024).
The Blair Witch Project: Definitive Collector's Edition is worth the price for the special features and new interviews
There's one key reason why the latest restoration of The Blair Witch Project is worth the $40. It includes several special features that are specific to the new Lionsgate release. These include:
Season of the Witch (New Interviews with Filmmakers & Actors Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams)
Expanded Lore (Exploration of Two Mockumentaries)
The Matt Blazi Project (Shooting Location Tours and Making-of Book)
Mythos (Blair Witch in Other Media)
Eternal Impact (The Blair Witch Project Archive at the University of Pittsburgh Special Horror Collection)
Iconic Artifacts: The Blair Witch Project at MOPOP (Museum of Pop Culture)
Film Is Life: A Tribute to Cinematographer Neal Fredericks
Taken as a whole, these features really examine the legacy of The Blair Witch Project. For instance, the "Iconic Artifacts" feature gives a walkthrough of the film's exhibit at the Museum of Pop Culture exhibit in Seattle, while "Eternal Impact" contains an interview with Ben Rubin, an archivist and the Horror Studies Collection Coordinator for the University Library System at the University of Pittsburgh. It's rather touching to listen to Rubin talk about the importance of film preservation and archival work, all while he shows the various media and artifacts from the film.
As already stated, these special features contain several new interviews with directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, as well as cast members Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard. It's fascinating to hear them talk about shooting the film on such a shoestring budget and how it was such a DIY project. Additionally, these special features give ample time analyzing and reexamining how the film was so successful, in part, because of the genius marketing, from the website that built the lore, to two mockumentaries about the Blair Witch, to the missing persons flyers. Before the film even hit theaters, it already had buzz because of the marketing, the website especially. All of this underscores how the movie really hit at the right time, during the early days of the internet, before everything could be spoiled on a Reddit thread.
It's also neat to hear Williams and Leonard, as well as the directors, discuss how every night, the production crew would scare the cast, and they didn't know what would happen from night to night. It's hard to imagine any film replicating that today, at least not without a lawsuit.
The other special features have already been released on previous physical media copies of the film, including the mockumentaries, but there are some cool archival interviews, including from the film's screening at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999.
The Blair Witch Project: Definitive Collector's Edition's packaging and restoration look great
One huge benefit of the Collector's Edition is the packaging. The case looks fantastic, and it includes a poster from illustrator/artist Ken Taylor, along with a 104-page booklet featuring the original production journal, a raw footage log, handwritten notes, a prop list, and artwork.
As for the actual film, the release includes the 2024 filmmaker approved theatrical and festival cuts of the movie. That said, this is the restoration that Second Sight already released, so the restoration is not new. Still, it looks damn good. The Blair Witch Project is all about the vibe and mood, and this restoration makes everything look and feel sharper. Simply put, it's a great restoration from the original Hi8 tapes and 16 mm films. It's really the perfect watch for the Halloween season.
Overall, The Blair Witch Project: Definitive Collector's Edition is worth the cost for the new special features and interviews. Collectively, these features really examine the legacy of The Blair Witch Project more than 25 years later, and the film's restoration, though not entirely new, looks great.
Comments