The reaction to Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett’s sequel/reboot to the 1999 classic shocker The Blair Witch Project has been disappointingly lukewarm (we loved it, for the record – check out our 9/10 review right here).
One of the biggest complaints, from fans and mainstream critics alike, was that the flick showed too much whereas its predecessor got over by giving us precisely zero money shots, its final moments leaving audiences reeling because they weren’t sure what they’d just seen.
Although there is some merit to this argument, it doesn’t acknowledge the fact that The Blair Witch Project came out at a completely different time for movies, when the Internet was in its infancy and fans were unable to fact-check every little detail.
Blair Witch 2016 had to give audiences more because the landscape has changed so much in the intervening years that fans nowadays want a little extra bang for their buck.
Even so, the decision to show the witch herself in this new take was a troublesome one, no matter how you swing it. But now it seems like we might not have even seen what we thought we saw.
As noted by Bloody Disgusting, writer Simon Barrett recently replied to a fan on Twitter who questioned the move and outright told him it’s not what he/she (or we) thinks:
@idiot_teen don’t want to get too spoilery but it’s just the root moving deeper, and you don’t see the witch onscreen, that’s someone else!
— Simon Barrett (@Simon_Barrett) September 20, 2016
Further to this, Barrett also noted that all will be revealed, at least to a certain extent, on the DVD commentary for the movie.
@vinsclortho our DVD commentary will explain a lot, but hopefully without ruining anything, as do we want to leave some elements mysterious
— Simon Barrett (@Simon_Barrett) September 20, 2016
Wingard and Barrett have been impressively open on social media about the disappointing reaction to their movie, quipping that they should have made Sully instead and suggesting that fans still curious to see it would be spooked by the empty theater if nothing else.
This latest development likely won’t convince detractors, but it’s interesting from the perspective of those of us who didn’t think Blair Witch was a total waste of time, but rather an ambitious, modern take on an idea that could never be replicated regardless.
This new twist is also in keeping with the spirit of The Blair Witch Project, all things considered.
