Ooh, sounds interesting. I've seen Nicholas in the horror flick that centers around a pinata, and though it told a decent enough story, the CGI affect was just horrific in its creation. I hope "Unholy" doesn't fall prey to that.

Mack | May 08, 16:24 CET

It does sound like an interesting premise, hope it finds a distributor. I enjoy horror flicks (and thrillers) of just about all kinds but always REALLY enjoy it when one finds something original to make it standout above the rest like Nightmire on Elm Street, Blair Witch, etc. To have the reviewer place this in their class makes me really want to see it. Nightmare literally gave me nightmares after seeing it the first time - I was in college, and saw it in the theater. It's definitely one movie that's made all the scarier by being larger than life. The first time I saw Blair Witch I was chanting, "Burn it, burn it, burn the F'ing woods down!" - which says a lot a because I live about 10 minutes from Burkitsville, MD and know the woods there are pretty damn small, you can't go too many yards in any one direction without hitting a highway and the movie STILL totally sucked me in. So if this movie can pull off an original hook like this claims to have, I'm there and looking forward to it.

[ edited by Grace on 2005-05-08 16:31 ]

Grace | May 08, 18:26 CET

Saw Blair Witch 100% unspoiled and loved it. Read a related graphic novel awhile back and enjoyed it, too. Didn't delve into the sequels, though, for fear of ruining the first experience.

I'll totally see Nick's movie. Whedon shows are the first to ever suck me in to following an actor from project to project. Except for Russell Crowe and Ed Norton.

WhoIsOmega? | May 08, 18:38 CET

Has anyone actually looked at all the internet hype that's going on around the site for this movie? Seriously creepy stuff. They're doing really well at generating a cult-type interest.

KittyN | May 08, 18:55 CET

Well...I don't normally go to movies like this (or movies in general, actually), but this does sound interesting. It would be great for Nick if it is as big a hit as the reviewer anticipates.

Chris inVirginia | May 08, 19:00 CET

The Blair Witch Project was so totally boring and bum numbing inducement....until the last scene. And then i was really really scared

Will be watching Unholy

Apocalypse | May 08, 20:05 CET

KittyN: You better believe I've been following the internet campaign. I even set up a community to track everything that's been going on: The Revolution

I was so psyched to wake up and read that review. I'm such a huge fan of small indie films (like Blair Witch) and I'm dying to see NB in a decent post-BtVS project. As someone else already mentioned, his first foray into low budget horror, Pinata, was a big mess. This one sounds much, much more promising.

[ edited by Saturn Girl on 2005-05-08 18:27 ]

Saturn Girl | May 08, 20:26 CET

@Apocalypse, all the people that I talked about "Blair Witch" when it first came out were pretty evenly split like that, as far as finding it either boring or scary. A friend and I had many a conversation about the fact a good share of the "creepy" factor had to do with being lost in the woods, the feeling of isolation, etc. The ones that didn't find the movie creepy (out of the people I talked to) TENDED to be either A) non-outdoorsy type people who'd never had that "Oh crap, I think I'm lost in the woods." feeling or B) Seem to think there's only one formula: HORROR=GORE=JASON=BODY COUNT=SCARY MOVIE so were disappointed by the lack of gore.

For me, a thinking thriller is scarier than a slash 'em movie anyday. I spent two hours after Blair Witch hashing it over with someone before I suddenly GOT the ending. This movie sounds like it has some of all of these elements, the "creepy" factor, some gore, it'll make ya think, a "reality" based premise, etc. so I get the feeling it may appeal to many types of folks. Hopefully they can put together some decent effects without going over the top.

[ edited by Grace on 2005-05-08 18:51 ]

Grace | May 08, 20:49 CET

The thing is Grace, I couldn't become emotionally connected with the characters. I didnt care whether they lived or died, or anything else that could happen to them during the duration of the film. This is probably why I didnt find the film particualy scary; i didnt care about the characters. However also I take into account, I saw this film after much hype and it had a huge expectancy for me, and unfortunately it didnt deliver. Im not saying it doesnt have its good points, it does, but i just didnt find it scary. I found that basically for me the whole film was leading towards the ending (which didnt dissapoint). I felt that it would have been better to have cut half and hour of them running through the forest and getting lost etc. and would have made for a much tighter movie

"I spent two hours after Blair Witch hashing it over with someone before I suddenly GOT the ending"

I got it, pretty much, straight away, in the cinema, and GOD was that scary. This was when i felt a terrible lurch in my stomach, because it was so terrifying. I guess you just had to have listened carefully to the story about making them look towards the wall, before getting it. It was a very very clever twist to do this, and one of the films strongest points.

I guess it just wasnt my kind of film, although about your horror=gore=blood point, the scariest film ive ever seen is "The Hole", and that doesnt seem to be very gory, i guess its just different tastes for different people. :)

Apocalypse | May 08, 22:01 CET

What was the ending to blair witch? I saw it already but can't remember the ending.

eddy | May 08, 23:00 CET

eddy - The ending was rather ambiguous. Heather and Mike end up in the ramshackle building, and something bad happened to them. The last shot was Heather filming Mike standing in a corner, all while she was screaming her head off. The camera drops (presumably because she's been attacked) and the film ends.

Saturn Girl | May 08, 23:11 CET

Saturn Girl and Eddy, the way i interpreted the ending was: at the beginning of the film, one of the characters was telling a story about a killer who had lived in those woods that would take children in pairs to his house in the woods (the house which they were in at the end of the film), lead them down to the basement and kill them. While he killed the first one he would make the other stand in the corner, not watching, before taking them away from the corner and murdering them.

Heather films Mike standing in the corner. We hear Heather screaming. The screaming stops. The film ends. The killer stuck again in the same house, and Heather and Mike, in a sense became those children again

Incredibly scary ending.

Apocalypse | May 08, 23:27 CET

I think to get all the nuances of the film, you have to read all the background info from the site and especially the pseudo documentary. I liked the collaboration of multiple media sources, it really enhanced the storytelling experience. If you hadn't gotten all the background, you wouldn't have realized the the shack that Heather and Mike were filmed in was torn down decades previously. FREAKY.

Saturn Girl | May 09, 00:25 CET

Saturn Girl, I completely agree. The Blair Witch scared the Bejesus out of me, and I was far more scared than any of the friends that I went to see it with. I think that the difference was not only am I mildly wussier than them, ahem, but more importantly I'd taken the time to explore the whole website.

Unholy seems to be going down this road also, but as a far as I can tell gaining information about the 'real background' of the story is far more challenging and obscure, only serving to make it even more creepy.

KittyN | May 09, 00:42 CET

Don't want to get into the "Blair Witch" good/bad debate (scared the hell out of me, but I was in mood that made me kind of vulnerable -- and considering how it was made, it's really more of a stunt than a movie in the usual sense).

However, I do want to point everyone in the direction of a dandy little mock-documentary called "The Last Broadcast." It combines "Blair Witch" style chills with actual talent, wit/humor and intelligence, rather than "let's make the actors do all the production work, including writing the dialogue, and see what happens." Of course, that makes it less somewhat less potentially scary than "Blair Witch" but scares was mostly ALL Blair Witch had to offer. This is a better balanced meal.

Also, if you happen to note any similarities between it and "Blair Witch", be aware that "Last Broadcast" was made well before BW....

bobster | May 09, 01:16 CET

bobster - funny you should mention The Last Broadcast. A few weeks ago I ran across a paper called "Tormenting the Witch" that discussed the success of The Blair Witch Project and made many comparisons to the earlier film. It's a PDF document so I won't post the direct link in case that screws up your browser, but if you're intersted you can find a link to the paper here

Saturn Girl | May 09, 01:22 CET

Thanks a bunch Saturn Girl...Haven't read it all yet, but looks mighty interesting.

bobster | May 09, 10:40 CET

Good news for Nick. These are the type horror films I like to watch. Creepy with plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing. Never cared much for the slash and gore movies, too boring. Hmm..a big sixth sense type of ending. Has me interested, I'm looking forward to its release.

Madhatter | May 09, 16:02 CET