Reviewed by Melissa Garza
Unlike many recent sequels, Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows is not just a retelling of the predecessor with different characters, but a new story that keeps a strong connection to the first.
The movie opens, in mock-documentary form, showing interviews with several Burkittsville Maryland residents. Each one reflects on the tourist effect of the original movie and how bothersome the presence of outsiders has become.
Jeff (Jeffrey Donovan), a recently released mental patient, however does not share the disdain. He capitalized on the notoriety of his hometown by creating a novelty store and an exploration of the woods where the Blair Witch Project supposedly took place.
The story really begins when Jeff hosts his first Blair Witch Hunt tour with Erica (Erica Leerhsen) a witch desperate to prove Wicca is misunderstood, Kim (Kim Director) a depressed goth with psychic powers, Tristen (Tristine Skyler) a pregnant woman who isn’t sure she wants to keep the baby, and Stephen (Stephen Barker Turner) Tristen’s boyfriend who is convinced that the Blair Witch legend is hysteria.
Strange occurrences happen almost immediately upon the group’s arrival into the woods. As they walk into the remnants of a century old house, Jeff notices an enormous tree that had never been there before. He remarks on it, but the others remain skeptical, convinced that this was a lame attempt to make their experience more terrifying. When night falls they break out the cameras and record themselves drinking, smoking pot, and discussing the Blair Witch.
The next morning, one by one they wake up realizing that the memories from the night before are hazy and a few hours are completely unaccounted for. Their belongings are wrecked without explanation and spread across the woods. The only items left unharmed are the videotapes.
In the midst of confusion and paranoia, Tristen suffers a miscarriage and is brought to the hospital. She begins to have delusions that slowly push her into a state of madness. She senses that something is terribly wrong yet is helpless to fight whatever dark force is bringing her down.
Collectively they decide that the only way, to solve the mystery behind the lost hours, is to view the tapes and watch what they are unable to remember. Together they arrive at Jeff’s home and try to put the pieces together. The closer they get to the truth the more bizarre everything becomes and as the events from the night before are revealed more questions are raised. When the movie ultimately ends a large responsibility is left at the hands of the audience to figure out what caused all of the insanity that was just witnessed.
Many have panned Book of Shadows because of how much it separates itself from the original. Oddly, that is what I find most enjoyable. So many take the route of “Scream,” “Saw,” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” by providing the same trends, styles and basic feel for every sequel made. It was refreshing to see a movie take the premise of the first, add more depth, insight, and all the while go in an entirely different and original direction.
The casting was also done extremely well. The characters on the surface could seem contrite and recycled, however the superior acting and intense dialogue help the viewers form opinions and care about each individual. The reactions to the situations are realistically dramatic and make the supernatural phenomena all the creepier.
With a bit of the “Evil Dead” and a smidge of “The Sixth Sense,” this better-than- good film delivers an eerie atmosphere, genuinely scary moments, and a great plot. It is underrated and vastly greater than most movies passing for horror today.
Scared Stiff Rating: 7.5/10
