Curse of the Blair Witch (1999) *** (out of 4) This is the TV special, which ended up leading to one of the biggest blockbusters of all time. This documentary build up the "legend" of the Blair Witch and also made people think that three filmmakers went into the woods to do a documentary on it and disappeared only to have their footage found later. This "footage" was released into theaters as THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, which of course became a huge hit. I must admit that this feature was a lot more effective back when it was originally released but watching it all these years later at least kept me entertained due in large part to nostalgia. With that said, you still have to give this fake documentary credit for at least making up a good story to play along side the actual film. I thought there were some good stories here and the most important thing is that it actually built up interest in the film and that still rings true when viewed today. I thought the best aspect was the backstory on the legend of the Blair Witch as it managed to be quite creepy and the story itself is just so well told that you can't help but get caught up in it. What doesn't work so well are a few of the interviews and especially the stuff from a 70s TV show. At just 44-minutes the film sets itself up like one of the countless reality/docu-dramas that are all over the place today. For the most part it succeeds but once you know the truth it's hard to see it in the same way.

I only saw the film that this mockumentary is about today (see the comments in the comments page of the actual film). I believe I watched this on our Canadian equivalent of the Sci Fi channel, called Space... in the summer. I was tired that day so I fell asleep during some of it. At that point in the hype of the film, I was trying to find out if it was indeed fact or fiction, and I wasn't certain yet, so it did disturb me somewhat while I watched it, thinking, my God, what if this was real? I quickly learned after the credits rolled that there was no disclaimer to say that it was fact or fiction. The only thing I had to comfort me is that I don't live anywhere near there, so it couldn't happen to me. Although... we do have lots of woods here so it did bother me slightly. Later, I learned that the whole movie and mockumentary was untrue, so it set my mind at ease. Once I found out there was minimal gore, I decided I might give it a shot when it came out on VHS, but only during the day on a smaller screen, so as to lose that "thrust into it/real feeling"... though I chickened out the first time when I went to rent the last one at Blockbuster... I despise horror films... but someone bought it and decided to show it to some friends and I, so I thought, what the hell. (See my comments in the comments section of the film for more.) I can't tell you in which order to watch the film and this. You have to decide for yourself. Maybe you should see this first for a background story. After watching the film, I am still left with questions. I guess I wasn't paying as much attention to this, or the beginning of the film, as I should have. However I wouldn't recommend finding out exactly how either this or the film was made or it could somewhat spoil it for you. Just be glad that it isn't true and watch these, and enjoy them... if you can.

I saw the movie before Is aw this TV special, though now I wish I had done in in reverse order. I was far more scared and intrigued after watching the TV special than I was after I saw the movie, which was good but fairly disappointing. Even if you hated the movie itself, please give this TV special a chance. It has many details and answers many questions than the movie does not.

This TV "documentary" is better than the movie -- and made by the same people. These are very talented people -- they have the folklore of witches down cold and they also have the patter and pattern of documentaries down equally cold. The use of interviews and the extended story of the witch and her curse all add up to the sense of a realistic story.I haven't seen this kind of verisimilitude since Orson Welles' made people believe that Martians were landing in NJ. As a teacher and writer, I plan to use this show and the film in my drama classes to illustrate verisimilitude, atmosphere, and style. The fact that all of this is done so realistically has started a national debate as to whether this myth and the movie are real. What fun!