The Blair Witch Project (1999)

There had been “found footage” movies before The Blair Witch Project in 1999, but none of them came within a lightyear of the cultural impact it had. It was a phenomenon when it was released. Made for about $200,000, it brought in almost $250 million. It is a movie that was talked about for weeks, and it was hard to find a theater that wasn’t packed. There was so much talk among people who went to see it about whether or not it was real, thanks in part to one of the greatest marketing campaigns Hollywood ever embarked on. In 2026, it would be hard to see a movie create the kind of conversation The Blair Witch Project did. It was everywhere at the time. And it was driven by the internet, which was entering its adolescence in 1999. But is the movie any good? That’s a tougher question to answer. It really didn’t matter at the time if it was because of all the hype around it. But the truth is, it will depend on your own patience for it. If you are ok with about an hour and 20 minutes of three people constantly arguing with each other for a ten-second payoff, then yes, it’s a good movie. It’s probably best viewed now as a curiosity, trying to understand how a movie like this became a massive hit the same year The Matrix was released.