” book ” should have remained in shadows
book of shadows : blair witch 2
a film review by michael redman copyright 2000 by michael redman
certain things in our lives are inevitable .
death , sorrow , love , heartbreak , pain , joy .
we expect these events .
we know they’re going to happen and some , we even look forward to .
it’s part of the human condition .
we have also become accustomed to inevitable occurrences in our society .
as we near the fall election , several of them are hitting us in the face .
politicians exaggerate their own importance .
our side is always right ; theirs is always wrong .
in the end , voters are usually forced to choose the lesser of two whocares .
in hollywood the one indisputable inevitable is that if a film makes big money , there will be a sequel .
even if the original story doesn’t merit one .
even if the first film is complete in itself .
even if success is a fluke .
” the blair witch project ” was made with a budget of $1 . 75 and exploded on the screen , raking in huge profits .
the concept was brilliant .
the filmmakers created a remarkable buzz that the story might be real .
the film itself was even more convincing .
the movie _must_ be authentic .
why else would such amateurish footage be on the big screen ?
the first film caught lightning in a bottle .
the sequel proves you can’t pour that old lightning into a new bottle .
you have to give this effort some credit .
it would have been easy to have made the same movie again with a new group of kids .
it would have been easy , but of course , it wouldn’t have worked .
instead ” book of shadows ” acknowledges the first film as a movie and concentrates on the hysteria following its release .
it’s a great scheme and possibly the only entertaining way to do a sequel .
unfortunately it doesn’t work either .
five kids spend the night in the woods at the scene of the first film .
weird stuff happens and they retreat to an old factory where one of them lives .
even weirder stuff happens .
some people die , there’s blood and knives and none of the characters have a lick of common sense .
while supposedly doing serious research , the group sets up a circle of surveillance cameras in the ruins of the old house in the woods and vows to stay alert all night awaiting a visitation .
then they proceed to get totally trashed on drugs and alcohol and party down with very loud , very obnoxious heavy metal music .
it’s a bad plan .
the cast shows some early promise .
a couple is doing research on a ” blair witch ” book .
the tour guide is a former mental patient turned ebay aficionado .
a goth amazon princess adds a bit of comedic relief .
the obligatory hot babe is the 2000 spiritual cinematic descendent of the cute hippie chick , the cute rock and roll chick and the cute disco chick : the cute wiccan chick .
the first film’s unaccomplished actors came across as real people in a real situation because hours and hours of video were shot during days in the woods .
this time , these unaccomplished actors just come across as unaccomplished actors .
there’s not one character you care about when they start shouting for no reason .
although what passes for a plot starts out with a solid idea , it’s ruined by poor execution .
the follow-up to one of the most successful horror films ever is nothing more than a bad slasher movie .
they’re trapped in an old big weird house .
they stupidly separate into various rooms .
there are strange noises , they see scary apparitions and people disappear .
ever see this movie ?
seasoned documentary director joe berlinger should know better .
the film features mostly cheap tricks and unnecessary gore .
for a storyline filled with surprises , it’s oddly predicable .
” the blair witch project ” was a rare triumph of style over substance .
” the book of shadows ” is a triumph of tedium over promise .