Blair Witch

Seventeen years ago the horror genre was revolutionised with the creation of the ‘found footage’ sub-genre thanks to the release of The Blair Witch Project.

In 2016 Blair Witch has us tagging along with James Donahue, the brother of Heather Donahue from the original, and his friends as they document their attempts to locate his missing sister after the discovery of mysterious footage found online which indicates Heather may still be out there.

Unfortunately for this sequel (I use this term incredibly loosely) the addition of new technology and even more cameras this time around removes the sense of mystery and dread that made the original so compelling. This time around there is an over abundance of jump scares and loud noises, which rather than adding to the horror actually detracts.

Essentially this was a superficial beat-for-beat remake which somehow lost it’s soul and therefore the terror. (JA)

★1/2