dhults Reviews

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

not horrifically scary, but nonetheless fun

[8/10 · 21 July 1999]

The Blair Witch Project bills itself as a horror genre movie.

While certainly creepy in parts (most notably during the finale), a good deal of footage is devoted to campy humorous interviews of Maryland locals about witch sitings, and to some fictional biographic material about the 'film makers'.

The emotional core of it, though, deals with the terror of being lost in the woods, and in the unraveling of what was a rather badly conceived plan to make a student film. The three principals (Heather, Josh, and Mike) seem far more natural and un-selfconscious than most of the cast of MTV's "Real World", and were quite convincing as the hapless victims of both an unseen entity and their own naivete.

See it, if only to appreciate what movie magic can be wrought with a mere $25K and a very novel approach to a classic storyline.

Dance Me Outside (1994)

Should've gotten the attention that was showered on "Smoke Signals"

[9/10 · 9 February 1999]

This is a really fine little film that far outshines the much more commented-upon "Smoke Signals". The dialogue rings true, and the characters are more than 2-D stereotypes. Some serious issues about reservation life are dealt with fairly and honestly, without falling back on condescending plot contrivances.