Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)

Director: Joe Berlinger

Starring: Kim Director, Jeffrey Donovan

Run Time: 90 mins

Certificate: 15

 

Plot Outline: A year after the Blair Witch Project was released, a group of Blair Witch fans venture into the woods for a tour of the sites that were seen in the film. They decide to camp and get drunk, setting up their cameras in the hope of catching a glimpse of the fabled creature. But when they wake up in the morning they realise that they can't account for several hours of the nights' proceedings - added to the fact that their camp has been trashed too. They retreat to an old factory where they study the tapes in the hope of finding out what happened. But something has followed them back from the woods!

The Review: It's a very muddled effort with a few decent ideas here and there but it just chokes to death with it's own ludicrousness at times. It's like some goofy "possession" film and seems like the "Blair Witch" connection was simply added as a way to lure the punters into the cinemas. It opens promisingly as our group of tourists venture out into the woods and come upon some mysterious happenings. There are some of the hand-held camera shots that the original was completely made up of thrown it here. But that's it. After about the 20 minute mark, the film just completely sinks itself with a lousy script, a continually perplexing plot complete with obvious twists and some lame acting. There is no suspense at all - hell, there isn't even anything to create any suspense! There are no scares at all. The only thing we get an abundance of is boredom! One of my pet hates of a film is if it is so boring I find myself looking at the clock, putting my computer on to check my e-mail or even fast forwarding the film to get to a good bit. Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 made me do all three quite a lot! It was just so boring. Even if the characters had said something interesting then maybe I'd have been a bit more excited. But everything was just so flat and boring. The acting in the original wasn't great but, because it was a "pseudo-documentary" film, it was forgettable. But since this actually looks like a proper film, then the acting is brought more to the attention of the viewer. None of the characters are very sympathetic and the actors all lack charisma to actually bring some life to their parts. Again, this leads to a lot of boredom on the viewers part. This is supposed to be a horror film, not a cure for insomniacs! However the film does earn points in my eyes for the way in which they turn the real events surrounding the original (the media hype, the great reviews, etc) and use that as part of the story here. Then the cameras go to Burkittsville, where the original was filmed, to get the reaction of real life residents who's lives have been made hell thanks to the original's success (people really go looking for the Blair Witch). But after the novelty wears off, it's hard to divide the film between what is supposed to be real and what is supposed to be film.

Final Verdict: I'm not a fan of the original but that even looks like a classic compared to this absolutely dreadful sequel. And where was the Book of Shadows? A misleading title is the least of this films' problems.