We’re back with round two of our SPOOKY SZN selections and this week we’re talking about a bonafide freak of a film, 1999’s “The Blair Witch Project”. This one is an all-timer that has become a major part of horror culture. For good reason, too. It is the movie that reinvigorated the “found footage” craze in American horror and is quite possibly the best example of that genre of film. It is also one of the highest-grossing independent films of all time and is superbly made. It’s all desperation, high tension, and atmosphere... but it just freaking works. Join us this week as we unpack all things Blair Witch.

What can we say about this awesome flick? Well, it’s dope… but it has also aged really well and become a cult classic horror film. This movie leans so heavily on atmosphere, lore, and human-driven realism that it leaves the audience feeling uneasy and tense throughout. "The Blair Witch Project" purposely approaches horror with a documentary eye that unravels as the film progresses. Eventually, what you don’t see on screen is swimming in the back of your head. The witch is an ever-present fear made even more mystifying by the fact that we never actually see it on screen.

On top of that, this movie was mostly improvised by the cast and the production was very compartmentalized. The fear, frustration, and tension the characters feel are real and that translates superbly on screen. Plus, the mystery surrounding the marketing and release of this movie is one of the biggest hoodwinks ever pulled on an audience and it had people believing the story was actually real. The actors pretended to be dead for a year after the film's release. Yeah.

In this episode, we break down the plot of the movie, share our thoughts on its legacy, discuss the film’s production and amazing marketing, muse on what “The Blair Witch” was doing that was ahead of its time, map out the classic witch zones, share our lasting fear of stick figure effigies, try to figure out what was in the bloody shirt bag, and ruminate on the found footage genre over the past twenty plus years. We also talk briefly about the sequels and franchise-related media but most of it is pretty “meh”. With that being said, this is a modern classic and you SHOULD watch it. Otis then shares his experiences at an AEW wrestling event this past weekend and PALMREADER shares some not-so-exciting logistical news about the pod.

We’re changing our release date to better fit our growing schedules. You can expect BIRD PROTOCOL on Sunday instead of Friday going forward. This allows us more time to research and dive deep into each episode’s topic and gives us the flexibility we need to put out best foot forward. We’ll see you next week for a chat about “Until Dawn”, Supermassive Games, and “playable horror movies”.

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