In 2000 a sequel to The Blair Witch was released taking into account that the events in the original movie weren't real but the location is real. It seemed to be intended to be a "what if you thought that the events of a movie were fake when there really is some truth to them" sort of thing as well as a commentary on some people's reactions to the film. Like the first film, they continued to use the actual first names of the respective characters as the respective characters first names i.e. Jeff plays Jeff, Stephen plays Stephen, etc. This film is also a "real studio" film as opposed to a found footage film.
The film opens with couple of news stories about The Blair Witch Project In the aftermath of The Blair Witch Project film's release, the residents of Burkittsville have found themselves inundated with tourists wanting to see the area.
Naturally in all of the hubbub some "enterprising" residents have taken it upon themselves to make some money off of all the ruckus. Jeff (played by Jeffery Donovan), a disturbed young man from Burkittsville, is one of these "enterprising" residents who not only sells memorabilia but also runs a Blair Witch tour. Four people sign up for his tour and he proceeds to get them and take them on a tour into the woods.
The four people include; a couple, Stephen (played by Stephen Ryan Parker) and Tristan (played by Tristan Skyler) who are students doing a research paper on the Blair Witch; Erica (played by Erica Leerhsen) a proudly practicing Wiccan who wants to connect with Ellie Kedworth i.e. The Blair Witch and; Kim (played by Kim Director) a Goth medium who just really enjoyed the movie.
After coming across another tour group in which both groups get startled, the two groups agree that the second group will go to stay on Coffin Rock (referenced in The Blair Witch Project and its "documentary") and Jeff's group will stay in the foundation (referenced in the "documentary" about the Blair Witch).
[For those who haven't seen the "documentary" that I am referring to, the significance of the foundation that Jeff's group is staying at is that a backpack containing the film footage from the first Blair Witch movie was found by a group of archaeological students. Curiously the backpack was found within the foundation in such a way as to suggest that the film appeared underground rather than was physically buried.]
After getting drunk and high, Jeff's group discusses the Blair Witch movie then presumably goes to sleep for the night. When they wake up no one can remember what happened after getting drunk and high and talking about the Blair Witch. Their equipment is wrecked. Stephen and Tristan's documents are shredded. To make things more interesting, Kim finds their videotapes from the previous night in the exact same spot that the backpack containing the film from the first movie was found. Their first assumption is that the other group came back and vandalized their stuff. Before they can do anything further, it becomes apparent that Tristan is having a miscarriage.
At this point in the film we see various members of the group getting interrogated by the police at a later time. Obviously something happened but it isn't clear what exactly. One thing that becomes clear is that they left the campsite to take Tristan to the hospital. Afterwards the group goes to Jeff's "house" which is a converted factory so that Tristan can rest and they can try to figure out what happened to them in the time that they can't remember.
Throughout the film the audience is made to feel unsure about what is happening. What is real and what isn't so to speak. How much is in the imagination? Who is imagining what exactly? Is it all just some crazy nightmare? Is the Blair Witch, in fact, real?
The answers to those questions are answered of course. As far as the characters are concerned they probably would have preferred not to be in a position to have to ask those questions in the first place. The answers are certainly frightening.
For those that hated the original due to the "found footage" aspect, it seems that they preferred this one. I obviously liked it enough to own it but I confess that it took me a few viewings to really get me to like it enough to purchase it. It's not bad, it's just not great in my opinion. It certainly isn't as good as the original in my opinion. Worth watching if you are curious.
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