The Blair Witch Project
01:56:46
About
In 2021, three podcasters went into a Zoom chat and were never seen again. The recordings of that meeting, believed lost, were recently recovered, and it became clear that they were talking about the 1999 phenomenon that was “The Blair Witch Project”. A film with more arguing than the last time we covered an Argento movie; featuring more snot than a classroom of toddlers in winter; and certainly the first film we’ve all seen shot on handheld cameras, featuring 1 girl and 2 guys alone in the woods, that was rated 15. Along the way we discuss “The Squid Game”, “Boys From County Hell”, “Foundation”, “The Green Knight”, “The Lords of Salem”, “Altered”, “The Last Witch Hunter” and “Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2”. Watch (or re-watch) to avoid spoilers, and join us. APOLOGIES FOR ANY SOUND QUALITY ISSUES - THIS EPISODE WAS RECORDED REMOTELY, AND THEN THE TAPES WERE DUG UP IN THE FOUNDATIONS OF AN OLD BURNT OUT BUILDING IN THE WOODS.
OH, MY GOD! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!?! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!?!
Famous lines
- "Everything you've heard is true."
- "I'm scared to close my eyes...and I'm scared to open them. We're going to die out here."— Heather
- "It's the same log."— Heather
- "The map wasn't doing shit all day!"— Mike
Quotes verified against Wikiquote.
Transcript
Show full transcript
LeeGood evening, and welcome to a snotfield. Welcome to horror.
LeeI am Mucus Loaded Lee.
ChrisI am Normally Loaded Chris.
AdamAnd I am Bogiedacious Adam.
LeeUm, we have had yet another, uh, cursed episode this evening.
LeeUh we were supposed to be joined by Manny, who unfortunately had a last-minute pressing engagement.
LeeUm, I uh, friend of the show and previous guest Chris Jones was going to join in his stead, um, I was then super ill and had to cancel.
LeeThat was four days ago, and then this morning when I woke up to start recording, I was super ill again, so I had to tell Chris, probably best not to come and share a microphone. Um, and now Adam is ill on top of it, so it's a bit of a miracle that we're all here to be honest.
ChrisIt's gonna go well.
AdamYeah, we'll just see how we go. I mean, will we make it to the end?
ChrisOh.
LeeThis is the problem with Robo tripping through an episode, I don't know what's going to be said and I'm still not editing it, so.
ChrisIt's a bit meta, just like The Blair Witch.
LeeMmm.
AdamOh.
LeeWell, you know, a warning people, there will be spoilers on the main film, but not anything we cover in advance of that.
LeeUh, and we will probably swear a lot because we're all coughed syrup up.
LeeUm, yeah.
LeeYeah, so, beware if you don't like swearing.
AdamHell yeah.
LeeNow's the time to fuck off.
AdamRampant on a heady mixture of Tixylix and night time fucking paracetamol.
LeeYeah.
LeeUm, so, yes, we will still be covering the 1999 Blair Witch Project.
LeeBit of a classic, I think.
LeeUm, but before we get into that, let's keep it brief, but here we go.
LeeChris, what have you been What have you got there, Chris, what have you been watching?
ChrisI have been watching, um I've been watching something called Foundation.
ChrisAnyone heard of that?
AdamOh, cool, the, um, Asimov.
ChrisYes, Isaac Asimov, yeah, adaptation.
ChrisUm, now, I really like it. It, it feels like to me a good, a good follow on from The Expanse, which I mentioned last episode.
ChrisSo it's it's proper, proper epic scale sci-fi with, I would say, it's got some dark, you know, maybe horror-ish aspects on occasion. Um, but it it is is particularly for me an interesting idea.
ChrisI hadn't heard of before, um, not not real, I'll say.
ChrisBut in it, a mathematician has created a field called psychohistory, which tries to use maths to foresee what's going to happen to a civilization.
ChrisAnd in this, he predicts that the civilization is not going to do very well very soon and of course that brings in concepts of, well, him saying it, does that influence it and what is going to influence it and is it true and you know, so that that's all quite interesting.
ChrisUm, and but particularly something that stood out to me is and obviously not giving away too much of the plot. I mean, that's that's pretty obvious part of the plot very quickly.
ChrisBut in it, there's a essentially a superhuman level AI based robot.
ChrisSo, you know, looks human but is very skilled, far more than than I am certainly.
ChrisAnd helps the emperor of the civilization to to run everything.
ChrisBut the emperor is a clone of himself, so he's had several generations.
ChrisAnd the relationship that the robot has with him, we've sort of learned in in the most recent episode is quite complex.
ChrisLike you can't tell, you know, it suggests that she may love him and which one does she love, all of them equally.
ChrisAnd it's like it's quite a feels like a concept of our time as we every day seem to be hearing more and more about what what amazing things they I can do and we've still got a long way to go, but, you know, it is quite a an interesting philosophical point.
AdamYeah, a lot of a lot of a lot of sort of those Asimov concepts like like really good like a lot of really good science fiction, it's stuff that is now kind of...
ChrisWe're on the cusp of it.
AdamWe're on the cusp of it.
ChrisYeah, yeah.
AdamI keep I keep trying to persuade them at work, uh, because I work for an IT company, and I keep trying to persuade them that they should look into the concept of, uh, becoming an AI psychologist.
AdamIn so much as AI are probably going to need therapy.
LeeYeah.
AdamHaving to deal with us.
AdamSo, you know, you might actually need like a confessor.
AdamAll of you know.
ChrisI suppose it like in things like Star Wars, you know, that no no, so I had obviously I'd heard of Isaac Asimov but I'd never read the books.
ChrisI guess it was a sense of they're probably not going to hold up compared to modern sci-fi, so never rushed to read it.
AdamI think no, Asimov's stuff still pretty it does certainly seem to.
ChrisYeah.
AdamI mean, certainly, I mean, even like with, uh, the short story collection I, Robot, which is fuck all to do with the film.
ChrisRight.
ChrisYeah, well, that's I mean this a negative point on this is it has been adapted quite significantly.
ChrisSo if you are a true fan of the books, you may uh, be a little put off by this, so yeah.
AdamI think it makes sense but I mean, yeah, but I mean like I, Robot, I mean, in that.
AdamWhere it came up with the principles that are actually adhered to by gen robotics theorists and stuff like that, the, you know, cannot cannot harm someone.
AdamCannot do harm.
ChrisIs it three rules?
AdamYeah, it's the three rules of robotics, none of which I can quite.
ChrisNo, I'm not.
AdamNot on this much cold and flu.
AdamTesco's as well, you know.
AdamSo it's the argh shit.
ChrisBut yeah, so that that's good.
ChrisA couple of other just quickly, um, watched the first episode of it's on Disney Plus, it's like Star Wars short stories made in the style of manga, anime.
AdamOh, yes.
ChrisYeah.
AdamYeah, I haven't watched it, but I have seen the things for it.
AdamYeah.
ChrisYeah, it's fantastic style.
ChrisI mean, I've not watched a lot of manga, um, but I think the first one is kind of a samurai type.
ChrisWhich obviously fits with a Jedi, but yeah, you know, it you know, seems like an interesting idea, so I think we will sort of gradually work our way through them.
ChrisUm.
AdamAnd it sort of reflects back because obviously like Rashomon, like the Japanese film that was such a.
ChrisAh.
AdamInfluence on.
ChrisI think you mentioned that, yeah.
AdamYeah.
AdamSuch an influence on George Lucas doing Star Wars where it's like, and it is like, uh, like ancient Japan, samurai stuff.
ChrisYeah, yeah.
ChrisUm.
AdamBut yeah, I've been meaning to check them out because they do look good.
AdamI think the concept is basically that it's, you know, it's like an Elseworld sort of scenario, you know, like they do with comics, so it's just like an alternate thing where the Star Wars story plays out in feudal Japan.
ChrisYeah.
ChrisYeah.
ChrisI guess interesting, nice to be able to play with those sort of things.
ChrisIf you're given given that sort of ability.
ChrisUm.
ChrisYeah.
ChrisAnd and of course I also watched the um, the documentary recommended by you Adam for The Blair Witch, which I won't talk about until later.
ChrisThere's a little teaser for everybody.
AdamIt is kind of the part of the movie I always think.
ChrisYes, yeah, I will agree.
ChrisCertainly.
LeeExcellent.
LeeWell done, Chris.
LeeUh so Adam, what have you been storming your way through during your uh disease ridden few days?
AdamWell, I mean, as as as the, uh, as the, the, well, up until recently, the nurse of the of the team here.
AdamUm, I've I've surprisingly watched a lot, so I will buster rhyme my way through this.
AdamSo that we just get there.
AdamUm, I'm going to go in, um, one that's actually weirdly relevant to The Blair Witch. I wanted to watch it and I found it cheap, uh, was a film called, um, Altered.
AdamWhich is, uh, an alien abduction movie, uh, directed by Eduardo Sanchez, who's one of the co-directors of The Blair Witch.
AdamUm, and Mike from The Blair Witch is in it.
AdamUh and basically it's a it's it's a pretty good film.
AdamI would love to hear, not for everyone cover it, definitely, because I think it's got enough good stuff as well as bizarre stuff or what the fuck stuff going on in it that they would make a good review or episode of it.
AdamBut basically, the premise is that it's a group of like Rednecks who've been abducted years ago, go out nightly trying to find an alien and then one night catch one.
AdamAnd and it's like the fallout of that where they take it back to one of their houses and are like, well, we've got it now.
AdamSo, you know, we'll we'll give them what for.
AdamGive them a probin.
AdamAnd then it's like, but obviously, it's a fucking alien, so it can do things and, yeah, it's like got mind's got mind control and bizarre.
AdamAnd it's it's one of those films that's weirdly, it does have it definitely, I think, veers into horror comedy.
AdamIn so much as it is it's that thing of you've got these four people who have really fucking bitten off more than they can chew.
AdamBut but that and gradually lose that confidence that they started with.
AdamYou know, from the from the thing of it, they're very gung-ho and then it's like, shit, this is playing out really fucking badly.
AdamSo.
AdamUm, but yeah, definitely, uh, definitely worth a watch.
AdamIt was more of a it was just something I'd always wanted to see and I thought while we're covering Blair Witch, I'll definitely check it out.
AdamUm, the other thing that has turned up oddly on Amazon Prime, which I'm really sort of pleased about is I watched The Green Knight.
AdamWhich is the, uh, Gawain and the Green Knight adaption.
LeeYeah.
AdamReally fucking good, really just beautiful, just a proper trip.
AdamUm, and the thing I really like about it is it kind of it has There's definitely a thing going into it, be aware that they will have an expectation that you know the basics of Arthurian legend.
AdamBecause there's sort of bits in it which almost it feels like it's like Rogue One or like a Marvel movie but like the third one of a Marvel series or whatever like that.
AdamBecause.
AdamThere's characters who are highlighted, who are obviously much more important than the main character, but they don't even get named.
AdamBut it's like, oh, that's clearly Merlin.
AdamOr, you know, and so you've got Arthur and Guinevere and Lancelot, but they're like barely involved, but basically the story of Gawain and the Green Knight is the a giant Green Knight turns up one day when they're having a party, says, uh, anyone who can anyone who wants to strike me with a blow, they can do so and if they defeat me, uh, I will leave and we will recommence this in a year's time and I will do the same move that you did to me.
AdamSo Gawain pops up, chops the thing's head off and then the body just gets back up, picks up the head and fucks off and says, see you in a year's time.
AdamAnd, yeah, I mean, that's the basic of it, but that does not even approach how.
AdamFucking like astounding it looks and.
LeeIt does.
LeeAnd it it almost overrides the fact that at the time I was like, just give him a nipple twist, like if all he's going to do is come back in a year's time and do to you what you did to him, just give him a very light slap on the face.
LeeLike you don't need to cut his head off in one blow.
AdamYeah.
LeeAnd ultimately, murder yourself.
LeeBut.
ChrisI imagine these knights have got a little bit of ego that, you know.
AdamWell, I mean, that's the I mean that's the thing is it's kind of like it is a sort of tale of a a man reaching.
AdamBecause in the in the sort of accepted story of it, Gawain is already a knight, but in this, it's how he becomes a knight.
AdamIs that he goes on this quest, so it's part of his sort of quest to become a noble person.
AdamIt's like, you did cut a bloke's head off who wasn't even fucking fighting mate, you know, that.
ChrisSo it's not.
ChrisIt's not to get a shrubbery then.
AdamNo.
AdamNot even two shrubberies but the part of it in the middle.
AdamUm, that is but yeah, that is really highly recommended.
LeeDefinitely.
AdamUh, what they called, um, A24 and so it's it's in that same sort of vein as stuff like.
ChrisEverything you could hope for.
AdamYeah, it's like The Witch or The Lighthouse, one of those things where it's just, you know, I would I think there's probably an argument to be made with a lot of those films of style over substance.
AdamBut the style is so much part of it that you're like, yeah.
LeeYeah, see, I generally have a problem with style over substance but I enjoyed every minute of that film and and yeah, and I and I recommend it to you guys because, yeah, I just thought it was so beautiful that.
LeeYeah, I just let it go, really.
AdamYeah.
AdamAnd and a great and a really good and moderate pretty small cast but a really fucking good one.
AdamLike Dev Patel's brilliant.
AdamAnd, um, also.
AdamUm, and also, did you spot that is, um, Ralph Ineson was the knight, who is the dad from The Witch.
LeeYes.
LeeYeah.
LeeYou know his voice as soon as you hear him.
AdamYou can hear it in his voice, yeah.
LeeI kept waiting for him to say all to, but he didn't.
LeeHe decided.
AdamOr to.
AdamNo, that's Sean, that's Mr. Bean, not not Mr. Bean, but.
AdamBut yeah, no, the uh, no, he's, uh, he's the Gaviscon ad.
AdamCome on, lads, this la needs throat clearing.
AdamWhich sounds wrong.
LeeYeah.
LeeBut.
AdamBut there we go.
LeeNot appropriate.
AdamIn a in a proper.
AdamAnd finally, I have blasted through all nine episodes in three days of The Squid Game.
AdamAs recommended, as recommended by a friend of the show, Alex.
AdamAnd former guest, Alex.
LeeHey, Alex.
AdamUm.
AdamYeah, definitely.
AdamAll I will say is, I I think this is the the best recommendation I can make is watch it now because literally loads of people are talking about it, it will get more and more and you want to you want to experience it before you've ruined it by.
AdamWhat does this mean that keeps appearing on it?
AdamYeah.
AdamBecause there'll be one thing that comes out of it that someone will use and then it'll be like, oh, well, what what is that from?
AdamOh, from that Squid Game.
AdamOh, right, they've just explained a major plot point.
AdamOh, fuck it, I won't bother.
AdamDo bother before that happens.
AdamAnd certainly do and certainly do it before there's like a shitty Western remake because it's a a South Korean show.
AdamAnd it's got that sort of thing where you're like, this is going to get remade, they're going to miss the fucking point spectacularly.
AdamAnd, yeah, and it'll just be shite, so definitely, but yeah.
AdamWatch the Squid Game, the premise is basically is that there's a group of people who owe lots of money.
AdamAnd they end up involved in a sort of tournament of games.
AdamUh, all the games are ones from childhood.
AdamNow, they're all sort of games that were played in South Korea, but there's stuff like Tug of War.
AdamThere's what they call Red Light, Green Light, which is what's the time Mr. Wolf or Grandma's footsteps.
AdamUm, but yeah, basically so you compete in these sort of playground games, uh, but if you lose, you're dead.
AdamThere are armed guards who just blow your fucking brains out.
AdamUm, and so you've got this, you've got this.
ChrisSo is it is it a game show then?
ChrisIs it?
AdamIt's no, no, no, no, as as it goes on, it sort of becomes clear that it is an entertainment, but it's it's not like say Blade, not Blade Runner, Running Man.
ChrisRunning Man.
AdamYeah, it's not TV, it's the year is 19 is 2007, reality shows are now murder.
AdamYou know, it's not sort of that sort of thing, it's basically, yeah, it it exists in the real world where basically, yeah, this is not right what's going on.
ChrisOkay, right.
AdamUm.
AdamAnd but basically, yeah, it fit the best way I can describe it is it's somewhere between The Prisoner and Battle Royale.
AdamWhere it's that sort of thing of a really fucking tense like the sort of an action sequences and sort of people getting like mowed down and sort of really sort of, you know, no no shitting about violence.
AdamBut for but within this world where you're all captive and you've all just been given numbers.
AdamSo, and basically, yeah, so as they go through, obviously, the numbers get whittled down.
AdamPeople start playing strategies, but each game there's a turnaround in each game where basically it fucks with you.
AdamSo it'll be like, all right.
AdamYou've got a former team, but I don't know what sort of team I need.
AdamHm.
AdamDo I need people who can do this or you know.
AdamAnd so everyone starts sort of like double-thinking and re-thinking and betraying each other or helping each other.
AdamAnd there's a real sort of lovely struggle in it of the very best and the very worst that people can be.
AdamAnd, yeah, and it's just seriously, it's just so good and like I say, just blast through it.
AdamAnd we we did it in the about three nights.
AdamStarted off I I was just watching it and then by the end of the first episode, Claire was watching it with me and that's how we've watched the rest of it.
AdamAnd, um, yeah.
AdamAnd but it's sort of, um, yeah, I think it's one of those things that just.
AdamIt will also probably end up getting parodied as soon as enough people have seen it, so it'll be one of those things where it's like a loads of fucking, it'll turn up in Rick and Morty or it'll turn up in The Simpsons or something like that.
AdamAnd, yeah, um.
ChrisI saw that is is it the most watched ever?
AdamIt's I think it's certainly the most watched foreign language thing on Netflix and it's approaching being the the biggest thing that's seen on Netflix.
AdamUm.
AdamAlso, I mean it it you do get a satisfying plot line with it, it doesn't leave huge amounts dangling or, you know, it doesn't end on a massive fucking cliffhanger or anything.
AdamYou get a resolution.
AdamUm, which is good and also I understand that the guy who did it hasn't got.
AdamA loads of people are talking about the second series, I don't think he is has anything, any ideas in that direction.
AdamAnd to tell you the truth, I think it is one of those things that would be, if it if they leave it as it stands now, it's fucking great.
ChrisYeah.
AdamAll they can probably do is just not do as well because it's that fucking good.
AdamSo.
LeeExcellent.
AdamHardly recommend.
LeeI should put that on my watch list.
ChrisExcellent.
LeeFantastic.
LeeUm, right, so I also have watched a shit ton of stuff, so I'll try and keep it nice and brief.
LeeUm, so, uh, Shudder original, I believe it is.
LeeUm, Boys from County Hell.
LeeHave you heard of this, Adam?
AdamNo.
LeeOh, right.
LeeYeah, it's on Shudder, it's absolutely amazing.
LeeSo it's a small town in, uh, Ireland, uh and it's got a a mound of rocks in it.
LeeAnd the the ancient story is that there's a vampire buried underneath this mound of rocks.
LeeBut there's a new bypass going in, which has got to go through it.
LeeSo they get a load of the guys from the town who are road builders to basically excavate to get ready for the the new road to go in, uh, and they have to take down this mound of rocks and, yeah, vampires come.
AdamOh, wow.
LeeAnd it is absolutely hilarious.
LeeIt's so, so good.
LeeIt was one of those, it turned up and I was like, Shudder original, I'll I'll give it a go because some of their stuff's, you know, pretty solid.
LeeUm, yeah, and was just absolutely blown away by it.
LeeIt was so good.
LeeSo good, that's definitely one for a rewatch for me, I think, possibly in the next six months, so check that out if you get the opportunity.
LeeUm, I had a fantastic, I had one of those moments, I was going through DVDs on my shelves.
ChrisThat's quite a lot.
LeeThere there is an awful lot there.
LeeUm, and I found one that was still in the cellophane and it was 1969's, uh, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, The Hammer Film.
AdamHey.
LeeUm.
ChrisWhere where does that fit in the kind of, is that towards the end?
AdamIt's the fifth, fourth or fifth film in the Frankenstein series, I think.
LeeUm, but it was still in the cellophane, I've never watched it, I I bought it so long ago, it was three quid from HMV on DVD, which goes to show you how long ago I bought it.
LeeUm, and I thought, oh, it must be one I've seen, but I'm just in the mood for something in that horror vein, that Hammer horror vein.
LeeI'll chuck it on.
LeeYeah, and it turned out I'd never seen it.
LeeSo I was absolutely beside myself with excitement.
LeeYeah, really good film.
LeeSo I I hardly uh recommend that.
LeeUm, I then watched Something Wicked This Way Comes, the Ray Bradbury adaptation.
AdamYes, yeah.
LeeUh, yeah, it that was on our Halloween horror watch list.
LeeJennifer put it on there.
LeeYeah, a fantastic call.
LeeUm, Jonathan Pearce is in it, just been Jonathan Price, sorry, just been amazing as he always is.
AdamOh, he is, yeah.
AdamYeah.
LeeHe's such an underrated actor that guy, he's so good.
LeeUm, he always plays a sinister part.
AdamHe was in a sitcom he did with Mark Gates.
LeeNo.
AdamHe did a sitcom called Clone and he was the inventor of a clone.
AdamUm, and it was one of those things where it was it was a BBC One 8:00 sitcom, so you get the sort of fact that it's not brilliant.
AdamBut weirdly enough, Jonathan Price is fucking amazing in it.
AdamIt is a bit sort of it's one of those ones where it sort of veers into Frank Spencer.
AdamOh, what are you doing, please, just leave the shops on time.
LeeYeah.
AdamBut Jonathan Price in it and Mark Gates is really good because he's like the military liaison for this scientist and he's just he just comes in and is just a bit sinister about the whole affair.
LeeSo.
AdamOh.
LeeOkay.
LeeI'll definitely be checking that out.
LeeUm, yeah, Something Wicked This Way Comes was one I'd never seen until about, maybe five or six years ago when I came across it by accident.
LeeUm, yeah, it was totally blown away and loved it as much the second time around.
LeeUm, Lords of Salem, we rewatched as part of our Halloween watch list.
LeeUm, yeah, I still love that film.
LeeIt's it's one of those.
ChrisIs that is that a Rob Zombie film?
LeeIt is a Rob Zombie film.
LeeYeah, yeah.
LeeIt's one, I've seen about four or five times, but for some reason, I always watch it and then a week later, if you ask me anything about it, I can remember two, maybe three scenes.
LeeIt's just something, I think because it's such a a slow burn film.
LeeYou kind of forget a lot of what goes on.
LeeSo it's a fantastic rewatch film because every time you go, I'd forgotten how weird this is, I I can see why it didn't work for a lot of people, but I think it's truly brilliant.
AdamI think I think that's that was when he was sort of trying things out, really.
LeeExactly.
AdamAnd that was like his more sort of European, Italian sort of style horror.
AdamLike sort of Mario Bava sort of thing.
LeeOh, totally.
LeeYeah.
AdamRather than like a gore fest or sort of like, you know.
LeeJust another slasher type.
AdamKiller on the run sort of stuff.
LeeYeah.
ChrisSo was that before or after House of 1000 Corpses?
LeeOh, after House of 1000 Corpses.
LeeThat was his first film.
ChrisOh.
LeeAnd then I think he did, uh, Halloween, then he did.
LeeThis.
LeeOr did he, or did he do.
AdamNo, he did Yeah, I think it might even be Devil rejects Devil's rejects before Halloween, I'm not sure.
LeeOh, okay.
AdamBut yeah, they definitely, yeah, so it's house first.
AdamAnd then it's sort of Halloween and Devil's rejects probably which whichever way around not long after each other.
LeeI was going to say, they were very close together.
AdamYeah, and then he disappeared for a bit and then he did this and then he did Halloween Two.
LeeYeah.
LeeSo.
AdamAnd.
LeeAnd.
AdamAnd.
LeeAnd rightly so, oh, it's an absolute piece of shit.
LeeUm, a bit like the next film that I watched.
LeeUh, I then watched The Last Witch Hunter with Vin Diesel again.
AdamYeah.
LeeJust because I couldn't believe how bad it was the first time.
LeeIt's.
ChrisIt's still that bad.
LeeIt is, and to be fair, it's not an awful film.
LeeBut I went in expecting a horror and like you said, Chris, because I recently listened back to our Room 101 episode.
LeeI never listened back to our episodes, but it just rolled over on SoundCloud.
LeeSo let it go.
ChrisOh, yeah.
LeeUm, yeah, and it's the same thing, which I'm sure is how everybody listens to our.
ChrisNobody listens to our episodes.
AdamCouldn't get to the phone in time.
LeeUm, but yeah, it's got that same, it's an action film with witches, ultimately.
LeeUh, so it's it's a good action film, it's it's Vin Diesel, really.
LeeBut instead of in a car, he's, uh, but actually he does, he does drive an Aston Martin in it.
LeeSo he is still kind of Vin Diesel.
AdamOh.
AdamI should mind you, I suppose, last of the Witch Hunters, because I was going Witch Hunter.
AdamIt's got to be I was expecting to be dressed up like Black Adder the Second, you know.
LeeNo.
LeeNo, so, um, so apparently this is based on a Dungeons and Dragons game.
LeeBecause he's a.
LeeHe's a massive D&D player.
LeeLike I've heard I've heard it the first time and I was like, that's dog shit.
LeeBut I've heard it so many times now that Vin Diesel is massively into D&D that it must be true.
LeeYeah.
LeeAnd apparently this is based on a quest or something that he did at some point.
LeeUm, yeah.
LeeAnd it it I mean it's it's passable, it's entertaining.
LeeIt's got one of the girls from Game of Thrones in it, you know the redheaded girl from the wildlings.
LeeShe's.
AdamOh, yes.
AdamYeah.
LeeShe's the kind of second fiddle love interest in it.
AdamYgritte.
LeeYgritte, yes.
AdamRose Leslie, yeah.
LeeShe's outstanding in it.
LeeUm, so, yeah, I mean, if you're in the mood for an action film rather than a horror film, it's it'll pass the time.
LeeAnd the last thing I watched, which will be very quick to cover.
LeeBecause I covered it, I I watched it on the Saturday when we were going to podcast and I was too ill, so it got postponed, um, so I remember nothing about it, but I've just got my notes here, so I watched the Star Wars Lego Terrifying Tales.
LeeAnd I've got written down, The Lost Boys, Halloween.
LeeFucking brilliant.
LeeI don't remember watching it, but I did watch it and those are the notes I made, so yeah, so go and watch it because apparently I thought it was really good.
AdamWell, and as we say, we'll we'll be looking to get Mos Eisley out on that as well.
AdamSo.
LeeYeah, I'd love to hear you guys cover that.
AdamWe need.
AdamWell, we need a Halloween episode.
LeeAbsolutely.
AdamMos Eisley Halloween episode, we see with that or it's just going through old photos of when Chris went as the Emperor in one of your parties.
LeeYeah.
LeeI.
LeeOh God, yeah, I remember that.
LeeYeah.
ChrisThat was.
LeeI remember the party, I remember seeing pictures of that.
AdamThat's why you take so many photos at your parties.
AdamLiterally the only memories you have.
LeeYeah, most of the time, unfortunately, so.
LeeI The thing is, when you when you have a party and you say, right, everyone around at 7:00, you have to start getting ready for that party at like midday, and you have to start getting in the party mood at midday, which means you have to start drinking at midday, so by the time everyone turns up at 7:00, I'm generally arsehole.
LeeSo, I'm yeah.
LeeAgain, I don't have a problem, I'm just very, very social.
AdamYou're you're marry.
LeeYeah.
LeeIt's.
LeeIt's a party.
LeeYou're allowed.
LeeIt's when you do it on a weekday and you're supposed to be going to work, that's when there's.
ChrisThat's when you have a party every day.
LeeYeah.
AdamUm, it's it's when you take it's when you take your party in a hidden bottle into the toilet at work.
ChrisIt's when you don't worry about going to the toilets.
AdamChris.
Adampissed himself again.
LeeRight, before I get myself into a sticky situation, let's move on to this evening's main event.
LeeSo, 1999's The Blair Witch Project.
LeeI assume that this is something you saw previously, Chris.
ChrisIt is, yes.
ChrisAlthough, I've got an interesting story about that.
LeeOh.
LeeGo on.
LeeI'll let you lead us off there.
ChrisIt may be that I jump around a bit because this this was somewhat what I was expecting and somewhat not, right.
ChrisSo I watched it at the cinema, I remember all of the excitement around it.
ChrisAll of the I'd say hype, definitely.
LeeMassive.
ChrisI didn't, yeah, I don't think I'd seen a found footage before that.
ChrisI may point some out.
LeeYou wouldn't have been.
ChrisRight, okay, now I didn't know if it was like the first one or the first one that was big enough for everyone to talk about.
ChrisI mean it's possible there were some before that just no one ever heard about.
ChrisI don't know.
LeeBut.
AdamThere are there were some before, but this basically is what makes it, is what makes it.
ChrisIs it only cinema release or major release?
AdamOh, yeah, that's just it was stuff it was stuff like, uh, The Last Broadcast.
LeeI seem to remember you lending me, Adam.
LeeWhich was like a TV.
LeeThing very similar.
AdamAh.
ChrisOh, who? At one point were.
AdamYeah, who at one point were looking to sue The Blair Witch.
AdamBecause they felt there was.
ChrisRight.
AdamA correlation there.
ChrisYeah.
AdamUm.
AdamAnd, uh, Cannibal Holocaust.
AdamHe's a found footage film.
ChrisNot not heard of that.
AdamOh, right.
LeeDon't watch that.
AdamThere's a classic the classic 70s, uh, Cannibal film.
AdamBut yeah, that that's found footage.
AdamAnd it's sort of and that's done in an interesting way where it's like the person presents their footage and then they find the bits he cut out.
AdamMmm.
AdamAnd it's like, all right, so that just changes everything we've seen.
AdamYeah.
AdamSo it's it's you know.
ChrisThat's potentially interesting idea.
AdamI mean, it's I mean, it's a smart thing.
AdamAnd but I mean it is a fucking grueling watch, but it's, yeah.
AdamUh, but I think that, um, so but yeah, definitely Blair Witch is what launches it as what I would call a horror genre.
ChrisOkay.
AdamYeah, because it's always used for all kind of thing.
LeeBut.
ChrisYeah, but that's now that's now that's interesting.
ChrisRight.
ChrisRight, so yeah.
ChrisSo I remember watching it, but I definitely struggled with the idea of watching something that is meant to be kind of real.
ChrisIn a cinema with lots of people.
ChrisLike so for some films that doesn't seem to matter.
ChrisFor this one, it just really I struggled to get past that. Now, I definitely remember enjoying the film.
ChrisUm, just it just didn't seem to to uh, you know.
ChrisCombine properly there, right.
ChrisBut what I thought was at the end, it became crazy, right?
ChrisSo I sort of remembered the witch being there and lots of blood all up the walls and gore and she saw someone half.
ChrisUh, you know.
ChrisYou know, in a serious mess and then turn around and it all went to chaos.
ChrisAnd of course, watching it this time, it it doesn't happen.
ChrisSo I was like, where have I got this from?
ChrisAnd I must I sort of remembered it as being, yeah, a good film. I wouldn't have rushed back to watch it.
ChrisUm, but what I did think it was, I still did actually enjoy watching it.
ChrisSo like I kind of I I there was one other thing, right.
ChrisSo I was thinking, is this just a cheap a way to make a cheap easy to make film and make a lot of money from it?
LeeI think it became.
ChrisOkay, yeah.
ChrisWell, I so so I was like, well, how much work has actually gone into it compared to another film that doesn't follow us.
ChrisSo, yeah, I cannot actually tell.
ChrisYou know.
ChrisBut overall, I remember thinking, yeah, this is good.
ChrisI like it.
ChrisIt didn't it definitely didn't feel like horror, it was almost more mystery to me.
LeeYeah, I know you mean.
ChrisYeah.
ChrisAnd but in my head, I remember it's been I'm watching it again. Again, it's not it's not.
ChrisUh, yeah, I guess it's it's psychological thriller, I would have said.
LeeYes.
ChrisMore because again, it's so much about and really it's really fascinating, right?
ChrisSo imagine you actually did what they did and you were there and they didn't fully trust each other.
ChrisIt's like they didn't really know each other that well.
ChrisAnd they all had slightly different agendas and that sort of came out.
ChrisYou know, as it progresses, where they're accusing each other of the different failings.
ChrisSo she's like they're saying you're just obsessed with the documentary.
ChrisThe other guy was, yeah, sure I'll film it, but, you know, I'm I'm half pretending I'm really good at this.
ChrisAnd basically, I've not even looked at the the lens to know what numbers are on it and, you know, it's like.
ChrisAnd the other guy was just moaning quite a lot for a lot of it.
ChrisBut.
ChrisBut yeah, and then and and so as things start to go wrong.
LeeYeah.
LeeIt was too much.
ChrisAs things start to go wrong, you're like.
ChrisYeah, well you you, you know, how do you stay calm in that situation?
ChrisAnd when you start to think like, oh, is something happening, you know, and like and now are they are they on my side or not?
ChrisAnd then of course, when you find out the guy's kicked the map into the creek.
ChrisAnd it it does it does, you know, escalate well at that point because how would you react?
ChrisAnd they're just trying to rationalize it.
ChrisShe's saying like, oh, we're in America.
ChrisYou know, the, um, the we've cut down most of the forest. I think you probably you could still get lost for a while. But, you know, it's like, yeah, just all that all those thoughts that you you would be going through and, yeah, and just trying to think, oh, we're going to get out of this.
ChrisLike, how bad is this, you know, it's like.
ChrisThat's that's fascinating.
AdamWell, because I I mean actually, I mean, certainly, to that point, I can't remember what they call the Missing 411 or the Missing 431, which is yeah, something like that, isn't it?
AdamAnd it's basically it's the number of people who've gone missing in national parks since they started taking records, which was like the 70s.
AdamAll right.
AdamAnd yeah, so it's very possible to get lost.
AdamAnd and rather rather unfortunately, it's one of those things where it's like real life real life disappearances that have unfortunately been co-opted into there's a lot of people who it's like.
AdamI would let's let's put it this way, I would love Bigfoot to be real. So far, not looking likely.
AdamYeah.
AdamAnd if I had someone in my family go missing, I think I would be extremely annoyed by some fat dumpy prick in a baseball cap going on about, yeah, it was definitely a Bigfoot came and took them.
AdamYeah.
AdamYou know.
AdamSo, you know, from that point, but but yeah.
AdamAnd I I think but people were still on compuserve, people were still on dial up.
AdamYou know.
AdamIt's 1999.
ChrisYeah, no, yeah, compuserve, yeah.
AdamYeah, so you.
ChrisYeah, compuserve, yeah, that could be 96.
ChrisI was thinking of Google, but yeah, yeah, something like that.
AdamAnd I think that's thing, so you know, and I think that people were still on compuserve, people were still on dial up. You know, it's 1999, so you.
AdamAnd I think that's thing, so you know, and I think that people were still on compuserve, people were still on dial up.
AdamYou know.
AdamIt's 1999, so you do.
LeeI seem to remember, I did buy it. I think it is on the shelf. I think I put it in one night and got about half an hour into it and was like, yeah, this is just too.
LeeIt was too cringey and it was too, I can't quite remember what it was, yeah, like it was it it had too much Hollywood in it almost.
LeeSo it was like the guy who was taking them into the woods.
LeeIt was like, oh, yeah, I'll take you to where it all happened.
LeeYeah, and within about 10 minutes or so, it was like, all right, so he's clearly a massive racist and he's a total dickhead.
LeeAnd like it it just had too much of that, kind of, the thing that worked with The Blair Witch was the fact that they were all.
LeeThey didn't quite know each other and they were trying hard and they were all in a horrible situation, whereas this was immediately like, right, there's one person who's a prick and he's going to fuck them all over.
LeeAnd yeah, and within about 25 minutes, I was like, yeah, I I don't think this is going to work at all in the same way.
AdamI would hate.
AdamI would I would actually have to say I think what's seems to be and like I say, this is reading reviews.
AdamI've not seen it, I I think I put it on for about five minutes one night and then I was like, or I could watch that.
AdamAnd that's as far as I got, so, you know, I'm I'm not even saying that that remotely gives me a chance of having judged the film, but I just know I don't think this is going to work out. I mean this this feels like it's got four on IMDb out of ten. I I'm going to set my but again, I remember it not being great, so I'm going to go in with low expectations and uh, we'll see how it goes. I mean, it's just it's just it's not That's the thing, it's not The Blair Witch film in the sense of if you like The Blair Witch Project, it's not.
AdamAs a horror fan, you can watch you can watch you it works.
AdamBecause it's just like, oh, this is just like something that came out like I don't know, Urban Legend or something like that.
AdamYou know what I mean, like just one of those sort of mid-range.
AdamPossible, enjoyable.
AdamYeah.
AdamYeah, yeah.
AdamAnd then in 2006.
AdamThey did The Blair Witch but they've tried to do found footage.
AdamBut obviously, like we said, with proper cameras being made to seem degraded and with a CGI witch and stuff like that.
AdamNow, I can't speak to it because I have not seen it, but I have heard.
AdamNothing but bad things, shall we say.
AdamI think because I think they've again, weirdly enough, although everyone hated Book of Shadows.
AdamThe one thing clever thing that Book of Shadows didn't do was try to do the same film.
AdamWhereas I think this tries to do the same film.
AdamAnd again, it's like we've discussed.
AdamWe don't live in 1999 anymore.
AdamYou can't make the same film and get the same reaction.
AdamYou know.
AdamI mean, the one clever thing that I liked about it is that I know that up until that it was just being made as a film called The Woods.
AdamAnd then they announced it at Comic-Con that actually, oh, by the way, it's The Blair Witch film.
AdamAnd everyone lost their shit for about a day and a half.
AdamUm, so, yeah, I quite like that because and that was again, that was just a media.
AdamThey they made that decision because it was like, all right, as soon as you announce you're doing this, everyone's just going to say it's shit and they shouldn't have done number two.
AdamAnd they shouldn't have done it because apparently that's the thing, it ignores number two completely.
AdamThat's not mentioned or anything else like that.
AdamBut apparently that's the thing, it ignores number two completely.
AdamThat's not mentioned or anything else like that.
AdamBut I think the main character is meant to be Heather's little brother who's going looking for her.
AdamAnd there's a will they won't they relationship with the thing.
AdamWhich basically all the stuff that they decided not to do with Blair Witch Project.
AdamWas like that's probably just going to get shit.
AdamSo.
AdamAnd you know, but it's it's like.
