The Blair Witch Project

A close-up of a person’s face, focusing on the eyes which are wide open. The person is wearing a knitted hat and the lighting highlights the eyes and forehead while casting shadows over the rest of the face.

In October of 1994 three student filmmakers travelled to Burkittsville, Maryland, to shoot a documentary about a local urban legend, The Blair Witch. They went into the woods planning for a two-day hike and never returned. A year later their footage was found and complied into a film: The Blair Witch Project.

This low-budget, found footage horror film directed by Eduardo Sanchez was a game-changer for the horror genre and among the first to harness the internet to publicize the film and generate communities of impassioned fans who became convinced that film was documenting real events.

The Blair Witch Project screens as part of our "Party Like It's 1999" series. Courtesy of LionsGate Films and Swank Motion Pictures.