The Blair Witch Project Is Releasing a Version You’ve Never Seen Before

Don’t worry—there’s nary satellite successful which lo-fi fearfulness classical The Blair Witch Project gets 1 of those overly creaseless 4K upgrades. The 1999 movie became a sensation due to the fact that it looks similar it really was filmed by a trio of young documentary makers who get mislaid successful a haunted forest: shaky, grainy, weird lighting, not ever successful focus.

Though by present we cognize the “true story” portion of Blair Witch was a gimmick, the found-footage movie is inactive uncovering caller ways to astonishment us. According to 1 of the film’s producers, Michael Monello, the movie is finally—25 years aft it deed theaters—getting a location video merchandise that reflects the mentation its creators (the movie was written and directed by Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick) ever intended.

The caller mentation comes into being owed to a method snafu that was mistakenly not corrected decades ago—and seemingly makes a notable quality successful the viewing experience. Here’s Monello’s societal media station that breaks it down:

25 years later, our small movie, 'The Blair Witch Project,' is FINALLY being released arsenic we ever intended. Here are details for the curious. pic.twitter.com/w6S4dm2KKI

— Mike Monello (@mikemonello) November 11, 2024

“The Blair Witch Project was filmed connected Hi8 video and 16mm b&w movie and edited connected a Media 100XR, a non-linear editing strategy successful wide usage then,” helium wrote. “Since theaters past did not person video projectors, we had to transportation our DigiBeta maestro to 35mm via a process called ‘telecine,’ fundamentally filming the video connected a peculiar surface successful a controlled situation with a 35mm movie camera.”

They had nary prime astatine the time, helium explained. But erstwhile The Blair Witch Project was shifting from theaters to location video, “[distributors] Artisan made a immense mistake” and alternatively worked not from the DigiBeta master, but the 35mm telecine transfer.

“This introduced superior question errors,” Monello explained. “It gave the Hi8 footage movie atom and muddied each the colors with a brownish overcast, sidesplitting detail. The edits of that transportation became 3-frame dissolves, alternatively than hard cuts!”

The caller version, helium said, is the movie the mode it was intended to beryllium seen, and it’s “scarier” to boot; the caller transfer’s “look, motion, and hard cuts make a acold scarier intelligence effect than each erstwhile versions.”

The merchandise comes with 90 minutes of deleted footage arsenic good arsenic a caller documentary, helium added. But there’s a catch: this volition beryllium a Region B merchandise only—that’s Europe, not the United States. (Monello suggested fans “contact Lionsgate connected their societal channels” to petition a U.S. release; American fans with the quality to play Region B discs can prime it up from Second Site’s website, for what it’s worth. You tin besides spell to that nexus to spot the afloat database of peculiar features.)

And speaking of Lionsgate, the workplace precocious announced it’s moving connected a caller version of Blair Witch. To that end, a instrumentality connected Bluesky asked Monello if the Blair Witch Project cast—Heather Donohue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael Williams—participated successful this caller release. Recently, the actors spoke retired to accidental they weren’t included successful the indie film’s monolithic profits, contempt their integral portion successful its success.

Monello replied: “They were made offers to participate, but owed to their ongoing issues with Lions Gate they chose not to beryllium involved. Note that nary of america gain immoderate wealth from Blair Witch anything. Our enactment connected this was unpaid, and we lone did it to yet get it retired into the satellite the mode it was meant to be.”

The Blair Witch Project is already scary arsenic hell. It’s hard to ideate a mentation that’s adjacent scarier—but we’re surely intrigued to get a look astatine it and spot if that’s the case. Will you beryllium checking it out?

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