Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #240416 in DVD
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, German

Amazon.com
This thoroughly second-rate follow-up to the groundbreaking (and highly profitable) horror flick The Blair Witch Project--produced by Blair Witch directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez--plays with the notions of reality and fantasy that surrounded the hype of the original movie, and attempts to throw in some scares along the way. A year after the release of the original film, a group of five Blair Witch aficionados--four out-of-towners led by one seriously unhinged "tour guide"--venture into the woods outside Burkittsville, Maryland, on a tour of the sites made famous by missing documentarians Heather, Mike, and Josh. After a drunken night of camping out in hopes of communing with the spirit of the Blair Witch, the five wake up to find that their seemingly innocent sleep may have been disturbed somehow. But what exactly happened? If you're expecting suspense of the first degree and a horrifying payoff similar to the one that climaxed the first film, you'll be sorely disappointed. After retreating to an old, run-down broom factory (get it? Broom factory? Blair Witch? Oh well...), the five go over their videotapes of the night in question to get some answers, and basically wind up screaming at each other for the remainder of the film, and shedding some blood along the way. Documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger (of the highly acclaimed Paradise Lost and Brother's Keeper) proves that he should definitely stick to nonfiction filmmaking, and the entire cast is grating and unpleasant, aside from a scene-stealing turn by Kim Director as a goth chick with attitude to burn and a no-nonsense approach to this Blair Witch stuff. Strictly for hard-core Blair Witch fans only, and even then this sequel may prove to disappoint. --Mark Englehart

Customer Reviews

Good idea but Poor execution
When I first heard about about a Blair Witch sequel, I thought why? Here was this little indy movie, that made a ton of cash, was the water-cooler talk for the better part of a year, and was a truly unique film. Why try to top, or equal that? Of course, Hollywood saw a possible cash cow and a big studio jumped in and tainted the Blair Witch name. Now, I have to give the sequel credit in that it didn't just throw another group of kids into the woods and rehash the story from part one. The idea of Book of Shadows is actually a neat idea, but the execution of that idea was horrible. First of all, we are presented with such an annoying group of people to follow in Book of Shadows, I am immediately ready for the killing to begin. Seriously, I was praying Jason would come stumbling out of the woods with his hockey mask and machete to hasten the demise of this cast of characters that no one could relate to. The special effects get ramped up right along with the volume of the soundtrack, and I guess the producer hoped you wouldn't notice the bad acting and lack of story?? I see this movie is listed at under $2 used here on Amazon......Is it worth it? Not really, if you are like me and enjoy watching crappy movies now and again (Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Next Generation anyone?) then pick it up, but be warned...this could be one of those movies where in six months you may ask yourself "Was it really that bad?", pull it out to see and doom yourself to another wasted evening!!

Better than the first, Better than most....
Okay, if I get one person to see this movie and like it as much as I did, I feel like I accomplished something. From the opening credits w/Marilyn Manson's 'Disposable Teens' set to a flurry of autumn colors and blood spatter to the whole 'nothing was what it seems' ending, this movie is classic in almost every way. Forget the fact it's a sequel. Forget anything that annoyed you about the first movie. Think of this as just 'Book of Shadows', not a sequel...Joe B. is a smart filmmaker, and at least this movie offers us something than the usual slasher fare; There are some truly unsettling developments in this movie; The production, art design, and acting are much better than most. I was most impressed with the reactions of the characters during the final 15 minutes of the movie, when things really start to fall apart; One of the last scenes involves a certain character(this is NOT a spolier....)screaming that what he had just saw on tape was not what he had seen himself in person; His reaction was just like mine would have been, and it was pretty intense to say the least. This movie got a raw deal. I'm sure someone out there agrees...

What A Waste!
If there were 0 stars, I would give that instead. Standing on its own, it might earn 1 star, but being a sequel to Blair Witch Project (BW1), Book of Shadows (BW2) is a waste. I own BW1 on DVD and have seen it 6+ times. I saw BW1 in the theatres and saw BW2 in the theatre last night. It was a Hollywood-trashed version. It did not surprise me to find out afterward that it was different writers and director (supposedly BW3 is going to have the originals back). The "Freakylinks" TV series, by the original writers, is much better. Another sequel destroyed by Hollywood in their empty-minded view of adding a loud soundtrack, some skin, some glitzy promotions, etc. I will NOT recommend this to anyone. Such a shame.