If a tree falls in the forest and only the Blair Witch is there to hear it, can anyone hear you scream?
I may have gotten the proverb wrong, but such a scene happens in “Blair Witch,” and there is plenty of screaming. This movie is a sequel to the scary 1999 “Blair Witch Project,” which jumpstarted the found-footage genre of horror pictures.
The first sequel to “BWP” was such a dud that the franchise seemed spent. But the new movie directly connects to the original, and takes us again back to the Maryland woods where a piece of witchy folklore is about to be rekindled.
You remember Heather, the leader of the band of backpackers who mysteriously vanished but left behind a video record of their journey? Her brother James (James Allen McCune), now a college student, believes Heather might still be alive somewhere in the woods.
His classmate and quasi-girlfriend Lisa (Callie Hernandez) wants to make a documentary out of the search, for her film class. They enlist pals Peter (Brandon Scott) and Ashley (Corbin Reid) to join the trip.
At the edge of the forest, they meet Lane (Wes Robinson) and Talia (Valorie Curry), two conspiracy geeks and Blair Witch enthusiasts. They tag along, too.
After that? Weird sounds at night, strange handmade effigies left near the campsite, and a disturbing slipperiness involving time. The latter is the movie’s most interesting idea — have the trekkers been out for one day, or five?
Like the first film, there’s also a certain amount of motion sickness. That’s because “Blair Witch” retains the found-footage style, where we see everything through the lenses of the group members (and via a drone, a tech advancement).
Given that the found-footage approach felt played out a few years ago, this movie could be a legit attempt at restarting all that. But nope, it really just looks like more of the same.
It’s a disappointment coming from director Adam Wingard and screenwriter Simon Barrett, whose films “The Guest” and “You’re Next” got something fresh going by re-inhabiting old horror-movie ideas.
It just doesn’t fly here. The style is monotonous, the plot ends up in a very familiar place, and once again the film denies explanations for what is going on.
The first “BWP” was an ingenious idea, but it worked in part because it was a one-off. Repeating the same thing truly brings diminishing returns. For the next sequel, please get a tripod and make sure the found footage stays lost.
“Blair Witch” 2 stars
The brothers of the lost girl from “The Blair Witch Project” brings his friends into the haunted woods, with the same result (and the same shaky cameras). A few good ideas don’t survive the fact that this sequel is trapped by the stale found-footage style.
Rating: R, for violence, language
Showing: Alderwood, Cinebarre, Everett, Marysville, Pacific Place, Sundance Cinemas, Thornton Place, Woodinville, Cascade Mall
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