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I avoided all the hype, except the Linda Blair interview on the 11 O'clock Show where we learned that some people rate Blair Witch over The Exorcist. That's a bit of a stretch, though I thought it was
quite entertaining. It's certainly well-acted and complemented admirably by the Bochco-esque format, but ultimately I think those last few seconds are a little bit too specific, and serve to confuse the powerful
ambiguity that is the film's real strength. As to the various theories about who the witch was, my own feeling is that we don't even know if there was a witch, or indeed anything supernatural. I think
the whole point was deliberate ambiguity and any attempt to swing it one way or the other is outside the domain of the film (ie. even the film-makers probably don't 'know'). Am I the first to see a very strong Stephen
King influence here? This ambiguity is a common thread that runs through many of the King novels I've read (although I'm a few years behind now). Ultimately it's this lack of resolution that's at the heart of the film,
and it's what elevates Blair Witch to the circle of genuinely creepy films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock and Long Weekend (if anybody remembers that one). |
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