It's been an absolutely stellar year for the horror genre as a whole. Over the course of the last few months, several terrifying and highly original films have hit theaters, and really reminded us what horror is capable of. Sadly, not every horror film has managed to live up to this new, high benchmark. Blair Witch failed to capture the attention of critics and audiences alike this weekend, but the filmmakers behind the project seem to have found a way to laugh about the whole thing. Check out their awesome responses to the negative Blair Witch reactions below.
Following the negative response to Blair Witch, the movie's screenwriter, Simon Barrett, took to Twitter to poke fun at the film's lackluster reviews, as well as its poor box office performance. Director Adam Wingard jokingly responded to Barrett's tweet that they should have made a film about a "boring guy who landed a plane in water," which is an obvious dig at Clint Eastwood's Sully -- which once again took the No. 1 spot at the box office this weekend. If nothing else this seems to show that the men behind Blair Witch at the very least have a good sense of humor about their movie falling flat with critics and audiences.
We can point to any number of reasons as to why Blair Witch has failed to capture the attention of audiences. Some could argue that it's simply a sequel that nobody asked for, while others could make the equally valid claim that it can't compete with the other, high quality horror films that hit theaters recently -- instead relying on cheap "jump scares" to jolt the audience. The negative reviews have been fairly diverse in that regard.
One of the biggest criticisms leveled at Blair Witch seems to be the fact that it simply doesn't do anything new with the existing Blair Witch mythos. Although marketed as a sequel, the 2016 update of the 1999 indie horror hit has become widely criticized for its beat for beat retread of the original film's premise and narrative. Sure, some new characters and new technology have been added to the story to make it feel modern, but at the end of the day, the film isn't dissimilar to what fans have already seen before.
That being said, in the interest of fairness, not all of the reviews for Blair Witch have been wholly negative. CinemaBlend actually gave the horror sequel a more favorable review than Clint Eastwood's Miracle on the Hudson adaptation -- with Blair Witch garnering a 3/5 to Sully's 2/5. You can click here to read our Blair Witch review for yourself. Blair Witch isn't a masterpiece, but your experience may vary.
What are your thoughts on Blair Witch? Did you like it, or did you hate it? Let us know what you think to keep this conversation going! CinemaBlend will bring you any and all relevant details related to the latest Blair Witch Project sequel as more information becomes available to us; Blair Witch is currently in theaters.
