Warning: Spoilers for Blair Witch are ahead, stop reading now if you haven't see the horror sequel
It's been an absolutely phenomenal year for horror films, which made it all the more disappointing when the highly anticipated Blair Witch fell short of expectations and received generally lukewarm reviews. A surprise follow-up to the 1999 horror masterpiece, The Blair Witch Project, many people complained that Blair Witch simply showed too much of the titular monster, which in turn ruined the suspense. However, now it seems that we may have to reevaluate everything we think we know about the film. Blair Witch's writer has just come forward and admitted one very odd thing about the film: you didn't actually see The Blair Witch at all.
According to a new report from Bloody Disgusting, it seems that Blair Witch didn't show nearly as much as we had previously thought. Although everyone assumed that the odd looking creatures stalking these characters was The Witch herself, the film's screenwriter, Simon Barrett, recently took to Twitter to explain that the beast seen in the third act of the film isn't actually the Witch. In fact, he admitted that we never once see the actual Blair Witch throughout the course of the film.
This revelation opens up a number of possibilities regarding the identity of the creature, as well as The Witch herself. Although it had previously been assumed that The Witch was Elly Kedward -- a woman executed for witchcraft hundreds of years ago -- Barrett's confession could possibly indicate that Kedward is simply an avatar being used to commit these acts by the unseen Witch. Given the similarities between the creature's limbs and the injuries that Kedward suffered during her execution, this continues to be a very viable option. We saw the puppet; we just didn't see the master.
However, there's also another intriguing possibility that Simon Barrett's words present to us. The entire movie is predicated on the mission to find The Blair Witch Project's Heather, but there exists the very real possibility that this gangly creature stalking the campers in the woods actually is Heather. Having spent all of this time out in the woods alone (and having possibly fallen under the control of The Witch), the idea that Heather could've somehow become a monster after her final moments in the house at the end of The Blair Witch Project seems incredibly likely.
Beyond the implications of this revelation, this opens up a very specific line of questioning regarding whether or not we should even listen to Simon Barrett on this matter. If something this vital to the nature of the plot cannot even be gleaned from actually watching the movie, and it has to be explained by the writer after the film's release, does it really even matter? Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of an added layer of mystery to Blair Witch, I just wish that the film could've conveyed that more naturally.
What are your thoughts on this revelation? Does it change the way you view the ending of Blair Witch? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
