- Title: USA: WORLD PREMIER OF "BLAIR WITCH 2: BOOK OF SHADOWS"
- Date: 16th October 2000
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 16) (REUTERS) MCU (ENGLISH) KIM DIRECTOR SAYING, "I think that's really the beauty of this film is that, first off, that it is not a sequel to the story of "The Blair Witch Project," but it's basically a sequel to the phenomenon of "The Blair Witch Project." So, it's extremely different and I think what's great about this fi
- Embargoed: 31st October 2000 12:00
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- Location: LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVAC36RVB1J72C1LFPAUOF89QQJ7
- Story Text: Just in time for Halloween the cast and crew of "Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows" have attended the much anticipated sequel's World Premiere in Los Angeles.
By now, nearly everyone is familiar with the 'Cinderella' story that is the "The Blair Witch Project."
Shot on a shoe-string budget of thirty THOUSAND dollars, the horror film was released in July of 1999 and went on to gross more than one hundred-and-forty MILLION dollars in the US alone.
The company behind the project, Artisan Entertainment, quickly put into motion plans for a sequel, prompting excitement and anger alike from fans obsessed with the first film.
Now the sequel, "Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows," is ready for release, and the big question is, 'how do you follow-up such a revolutionary and unique phenomenon?' For the answer, Artisan turned to respected documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger, best known for his gripping stories of real-life crime and punishment such as "Brother's Keeper"
and "Paradise Lost."
Instead of picking up where the first film left off, with the discovery of film and video footage shot by three teenagers who disappeared in the Black Hills of Maryland, Berlinger's sequel focuses on five obsessed fans of the first film who travel to the small town of Burkittsville, where the movie was shot.
All five actors share first names with their characters.
Jeffrey Donovan plays a local resident who turns his obsession with Blair Witch folklore into a profitable business selling t-shirts, guided tours and even "official" Blair Witch dirt, rocks and twigs.
In reality, the actual town of Burkittsville was overrun by such entrepreneurs soon after the first film was released in theatres.
"Blair Witch 2" opens with Jeff taking four fans into the woods on his inaugural tour.
They include a practicing Wiccan, as witches are also known, named Erica, a hard-edged Gothic aficionado with psychic abilities named Kim, and a couple of graduate students named Tristen and Stephen who are writing a book about the Blair Witch phenomenon.
Of course, things go horribly wrong during their time in the woods, and they spend the second half of the film trying to determine exactly what took place using a film and videotape record of their night in the woods.
Berlinger knew he couldn't simply replicate the same style, shaky handheld camera tricks that made the first film so unusual.
Instead, he uses more traditional fictional feature filmmaking techniques to tell a story that is meant to horrify but also comment on a variety of social issues.
In addition to offering a good scare, the film can also be seen as a commentary on the public's fascination with reality-based entertainment, the blurring of the line between truth and fiction, and the reliability and truthfulness of videotaped images.
Given the subject matter, Berlinger was an appropriate choice as director because all of his previous documentaries have touched on similar issues and featured people accused of crimes they claim they didn't committee.
But in the end, Berlinger and his colleagues at Artisan are hoping the film simply scares enough movie-goers to approach the success the first film achieved.
Whether or not that happens will only be answered after the film opens in theatres throughout the United States this week. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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