Editorial: Do we need another Blair Witch movie?

There was a time when filmmakers made an effort to work on original stories and invest in marketing campaigns. They weren't afraid to take risks, which is why we, as an audience, were treated to various, innovative stories that are remembered and even rewatched until today.

Now, all filmmakers are worried about is not offending the audience.

Have we really become that sensitive or is it that the filmmakers no longer want to take risks that could affect them financially.

And so we have stories that are being borrowed, movie franchises from the past being rebooted, and sequels of movies that were released decades ago.

And now there is news of yet another movie being rebooted.

In 1999 a movie called THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT was released. It was initially advertised as a documentary of real people that actually went missing. Their missing posters were posted as well.

It was only later that the audience was informed about the advertising gimmick. The three people who went missing were only actors who played their part convincingly.

The success of the movie was quite impactful but rather than propel the actors to fame, they went through a lot of trouble until at least two of them quit acting altogether.

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT was presented as a found footage movie which became the inspiration to many filmmakers who used this as a device for their own movies.

And so we had frightening movies like the Paranormal Activity, Lake Mungo, REC and V/H/S.

Such was the impact of The Blair Witch Project.

Within a year of its release, there were video games, novels, and comic books released.

A year later the sequel, BOOK OF SHADOWS: BLAIR WITCH 2 was released. Unfortunately, it was not received as well as the original and the third film went into development hell for many years.

Finally, in 2016 a movie called BLAIR WITCH was released which was a direct sequel to the first.

Again, the movie received mixed reviews and although considered an improvement over the second movie, it still couldn't match the success of the first.

Eventually Lionsgate, the studio behind the Blair Witch Project decided to reboot the series.

It has now been announced that Blumhouse will be producing the movie alongside Lionsgate.

So now the question is, do we really need a new Blair Witch movie?

The first movie turned out to be a sleeper hit. It was promoted as an actual documentary and the actors were told to stay out of the public's eye until the film's release.

The tactics worked. Many audience members believed they were witnessing actual events. They were scared for the people they saw on screen because they were informed at the beginning that the three student filmmakers were missing while shooting a documentary.

Those who caught on that they were watching actors were less than impressed. Several audience members found it funny and others thought the movie was slow and boring.

The movie worked because of its marketing gimmick.

People went to see the sequel because of the original movie's hype. And when they found it using typical horror tropes, they were disappointed.

Over the years, not many horror fans pick Blair Witch as their favorite, genuinely scary movie. They hype has gone down for a long time now.

The two studios joining hands are sure to deliver an interesting horror movie, based on their respective past projects, but it remains to be seen if they can recreate the success of the original movie.