<by the way, there are spoilers a-plenty in here>
Neo-
My sister was nauseous from the movie too. She liked it, what she could watch, but spent much of the movie with her eyes closed to stop the boat from rocking. That is definitely a valid point.
Barely any acting? Wooden? And yet, by contrast, Natalie Portman and Liam Neeson were convincing in TPM? Don't mean to keep harking back to those examples, but I'm trying to get a handle on what you mean by "Acting", and "Wooden" in that context. If we can't agree on the meaning of terms, we can't communicate.
I thought the acting spectacular. And incredibly difficult feat, to be in character, but that character is you. If you think that's easy, well, it's not for me. I can act (sort of), in any character and use the character as a shield and infuse myself into it. These kids had to Act Natural, which any teacher of Zen will tell you, is an oxymoron.
No dramatic moments? Well, again, I disagree. The scene where Josh turns the camera on Heather, and gives her the menacing interview "What's your motivation, Heather?"...and she is trying to maintain control was creepy. And when they discover creepy items around they act like, well, kids who found some creepy items...
This movie is exceptional. It is the exception that proves the rule, for you. It shows why Hollywood films use soundtracks, special effects, camera angles, and traditional 3rd person audience POV to tell tales. It works. We need that, mostly. But this movie tried something different. Using 1st person camera work, we become a part of the group. A shaking tent is not that scary...unless you are actually camping. Then, it is incredibly fearsome. I was with them. I was one of them. And I died at the end.
The difference between this movie and most others can be illustrated this way.
Spielberg made Jaws. In it, he artistically interpreted a shark attack, and with John Williams' help, created the music, the tension, the panic of a shark attack. We all know what those scenes look like...underwater shots of flailing legs, shark's fin knifing the water, cello's building in intensity, and finally, commotion and screaming.
Real descriptions of shark attacks go quite differently. And when I read them as a boy, they scared me even more. They were usually "I felt a tug at my leg. I looked down, and the water was filled with blood, and there was a beast eating me." That's what the blair witch was. It was how the supernatural happened...but naturally. The witch hunted them, not out of menace, but because that's what it does.
This movie caught that fear...When you're in the woods at night, and you hear sounds, and fear that something is out there. This time, there is. |
