MovieChat Forums > Blair Witch (2016) Discussion > Why would Heather still be alive?

Why would Heather still be alive?

posted 8 years ago by holymbv
51 replies | jump to latest

Honestly I didn't ask myself this until the movie ended. But it's been over 10 years since she went missing... How would she survive without food?

I'm open to an explanation or two.

And why didn't he believe that the witch is a real thing after watching the video? How much of the documentary did he see? Because as soon as he sees the hanging stick symbols he's ready to leave. Did he not see that part of the doc?

Again, I'm open to an explanation or two.

[–] sillyheart1977 8 years ago

Yeah, the writers kinda messed up on this aspect of the movie.... James was only 4 when heather disappeared, so he didn't have time to really develop a meaningful relationship with her which would drive him to believe she could still be out there. If we really wanted too, we could suggest that perhaps heather's parents were completely distraught about the loss of their daughter for many years and James grows up obsessed with finding out what happen to his older sister years back due to his parents grieving. Why he would think that viewing an old tape with an image on it that looks nothing like heather, would mean she was still alive is anybodies guess. Honestly, it was just sloppy writing, written to connect the 2 movies.

[–] holymbv 8 years ago

It would have made more sense if BLAIR WITCH was set a week or two after the trio went missing. Or if they just made a remake, which this sort of is.

[–] Centralline92 8 years ago

It had actually been 20 years since Heather had gone missing. She went missing in 1994 and what we're watching in Blair Witch is taking place in 2014. But the whole searching for Heather story line wasn't convincing to me. Poorly written IMO. Not only that, but why the hell would James think that "image" was Heather on the extra found footage (the footage they seem to end up filming themselves) is beyond me. It looked nothing like Heather in that mirror shot. That was the first part of this movie, right at the beginning, that made me think I'm not buying that.

I just got the impression that James had seen the whole of the footage from TBWP as he was the one who said that the stick figures had appeared in his sister's footage. That was quite late on in TBWP, so I'm guessing he'd seen all of it.

Again, I thought it was poor writing. The whole set-up wasn't convincing to me at all nor were any of the characters.

[–] koffeenkreame41-1 8 years ago

It had actually been 20 years since Heather had gone missing. She went missing in 1994 and what we're watching in Blair Witch is taking place in 2014. But the whole searching for Heather story line wasn't convincing to me. Poorly written IMO. Not only that, but why the hell would James think that "image" was Heather on the extra found footage (the footage they seem to end up filming themselves) is beyond me. It looked nothing like Heather in that mirror shot. That was the first part of this movie, right at the beginning, that made me think I'm not buying that.

This. That image looked NOTHING like Heather, tbh, I thought it was the Witch herself, Elly Kedward as soon as I saw that image.

"I'm the ultimate badass,you do NOT wanna f-ck wit me!"Hudson,Aliens😬

[–] JFLegault 8 years ago

I thought it was the Witch herself, Elly Kedward as soon as I saw that image.

Yeah me too. And I was pretty disapointed when I realized it was actually Lisa. This time loop crap is not impressing me one bit.

[–] WanderingGeek 8 years ago

Exactly! Heather goes missing in 1994 and James - who was 4 when she went missing (and is now 24 haha yeah right) actually believes Heather is out there? It's been 20 years dude. 20. He's willing to ditch the woman he has feelings for and run into an old house, possibly risking his own life in the process, all to save Heather... who he hasn't seen in 20 years and wouldn't possibly remember much of.

It's so contrived.

Who's Betty Grable?!

[–] Everardo_G 8 years ago

In my first viewing I thought it could have been Heather and that she was going to be in the movie. I thought to myself that maybe that was Heather and that she could have ended up being possessed and stayed in the house. James was holding onto anything that would point to his sister being alive. Try to imagine if you lost your sibling. It would haunt you forever and if you had any small hope of finding out about there whereabouts wouldn't you do something about it?

[–] holymbv 8 years ago

No. Too much time has passed. But more power to you.

[–] cfish861286 8 years ago

Yeah, I thought it resembled her, too. She's wearing what looks like the toboggan Heather often wore in the first movie, so it's not that much of a stretch. Now, that she could possibly be alive is much more of a stretch, but James does mention that even if she's dead, he just wants to know what happened to her.

[–] reaseltbim 8 years ago

whats a toboggan?

[–] cheetosnguinness 8 years ago

It's what some people call a beanie. I lived in Tennessee and they said toboggan there.

[–] reaseltbim 8 years ago

I thought you guys were talking about a Mantis toboggan

[–] tizerist 8 years ago

Exactly. That's entirely feasible.
But some people don't understand that concept, and think an "Aah well, screw it" attitude is the only way people would react.

[–] bishop-69757 8 years ago

It was stupid. If they wanted to go with this storyline. They should've set in the mid 90s.

[–] definitive_prankster 8 years ago

But then we wouldn't have been able to use the Parrot and the head cams, though of course YMMV on whether that would have been a good thing.

[–] OrdinaryDay 8 years ago

remember even though The Blair Witch Project was released in 1999 it is set in 1994. and this one is set in 2014!!! that is TWENTY YEARS!!!!

Definition of troll on IMDb - anyone who expresses a view different to mine.

[–] JRodFilms 8 years ago

its over 20 years. the first film takes place in 1994.

[–] IBronson 8 years ago

At the beginning of the movie, graphics say that the second round of found footage was from May 15, 2014, which is just under 19 1/2 years from the first film's October, 1994 time stamp.

[–] mcatley 8 years ago

If you remember in the film after Lane gets "banished" with Talia they appear later that night seemingly only been gone for the day but Lane says "it's been 5-6 days" for me, even though James isn't aware at the beginning, this is how Heather could be alive, the witch can control each individuals timeline.
I also think because of this it would've been a great twist if James did find Heather, but for her it was only 2-3 weeks later maybe. Just a thought.

[–] holymbv 8 years ago

Okay, but why would the brother think she's alive before he enters the woods? That I don't get.

[–] truthteller12345 8 years ago

If you remember in the film after Lane gets "banished" with Talia they appear later that night seemingly only been gone for the day but Lane says "it's been 5-6 days" for me, even though James isn't aware at the beginning, this is how Heather could be alive, the witch can control each individuals timeline.
I also think because of this it would've been a great twist if James did find Heather, but for her it was only 2-3 weeks later maybe. Just a thought.

This is what I thought was going to happen. It would of been a nice creepy twist. It almost seemed like they were leading up to that because of Lane saying in the house "you look just as I remember you"..so he had been in the house for months maybe....it made me think that maybe for Heather only a few weeks had passed and that she would appear.

[–] Jeraldo_Joao 8 years ago

I was thinking the same thing. The filmmakers kind of point the viewer in this direction, to make sense of the storyline, the overall arc. Lane might have been trapped for what seemed years to him, hours to the others, and who knows to Heather, speaking of whom, I was hoping Heather Donahue would return as Heather/the witch. Maybe she did - a few flashes of a face around the 1:17 mark.