MovieChat Forums > Blair Witch (2016) Discussion > Who wanted a prequel instead?

Who wanted a prequel instead?

posted 8 years ago by ReelReviews14
12 replies | jump to latest

I know I did.

The third and FINAL film in the "Blair Witch" universe SHOULD have breathed new life in the franchise by revisiting how Burkittsville became associated with the Blair Witch legend and what REALLY happened centuries ago that became lost in folklore and second hand sources. It could have been a great faux "documentary" (I'd say mockumentary but that genre is usually associated with comedy/parody) and continue in the spirit of the original with some "found footage" of real witches caught in the woods back in the 1920s or something like that. (see the 1925 film 'Haxan' for an idea how they would do that). "The Curse of the Blair Witch" short was instrumental in generating interest in the first film, and the third film should have gone full circle and used that type of format to distinguish itself from the first two theatrical films. The "backstory" would be that the "documentary" filmmaker set out to do a legitimate film about the Blair Witch legend as a tribute to the amateur college students who tragically lost their lives trying to do such a project in the 90s, and tried to reconstruct what happened in 18th Century New England.

I liked Blair Witch 2 precisely because it told a different kind of story from the first film and tried to be its own thing. I liked the mysterious creepy twist ending in that film when it was released in 2000, and I rewatched it later and STILL like it. I have no idea what the film was mercilessly bashed so much, aside from the legitimate complaint that there's no "Book of Shadows" in the movie.

I have no desire to see a belated "sequel" 20 years later that just tries to copy what they did in the first one. Too many "sequels" are just thinly veiled remakes of the first film and don't have the same thrill once they've been done before.

The new "Blair Witch" will be strictly "wait to see it on DVD" for me. But a Blair Witch prequel? THAT would have been genuinely compelling to see.

[–] droidX 8 years ago

A prequel was really the only way to go. Even though I enjoyed the movie, the mass amounts of wasted potential can not be denied.

[–] IMDbGigalo 8 years ago

Prequel about Elly or Parr. No found footage. Just a plain ol' movie.

[–] americanadian25 8 years ago

A Blair Witch prequel sounds interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nedY8Ja-SBM

[–] tizerist 8 years ago

You say this will be the final movie but it won't be.
The franchise is too big now for that to happen.
It will take a few years, no doubt, but Elly will return.

#Screw Sully #Conformists

[–] lunchboxattacks 8 years ago

You know what would have been good? A sort of follow-up documentary 20 years on from the stated year of the disappearance, a new made-for-TV Curse of the Blair Witch type thing. It could revisit with the townsfolk of Burkittsville, the families of the students and fans of the first film, all talking about their feelings and reactions to the phenomenon of the film and their attitude to the legend.

You see, a prequel sounds like a good idea but there's too much danger of making Elly Kedward seem sympathetic, if you did one on her, thus lessening the creepiness around her.
Rustin Parr - yeah, I could be on board for that.

[–] lunchboxattacks 8 years ago

Yeah but the legend goes that she strikes in 40-60 year intervals. Not enough to predicate endless sequels on. And after so many people go missing in those woods, who the
f wants to keep going in there?
u
c
k

[–] IMDbGigalo 8 years ago

It would hardly be the first time they retconned something just to get a movie going. Maybe Lisa had a brother!

[–] TheTaleTeller 8 years ago

Definitely. It almost entered production right after BOOK OF SHADOWS but ultimately they didn't make it.

I honestly consider THE VVITCH kind of a prequel to BLAIR WITCH. :) Or at least that's the kind of film I envisioned as a prequel.

[–] ericjstacey 8 years ago

After seeing this one, I would have rather seen a prequel, shot as a "regular" movie..

[–] lunchboxattacks 8 years ago

If you have to use retcons to get a story going, then you're already on shaky ground. It's sort of a lazy and controversial writing device. Creatively speaking, there comes a time when you accept you've gone as far as you logically can with one story, or in the case of the Blair Witch, one method of telling it.

Commercially speaking, however, the end point is when things become unprofitable. Thankfully, Hollywood may have deemed this point to be reached since the film was a box office disappointment and is unlikely to find a cult following on DVD and streaming.

I wouldn't mind a prequel if it was well done, but even then I feel like it would lessen the feeling of mystery, and the mystery is a big attraction in the Blair Witch franchise, IMO.

[–] ericjstacey 8 years ago

I agree. After the poor showing of this, and even Book of Shadows, I just don't see the point of making anymore. I must say I thought it would do better at the box office-I had to rush to see it last Thursday because they were already pulling it from area theaters...of course I was the only one in the theater..lol. I posted on fb I was going to see it, and one friend did not know it was even out, or that they had made a sequel

[–] BeOneOfUs 8 years ago

I've been waiting for a prequel ever since the first one came out.
The closest thing we have to it is The Witch.....The dates don't add up but in some ways it kind of works as a prequel.