MovieChat Forums > Blair Witch (2016) Discussion > Missed Opportunities (Spoilers)

Missed Opportunities (Spoilers)

posted 8 years ago by BigMac25
55 replies | jump to latest

There were at least a handful of missed opportunities that could have made this a better movie.

Like when Peter dropped the firewood, moved the light away from it, then moved it back--instead of a bunch of small twigs, they should have come back to one of the stick figures.

Also, they made a huge deal about the GPS in the cameras, in the drone, and so many other times--but they didn't do anything with it. They could have shown the GPS camera right next to the others, but like it was in another dimension...or something. Anything. You set it up--use it.

How about the injured foot? Nothing.

The drone? Nothing.

The camera set in the tree? Nothing. At least make something move in the bushes behind them as they're looking away.

Then there's the story about the tree, the hanging, and the rocks being tied to the body. They put the black girl up in the tree and completely set it up...then did nothing with it beyond making her fall.

What else?

A coward hides behind freedom. A brave person stands in front of it & defends it for others.

[–] icromaholic 8 years ago

The fact that the camera was on their heads I assumed the entire movie the witch would twist one of their heads around. Would've been cool to see her hand come around and the camera spin backward with a neck snapping sound.

[–] bigdaddyboxmeal 8 years ago

Technically this kind of did happen, icromaholic. Not in the sense you mean, but when Ashley climbed the tree to retreive the drone a hand did actually come from above quickly and knocked her out of the tree.

[–] canadianfilm101 8 years ago

I came on here to say exactly the same thing. Way too many missed opportunities, especially with the drone. Also wished it played more self-referential. It would have been comical for the main character to give a speech at the beginning to everyone with a camera on keeping it steady so viewers don't get nauseous. But here we are with dumb characters splitting up, saying "I'll be right back",etc.

[–] BigMac25 8 years ago

And with the drone--maybe they could have shown something in the woods that didn't look like any animal or person they've ever seen before, just before it crashed or got disabled.

A coward hides behind freedom. A brave person stands in front of it & defends it for others.

[–] canadianfilm101 8 years ago

Or it picks up the house that supposedly was never found during the missing person search...? Right before it goes down.

[–] canadianfilm101 8 years ago

Don't witches fly? Yup, another missed opportunity with that drone. So frustrating that it falls to the ground after so much build up

[–] packtherac 8 years ago

May have been me, but doesn't it look like a hand slaps Ashley's hand away from the drone causing her to fall out of the tree?

[–] BigMac25 8 years ago

It might have been a hand, but it was hard to tell. Even if it was (good catch by the way), it's still kind of weak. So many things could have paid off more.

A coward hides behind freedom. A brave person stands in front of it & defends it for others.

[–] svalinanikola 8 years ago

I think it is a hand. That same shot is in the trailer (I can't remember if it's in the teaser trailer or the other one, maybe in both).

[–] bensmith76 8 years ago

It definitely was hand.

At the start of the movie I was really excited about the drone and what the movie was going to do with it and then it was just used as a means to get one of the characters to climb a tree only to be pushed out by the Blair Witch.

When she found the drone and was looking at the screen and the camera was still working I kept on expecting her to see that something creeping up behind her.

[–] MetalHead13 8 years ago

Man....you and BigMac25 have some great ideas. All these would have been so creepy. I'm getting excited imagining if they had actually happened. Waaaay too many missed opportunities.

[–] kevinbutton 8 years ago

So many horror directors don't understand set up and pay off later anymore. That's why there's so many jump scares instead of utilizing what they have available to truly make a horror film.

[–] BigMac25 8 years ago

Go back to Hitchcock.

He said that just making a bomb go off does nothing, but showing the bomb as it's ticking down really elevates the tension and horror. (Liberally paraphrased, but still the same concept.)

A coward hides behind freedom. A brave person stands in front of it & defends it for others.

[–] bensmith76 8 years ago

I'm paraphrasing still but Hitchcock's quote was something like, there is a bomb hidden under the desk and it explodes - that's action, there is a bomb hidden under the desk and it doesn't explode - that's suspense.

I think a lot of modern horror film makers need to work on building suspense, tension and a sense of dread, it seems most opt for cheap jump scares. The easiest and most lazy trick a film maker can pull is to startle an audience, but it's just not scary.

But in saying that I still think the Adam Wingard is one the best of the current crop of horror directors.

[–] svalinanikola 8 years ago

Man, some of the suggestions here sound cool. Yeah, It would be creepy to see the witch flying with a drone, or maybe something eve simpler, like the drone is going around and the characters realize that the woods don't end, they seem to stretch infinitely.

[–] BigMac25 8 years ago

Wow. Yeah.

Give the drone some decent range, fly it away in a straight line, and have it come right back over where they're standing in the woods--except from the opposite direction from where they flew it. Then they see themselves on the camera.

Nice.

I also like the idea of the flying witch screwing with the flying drone...being a witch and all.

Good thoughts. If only...

A coward hides behind freedom. A brave person stands in front of it & defends it for others.

[–] svalinanikola 8 years ago

Yeah, wish they played around with stuff like that, like someone else said, it seems like they did certain things only to kill off characters.

Since this movie wasn't as subtle as the first one they could've at least took things way out there, make some inventive scares like that, instead of jumpscares. They could've come up with some nice things. Concepts like this can be wonderful with good imagination.

[–] Boxofghosts67 8 years ago

I never comment on here but I felt the need to say that those suggestions are actually pretty bloody good. Not going to lie, I clicked on this post fully expecting it to be full of terrible ideas by some idiot that thought he knew better than professional film makers haha

[–] Buzz_McCallister 8 years ago

The drone served its sole purpose of showing wilderness for as far as the eye could see... no power lines, no roads, no nothing, just woods forever.

All of you want to see the Blair Witch flying around like the Wicked Witch of the West or something. This movie was so low-brow and cheesey that I'm surprised that they didn't do it.

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[–] BigMac25 8 years ago

They were in the woods. They talked about how deep, thick, and undeveloped the woods were as they were walking in. There was a much better use for the drone, but we got to see the woods. Twice. Yay.

And it's not like the witch should have been flying on a broom with a green face. You're the only one who suggested that. But rather than making it just a glitch that takes the drone down, show a quick hand-ish looking thing taking it down. Show that it's her woods, her world, by putting it down in a way that nothing but the supernatural could do.

A coward hides behind freedom. A brave person stands in front of it & defends it for others.

[–] Buzz_McCallister 8 years ago

There is no wooded area in America where there aren't powerlines in the distance, or some sign of civilization. Maybe back in the 1940s, but not today. That was the point, it was suggested that the group traveled back in time. It's not even very original, it was what was insinuated in the first movie since they seemingly end up in Rustin Parr's house which was burned down decades ago, and Book of Shadows with the tree that shrinks down from a big tree to a small sapling. Beyond that, it looked like the entire earth was woods, no ocean, no mountains, no desert, just woods.

I'm not "the only one who suggested that." The user "canadianfilm101" said, "Don't witches fly?" After he or she says that, other people suggested a hand, other people suggested that something spooky and cheesy should have been seen from the drone's cam.

I'm sorry that you didn't know any of this and that I have to hold your hand and explain everything to you in detail. I feel like I'm writing a book for you, but perhaps I should include illustrations?

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[–] BigMac25 8 years ago

You really need to get out of your basement more. There are hundreds of thousands of places where there are woods and no "powerlines in the distance, or some sign of civilization."

I'm just going to stop right there to not embarrass you any further with the rest of your post.

Next time, learn, then post. You won't look as ignorant next time.

I could type slower if you'd understand it better.

A coward hides behind freedom. A brave person stands in front of it & defends it for others.

[–] Buzz_McCallister 8 years ago

Okay, here's an illustration...

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/b0/73/33/b07333cd61e17a768d8a56b1b59f9af7.jpg

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[–] lagirafe 8 years ago

Who do you think you are to talk like that to someone. You must be in your room thinking you're the king of the world with internet, but i'm sure that in person you're a loser who can't control anything. Nobody wants to be with you. On the internet you think you control something and you talk to someone like he is *beep* We are just talking about movies, you don't need to be so snob. It's you that needs illustrations because in my world you couldn't understand anything. Life will show you to be respectful my dear.

[–] Buzz_McCallister 8 years ago

It's true. It's all true! ::breaks down sobbing::

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[–] BigMac25 8 years ago

C'mon gylenez, give the guy a break.

Sixth grade must have been hard on him the past few days.

A coward hides behind freedom. A brave person stands in front of it & defends it for others.

[–] reaseltbim 8 years ago

you are such an idiot douche  I logged in just to say that

[–] Buzz_McCallister 8 years ago

Wow, how many sockpuppets do you have?

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[–] reaseltbim 8 years ago

none.unlike u.
im just saying i was reading this board logged off and you are such a douche

[–] Buzz_McCallister 8 years ago

What, do you want an award for logging in?

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[–] reaseltbim 8 years ago

yes please!

[–] cmb_1455 8 years ago

I just made an independent thread about this. But for me, the biggest missed opportunity was showing us the same event from different camera angles (and using that to amplify the horror). I was almost positive walking into this that they were going to do that. I was sorely disappointed when that never came to pass. How can you write a story where each character gets their own camera attached to their head, plus many more cameras, and then not use that as a device to convey a terribly creepy sequence? It would play directly into the idea that time is distorted in the woods, that everyone's experience is different, and that the witch is an entity that brings about subjective terror, rather than objective.

I realize they kind of touched on this idea with having Lane experience time differently than the rest of them, but I felt it wasn't enough. As a filmmaker myself, it's really frustrating to see them miss such a good opportunity in horror storytelling.

For the record, you all have had some GREAT ideas in this thread. Too bad the filmmakers didn't use some of these ideas in the movie. I think it would have been a lot better.

[–] wjveryzer 8 years ago

its funny you said that cause i was thinking when they showed that with layne that if they focused on that aspect a little more earlier it could of really amped up the paranoia.

[–] Oceans300 8 years ago

For me the biggest missed opportunity was the time travel.

Lane freaking out over the time pass was cool but never felt fleshed out. They could have had Lane ask the first time if Peter was dead yet, have him give clues about where to go, tell about insane things he'd seen (like the witch or whatever knocked down the tree), or even had them see an earlier version of Lane afterwards.

[–] BigMac25 8 years ago

Or even how he knew it was five days, without the sun coming up at all. Not sure he seemed like a wristwatch kind of guy.

A coward hides behind freedom. A brave person stands in front of it & defends it for others.

[–] canadianfilm101 8 years ago

Because I've worked on a particular survivor show for Discovery Channel, the biggest thing that I learned is that panic can kick in very fast when you're lost in the woods and delirium doesn't take long to follow. If they explored this a little more as well, the film still could have maintained a psychological level that the first one did-- in other words, are they really seeing what we think they are seeing? This is an instance where, again, I wish the film took the more self-aware and meta route. We're in a day of age where we've already seen TONS of found footage films. So having the characters believe that this technology will be their saving grace would have elevated it a bit. I would have gone so far as having the main character tell a friend on the phone the date/time/ and location as back-up in case they got lost. We then feel assured that these are smart characters who have covered all angles. NOPE. Dumb, stupid. I think the only up-and-coming director that would have turned this material around is Mike Flanagan... just my opinion.

Aside from the 2 main characters, who we know what their motivations are, what is the point of the other characters? It's just there for setup for nothing!

Also, having Heather even mentioned is arguably the biggest mistake. The jig was up when she appeared on Jay Leno days after the original Blair Witch hit huge success. We all knew we were duped after press was convincing us it was real... so how many years after and they're trying to place us back into that universe again?

[–] definitive_prankster 8 years ago

Also, having Heather even mentioned is arguably the biggest mistake. The jig was up when she appeared on Jay Leno days after the original Blair Witch hit huge success. We all knew we were duped after press was convincing us it was real... so how many years after and they're trying to place us back into that universe again?

Umm, are you citing the fact the first film wasn't real as a plot hole for the second one, as it assumes the first one happened in universe? Because every film that generated a sequel would like to speak with you...

[–] canadianfilm101 8 years ago

I never once said this was a plot hole. Part of what made the first movie such a success was that for the longest time everyone thought it was real and that Heather in real life was actually missing! Read the trivia. Even when people were told it was fake, they still spread word to their friends, family etc. to play along with it. SO, it would have been more interesting starting this movie off with the REAL Heather, years after (and no one knowing what has become of her) going missing in the same area that she filmed the Blair Witch long ago... we don't necessarily need to know why. Headlines read: "Actress from Blair Witch Project Disappears where film was originally shot". Thus, her "real" brother decides to go out in search of her. The other characters are members of the media that follow (therefore explaining the use of technology, etc.). See where I'm going with this? It's as if the filmmakers are getting that ball rolling all over again and confusing what is real and fake...

[–] definitive_prankster 8 years ago

Part of what made the first movie such a success was that for the longest time everyone thought it was real and that Heather in real life was actually missing! Read the trivia.

I have never (ever ever) met anyone who thought the first film was real at any point from its release onwards. And I know some REALLY gullible people. So while I'm sure there were people... choose a word... enough to believe someone was murdered on camera and the footage was given a film certification, they were certainly not 'everyone', they weren't even 'most people'. I'd say a handful believed it, but most of them only exist online or in trivia sections.

[–] LoPanKnows 8 years ago

My two issues are that the story is so weak and they didn't go far enough with what they had. Everything you said are exactly the things I thought. No creativity at all, even in the scares!