Top 5 Scariest Blair Witch Project Moments (Director Explains)

It's the scene that was parodied to death in the months and even years after the success of “The Blair Witch Project”. But it was also incredibly impactful for audiences. Tearful and sobbing, Heather mourns the fact that she brought her friends into the woods in the first place, and her desperate apologies to their parents really tug at the heartstrings. The extreme-close up only doubles down on the sincerity of her delivery; rather than seeming out of place, it feels more like a final document from a woman at the end of her rope. It's a scene that could've easily fallen apart into self-satire, but the decision to keep it as straight and real as possible made it instead a slice of horror history.

“The Blair Witch Project” wasn't the first horror film to utilize a "found footage" set-up as a plot device. Ruggero Deodato's infamous “Cannibal Holocaust” had already pioneered the style two decades earlier. But “Blair Witch” did reintroduce the technique to a whole new audience in 1999, with outstanding results. This scene in particular makes excellent use of a handheld camera style to expose a host of creepy, witchy stick figures to the horrified trio Heather, Mike and Josh. The group's reaction to the now-iconic symbols and who put them there is a mix of fear and fascination that raises the hair on the backs of our necks to this day.

If there's one thing that “The Blair Witch Project” possesses in droves, it's atmosphere. This is due, in part, to how gritty and realistic the film still appears today - something that separates it from its many copycats. There's an urgency and approachability to scenes such as the one where Heather finds a bloody bundle of fabric and sticks… with a pile of Josh’s teeth inside. The fact that the whole thing is a bit blurry and unclear adds to the confusion and dread. Is that really what we think it is? It also raises more questions about what happened to Josh. Who removed his teeth and is he still alive? The ante was officially upped with this scene, grabbing us hook, line and sinker.

Confusion and claustrophobia rule in this next scene on our list, a jumble of unnerving noises, paranoia, and abject terror. Truthfully, we don't actually see much in this scene, but that doesn't really matter, because it's all about what we imagine is out there. The sight of Josh, Mike and Heather frantically running from their tent is disorienting from an audience's perspective, but the slight, barely-there sounds of children’s laughter in the night air keeps the sequence tense at all times. Again, this could've easily fallen apart in less capable hands, but its execution and pioneering spirit ensures that it’s an utterly successful stab at generating fear.

The ending of “The Blair Witch Project” was a perfect storm of sorts, a scene exquisitely set-up throughout the film's 81 minute runtime. Local residents had mentioned a hermit who used to kill children in pairs, making one stare at the corner while he killed the other. So when Heather and Mike follow Josh’s screams into an old house covered in children’s handprints, it sends an instant chill down the spine. Seeing Mike’s camera drop to the floor pushes the scare-o-meter into the red, and the film’s final, iconic shot of Mike facing the corner as Heather screams hammers the terror home. Sure, we never see the witch, and we’re left with a lot of questions . . . but that’s just why it lingers in our imagination.