Book of Shadows - Blair Witch 2 (2013)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Melvin W

  
  Kim: Something happened to us in the woods... something evil.  "The terror continues..." Book of Shadows: The Blair Witch 2 has to be the worst horror sequel I have ever seen. It's worse than Jason X, it's worse than Halloween 3. In saying that, I'm also… More
  Kim: Something happened to us in the woods... something evil.  "The terror continues..." Book of Shadows: The Blair Witch 2 has to be the worst horror sequel I have ever seen. It's worse than Jason X, it's worse than Halloween 3. In saying that, I'm also sort of happy in a way, that Book of Shadows was so terrible. If it had been even a slight success, there would have been a crazy amount of additional sequels dished out. As it is, this killed the sequels and we haven't been shown any for 12 years. Thank God.  Book of Shadows took everything that was cool and terrifying about the original and threw it out the window. The first relied on its small budget as a way to scare. Instead of showing us all the details, they left it to our imagination. This one decides to show just about everything. They show us tons of blood, in a schizophrenic and hectic sort of way. We are shown hallucinations of what characters think is happening and everything seems like it is passing over everything else. It's like a 3 year old with a coloring book. Initially you can see what the picture is, but after they've scribbled on it with ten different colors in incoherent ways, all that's left is a mess.  This takes place shortly after the hysteria of the first film. At the start we are shown clips of late night shows and critics speaking about the film. We are given a fake news broadcast that is showing us how everyone is overrunning the town of Burkittsville. Locals say it isn't true, and the sheriff tries to keep all the tourists out of the woods. One local takes it upon himself to cash in on the hysteria, creating the Blair Witch Hunt. He takes some tourists out to some spots and they party. They wake up remembering nothing. All their stuff is thrown about and they have weird marks on their flesh. They then retire to the locals house, which is a factory, in order to decode what has happened with their cameras. Don't watch it. I love the first one, but this is just a waste of time. It adds nothing to the Blair Witch story and only serves as a film Artisan thought they could make some money off of. Once again, Thank God they didn't.

• Randy T

  
  One of the absolute worst films I've ever seen. The saddest part is that I was among those poor, poor fools who actually paid to see this tripe in the theater.

• Kylie B

  
  Good, but at times confusing. The ending is also rather abrupt. It's an interesting take on the media hype surrounding the first, but its success as social commentary is limited. Take it as another B-movie style tie in and it will satisfy you more. Also, Kim Director. Wow.

• Tim S

  
  Horrible film, even with the lucious Erica Leerhsen.

• Dean M

  
  The sequel to the freak hit of 1999 follows the misadventures of five tourists who search the woods for evidence showing that the first film was factual. Less inept than the original, this one raises the would-be franchise to the level of any other hackneyed slasher flick.

• Nani V

  
  Better than the first one.

• xGary X

  
  The Blair Witch gets the Scream treatment in this reasonable sequel that's much better than the original (although that's mainly because I thought the original was garbage...) But as usual, the initially intriguing plot soon gives way to running around screaming and buckets… More
  The Blair Witch gets the Scream treatment in this reasonable sequel that's much better than the original (although that's mainly because I thought the original was garbage...) But as usual, the initially intriguing plot soon gives way to running around screaming and buckets of fake blood.

• Lafe F

  
  This movie was damn freaky! It scared the heck out of me. This sequel treats the first Blair Witch movie as simply a movie. A tour company in the "real" world offers excursions to Burketsville and the Woods where the first Blair Witch movie was filmed. One group goes in… More
  This movie was damn freaky! It scared the heck out of me. This sequel treats the first Blair Witch movie as simply a movie. A tour company in the "real" world offers excursions to Burketsville and the Woods where the first Blair Witch movie was filmed. One group goes in there and set up camp for the night. They shoot lots of souvenir video. They all black out. When they wake up the next morning, all their gear is vandalized. For some reason, they return to the tour warehouse and stay there; I couldn't figure out why they didn't go home or simply go to a hotel. They soon learn that the folks at a nearby campsite were savagely murdered on that night they blacked out. They examine their souvenir video frame by frame and are horrified to see what actually happened during the blackout period. Strange things start happening at the tour warehouse. Each person has terrifying visions of things. One of the girls disappears. They suspect the Blair Witch is tormenting them, and possibly inside one of them. It's a great mind-twist of a movie. All sorts of freaky things happen to the kids, leading them to believe there might really be a Blair Witch. It's a brilliant movie which is quite unsettling. The DVD goes further by hiding a hidden message in the movie itself; check out "The Secret of Esrever" on how to decode.

• Jason S

  
  Really bad movie but it has an interesting DVD. There are hidden images all through the movie for you to look for.

• Morgan S

  
  way to reck the normal one. nothing compairs to first

• Emily A

  
  My sister made me walk out of this movie. I didn't see the whole thing, but what I saw, I liked.

• Nate Z

  
  [font=Arial][color=darkred]Let's openly admit it from the start ... there's no way the people behind this could win. The Blair Witch Project was a phenomenon in indie cinema that likely will never be seen again. The movie certainly didn't need a sequel, and probably… More
  [font=Arial][color=darkred]Let's openly admit it from the start ... there's no way the people behind this could win. The Blair Witch Project was a phenomenon in indie cinema that likely will never be seen again. The movie certainly didn't need a sequel, and probably couldn't be easily hatched with its cracker-jack ending anyway. We, as a nation, are not only expecting any Blair Witch sequels to fail; hell, we're demanding it. This is the state my mind I waded in as I started to see Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Burkitsville Maryland has become quite a hotspot for tourism because of the success of The Blair Witch Project. Local residents sell items such as rocks and stick figures to jabbering tourists, some of whom have come overseas. This is where our tour guide Jeff (Jeff Donovon) enters. He leads our band of characters into a tour of the Maryland woods. Each of his campers has their own reason for going. There's the engaged couple with Guy (Stephen Baker turner) as the skeptic and realist, and Girl (Tristine Skyler) as the supernatural believer. Then there's Wicca gal (Erica Leerhson) who's out to disprove the bad reputation of the Blair Witch. Finally, there's pseudo-psychic Goth girl (Kim Director) who really has no purpose except to wear pancake makeup and whine about how she's unfairly treated by society for dressing in black.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]This motley crew of slacker backpackers spends a night in the woods and turns it into something that you would see advertised during a commercial for Howard Stern. The alcohol mixes with the drugs and the next morning no one can remember a thing. Their surveillance equipment is destroyed and Guy's lengthy paper is littering the ground like snow (it must have been over a 1000 pages for the amount that continuously falls). Accusations fly, and after a brief stay in a hospital occupied with ghostly images of dead children, the group decides to take refuge in Jeff's secluded residence. It just so happens that it's an empty warehouse in the middle of nowhere. Perfect setting for scary things to jumps out at people, and they do. The remainder of the movie is spooky shenanigans happening in this big bad haunted house until the mandatory muddled ending.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Book of Shadows (some studio exec must have tacked it on because it sounded "cool" since it has nothing to do with anything) takes off promisingly enough. The first ten minutes show the effect the first film had on the community and the fans with a mock-documentary fashion. Then it's over quickly and we get a glossy film, a 20 million dollar budget and Marilyn Manson scraping his larynx or killing an owl on the soundtrack. Can you say "corporate fast buck on trendiness"? I know I did. The sequel to the soggy backpack adventure of indie fame bears little resemblance to its predecessor. The only common line between the two is an assortment of unknown actors starring, which isn't necessarily a good practice for every movie[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]None of the characters in Book of Shadows are truly interesting at all. Surprisingly enough though, they have an intelligent conversation about the blame of media and how it can affect others' will. This, as should be guessed, is the high point of the film. It makes little difference that the most intelligent conversation in the film occurs when everyone is wasted and high by camp light.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]The first movie was by no stretch a lesson in horror but it was innovative and relied on a practice of creating horror in your mind, which I can at least admire. Blair Witch 2 has no scares in it whatsoever. It has gore, blood, and things that are thought of as scary: bats, darkness, mean dogs, dead children, insane asylum kooks etc. Problem is none of these things work. They're all textbook but they never work in execution.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Blair Witch 2 was directed by documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger. He co-created the truly excellent and gripping Paradise Lost films over the hysteria and blame that convicted gothic teens in Arkansas of murder. It's easy to see some similar themes in Blair Witch 2, which include a Goth crying out against the way she's seen and treated and a Wicca crying out against the way she's seen and treated. They're carryovers from his earlier works. But Berlinger's first step up to fictional direction is really a step down. He's so good at storytelling and underscoring tension and drama in his documentaries, so what went wrong? I think it was probably studo interferance (look at the title), but Berlinger may just not be up to snuff for fictional film. Which is fine because he's one of the best documentary filmmakers alive next to Errol Morris, Michael Moore, and Barbara Koppel. Berlinger will bounce back but he may not want to make a fictional film again.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]The way the story is told is in different layers cut together from different times. It's interesting enough and sets up some mild foreshadowing but by the end, when it makes it clear who will survive and who won't, it becomes annoying. The ending crawls along and presents two possible scenarios. [/color][/font][url="javascript:void(0)"][font=Arial][color=darkred]One; it invalidates everything before and shows the nature of humans with hysteria and their own capabilities for evil (better ending). Two; some supernatural force interfered and did bad stuff (boo!). [/color][/font][/url][font=Arial][color=darkred]Reluctantly I think most people will go with ending number two. The understanding of the ending is too fundamental toward the enjoyment of this film. This further muddles the whole film and the reason for even watching it.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]The flick initially took me by surprise but then left me muddled in confusion that has yet to cease. Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 is a conundrum of a film. It's really not very entertaining or innovative. In fact, it's really not that great at all. It will be interesting to see how people receive this film with years of distance. I think it could be kindle an interesting film class discussion on the pressures of following up a phenomenon. Studio execs certainly had their say and certainly wanted Blair Witch bucks, but the public is older and wiser, and repackaging the same old tricks will not work the same. Owls, dead children, and shadows of friggin' stick figures will not scare an audience without a story. Of course, after Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 bombed so succinctly, the ones left horrofied were the studio executives. The public had the last laugh.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade: C-[/color][/font]

• Andy S

  
  Oh, God. I understand the desire to make money by turning one of the most original horror films ever into a franchise. But here, even that is all but unforgivable. Bad acting, cheap attempts to be scary, and a worthless (and unnecessarily added) plot make this not only a crap sequel,… More
  Oh, God. I understand the desire to make money by turning one of the most original horror films ever into a franchise. But here, even that is all but unforgivable. Bad acting, cheap attempts to be scary, and a worthless (and unnecessarily added) plot make this not only a crap sequel, but one of the worst films I've ever seen. And unfortunately, it's not even bad enough to make fun of.

• Jacob P

  
  A terrible sequel.

• Christopher H

  
  The only thing going for this film is actor Jeffrey Donovan. Though he cannot carry the entire film by himself, the film relies too heavily on trying to trick the audience with what is being seen (and not seen) on screen compared to what is being recorded on tape throughout the film.… More
  The only thing going for this film is actor Jeffrey Donovan. Though he cannot carry the entire film by himself, the film relies too heavily on trying to trick the audience with what is being seen (and not seen) on screen compared to what is being recorded on tape throughout the film. The haunted house element completely kills the film, which really should have taken place entirely in the woods like the original. The sad part is that this sequel held absolutely nothing revolutionary, contrary to its groundbreaking predecessor.

• Naughtia N

  
  I liked this movie, but I don't understand the title and how this movie has any relevance to the Blair Witch Project. This movie has nothing whatsoever to do with The Blair Witch Project. They've shouldn't have called this movie 'Blair witch'. Other than that… More
  I liked this movie, but I don't understand the title and how this movie has any relevance to the Blair Witch Project. This movie has nothing whatsoever to do with The Blair Witch Project. They've shouldn't have called this movie 'Blair witch'. Other than that the movie had some good horror scenes and decent thrills.

• Yinalí R

  
  Uhh...

• Daniel P

  
  An interesting failure this; the original was groundbreaking, scary, sparse and very very profitable - it was inevitable that a sequel was made. Joe Berlinger, who made the fantastic documentary Paradise Lost, seemed to be a very good choice. And the thing is, he still might have… More
  An interesting failure this; the original was groundbreaking, scary, sparse and very very profitable - it was inevitable that a sequel was made. Joe Berlinger, who made the fantastic documentary Paradise Lost, seemed to be a very good choice. And the thing is, he still might have been... for although the film resembles an indifferent mess, it has been quite well publicised that Berlinger was ordered to re-cut, re-assemble and essentially alter the film to make it "more scary"; extra gore was also added. What's left is a film with a couple of interesting ideas (though the "Scream" style self-parody doesn't work), and the odd scare or two. The performances are wretched, unfortunately, aside from Kim Director who plays a blasé goth very well indeed. I was very impressed by the musical score, however, so much so I actually bought it on CD. I recommend purchasing the DVD if you were a fan of the original - the "mockumentaries" are better than the feature itself, and there's a very interesting and insightful commentary from the director.

• Adam M

  
  After the success of the first film i suppose it was obvious there was going to be a sequel in some form or another. At first i thought it was shit. Second time around i kinda enjoyed it and this time, the third time, i actually thought it was a decent film. Yeah, i love the first for… More
  After the success of the first film i suppose it was obvious there was going to be a sequel in some form or another. At first i thought it was shit. Second time around i kinda enjoyed it and this time, the third time, i actually thought it was a decent film. Yeah, i love the first for its documentry style action and general creepiness but for what it is, its actually not bad with moments of spookiness, dark humour and a pretty cool twist. And Erica Leerhsen's well sexy.

• Laurence C

  
  Totally worthless. A campy, lousily plotted and terribly written 'sequel' to the phenomenal horror hit, Blair Witch 2 is a study of how the industry believes people want more and more of the same. Truth to be told, the film does come to life when it reprises elements from… More
  Totally worthless. A campy, lousily plotted and terribly written 'sequel' to the phenomenal horror hit, Blair Witch 2 is a study of how the industry believes people want more and more of the same. Truth to be told, the film does come to life when it reprises elements from the original, but besides that, there is nothing to say except that it's just... a bad, bad film.

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