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D-
Directed by Joe Berlinger
Running Time: 1:30
Rated R for violence, language, sexuality and drug use.

First off, can someone explain to me what Book of Shadows means? Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 was easily one of the worst movies of the year. From the first 20 minutes which featured nothing but rampant drinking and drug use to an ending that appeared from out of nowhere, this movie was a complete and total let down from the original Blair Witch Project.

So here's the rub. After the original movie is released, people keep coming to the town of Burkittsville, wanting to see where the movie was filmed. So an enterprising young man named Jeff leads a tour group around the area where the Blair Witch supposedly lived. Now from the opening of the film, it seems Jeff has had some problems in his life. Problems which are never discussed in the film, but as I look now, are talked about on the website. Not the best way to go in my opinion, but I move on. So Jeff, Kim, Erica, Stephen and Tristan all head into the woods. As I said before, they all then drink and drug themselves into a stupor. The next morning, all the camera equipment they had set up to catch a glimpse of the witch has been destroyed. But, the videotapes themselves are still around. Spooky. So they all head back to Jeff's place to watch the tapes. While there, strange things happen, people see things, other people die, then the movie wraps everything up and ends.

I have no idea where to start with this movie. I can't believe that the people who came up with the first movie would allow this crap to come out. The story, the direction, the acting, the dialogue, the music, the lighting, the whole entire movie was horrible. The only reason this movie didn't get an F was because one girl got naked, and another girl was hot (the Goth girl Kim). The movie had them spending most of their time inside a renovated building turned into an apartment. Strange things would happen for no apparent reason. Some people would see things and hear things, others wouldn't. I never got a feel for any of the characters. They all had a strange love/hate relationship based on spending one night in the woods together, with all of them not remembering anything from that night. The ending explaination came very suddenly and without warning. And let me not forget the guy who played the Sheriff. What was up with him? He was the funniest thing about the movie. I can only hope the writer and director wanted him to be funny on purpose, otherwise this movie is even worse than I'm giving it credit for.

The camera and editing work was equally atrocious. Quick cuts, cameras flying all over the place. It was like watching NYPD Blue on crack. The dialogue was even worse than your typical horror films. It wasn't helped by the fact that none of the actors could really act. If it wasn't for me loving Kim, I honestly think I would have gotten up and left. I kept hoping she'd take off her clothes or just go nuts and beat the living crap out of someone. The rest of the cast just left me cold. There was no back story about any of these people, and no reason to like or care about any of them. They were all just pains in the ass. The story would go back and forth between a police interrogation and why they were being interrogated in the first place, and that just made things worse, since the interrogation scenes didn't give you any information.

Every so often my friend and I would just look at each other and sigh. This was one of the few times, and maybe only time, that I liked the people behind me talking, because it gave me something else to listen to. I have to believe the reason this movie was so bad was because the guys who made the first one, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez were only producers, and not actively involved in the writing and directing, because this was a far cry from the original. I thought the original was, well, original. Something different that was well acted and well directed. Yes Heather Donahue screamed a bit too much, but other than that, it was something you had never really seen before. And the ending was as chilling as anything I have ever seen. Here, the ending was almost non-sensical and much too quick. There was no build up to the ending, it just happened.

So overall, I thought Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 was almost completely worthless. Other than being able to watch Kim Director, I felt like someone beat me over the head with an eggplant throughout the entire movie. Could someone enjoy this movie? Sure, why not, everyone has their own taste. For me, it was a complete waste of time.

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reviewed 10/30/00

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