BEWARE. All the words below this line have the potential to be spoilers for the 2016 Blair Witch.
I came out of the new Blair Witch with wide-eyes and disbelief. I then muttered to my fellow theater attendees, “Well that was a bold choice.” This is when I discovered no-one else in the theater picked up on what I saw. This is when I discovered I’m either insane or a brilliant viewer of film. For the purpose of this article lets go with the latter.
I’m just gonna say it right here, then I’ll explain: The Blair Witch is an alien.
You okay? You need a moment? Okay, here we go, let’s explore this.
In the first Blair Witch there is a long and methodical setup of the mythos and ghost stories that surround Burkittsville and those pesky woods outside of it. They describe the story of the Blair Witch, the story of Rustin Parr, and the story of coffin rock. They go through great lengths to lay the foundation of the paranormal.
In this 2016 Blair Witch they do very little of this, there are mentions of the stories that were expanded in the first film, but the characters in this new iteration seem far less intent or involved with the paranormal.
In the first Blair Witch, we don’t really know what is happening, it would be completely reasonable to read the film as Josh’s slow descent into madness which results in him murdering his two friends. All of the threats are offscreen.
In the 2016 Blair Witch, there is no subtlety or mystery. We see everything that is happening. We even see the Blair Witch. We see it all, there is no room for mystery here.
So let’s take into account what we see. Again, this is when spoilers come fast and heavy so walk away if you haven’t seen the 2016 version.
First is Ashley, who assumedly steps on something sharp in the creek. This everyday wound becomes infected, and by infected I mean something is under her skin and moving around. You know, like an alien. Tales of Aliens inserting items into human subjects is pretty well established. From the X-Files to actual accounts, incisions and insertions are a pretty obvious alien motif.
Second, there is Peter. Peter is that foolhardy character that wanders off in the woods alone at night for some kindling. This is when his flashlight begins to fail and his walkie-talkie is just emitting noise. You know, as in electrical interference…like aliens have been reported to create. He is then abducted, his disembodied voice then haunting the others when needed. Sure, you can say the voice thing is a nod to Josh in the original. But here is the difference, in the original we don’t see any of this. Josh is just gone. For all we know he is stalking his friends and toying with them. In this 2016 version we see the abduction. Peter did not sneak away.
Third, possibly the most blatant hint/allusion is when they are in the house and then a powerful light erupts from outside, filling the inside of the house with an unearthly glow. The characters even stop to ask what that is. Oh, I think we know what that is. That is aliens.
So, as you can see, Wingard and Barrett made a pretty bold choice here to add to the mythos of the Blair Witch. The problem is that no-one seems to be noticing it. Wether it be because of the familiar format of a sequel, same structure bigger reveals, or that we’re all so engrained with the mythos of the original we couldn’t see the shift the new filmmakers took. Regardless, you have to respect the approach of the filmmakers here to not only retread familiar horror properties but to redefine them. Feel free to comment on all the alien references I didn’t get to. Ya know, like a flying tent…
