History YMMV / TheBlairWitchProject

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: ''The Blair Witch Project'' was the film that brought both [[FoundFootageFilms found footage]] and internet-based ViralMarketing into the mainstream, allowing the micro-budgeted indie horror flick to become a box-office smash and a cultural touchstone for the late '90s/early '00s. At the time, the idea that it really ''was'' the "recovered footage" of a group of documentary filmmakers who went missing was the entire gimmick. Between the many, many, many found-footage horror films that have employed similar concepts, and the fact that the passage of time has distanced the film from its revolutionary marketing campaign, this can be lost on modern viewers.

** Matpat from ''[[WebVideo/GameTheory Film Theory]]'' proposed that the movie is really a (fictional) [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YASj8IuQ_Yw snuff film of Josh and Mike luring Heather into the woods to murder her]].

* HypeBacklash: Upon release, ''The Blair Witch Project'' was praised as one of the scariest movies of all time, but some of this reputation was due to its AlternateRealityGame-esque advertising, which painted the events of the film as real. Modern viewers are well aware that the movie is fictional, so they may be less impressed as a result.

* BrokenBase: Is this one of the scariest films ever, an essentially plotless film about three idiots wandering in the woods, or is it an actually genius psychological thriller?
** Some people hate the movie because they just don't believe in the supernatural at all, so consider the very premise ludicrous. Others hate it because they believe wholly in the supernatural, and complain the kids were totally ill-prepared for walking into haunted woods hunting a possible EldritchAbomination, making the kids TooDumbToLive. Others hate it just because they think it should have a motion sickness warning in the opening. People who love the movie love its tense atmosphere, innovative (at the time) storytelling device, and the pure, distilled NothingIsScarier approach. But almost invariably, people either think this is one of the best horror movies ever made, or a complete waste of time.

* HypeBacklash: Although by most standards it is a very good movie, people expecting to be given heart attacks on the spot might be disappointed if they've heard too much about it.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny:
** ''The Blair Witch Project'' was the film that brought both [[FoundFootageFilms found footage]] and internet-based ViralMarketing into the mainstream, allowing the micro-budgeted indie horror flick to become a box-office smash and a cultural touchstone for the late '90s/early '00s. At the time, the idea that it really ''was'' the "recovered footage" of a group of documentary filmmakers who went missing was the entire gimmick. Between the many, many, many found-footage horror films that have employed similar concepts, and the fact that the passage of time has distanced the film from its revolutionary marketing campaign, this can be lost on modern viewers.
** There's also the fact that, as the first successful found-footage film, it was something of an UnbuiltTrope example of the genre. It took its concept very seriously - the three lead actors were chosen for their improv experience, mainly because there was no script beyond a basic outline. As a result, it often takes on a rambling, conversational style, essentially 82 minutes of improv.

** Some people hate the movie because they just don't believe in the supernatural at all, so consider the very premise ludicrous. Others hate it because they believe wholly in the supernatural, and complain the kids were totally ill-prepared for walking into haunted woods hunting a possible EldritchAbomination, making the kids TooDumbToLive. Others hate it just because they think it should have a motion sickness warning in the opening. People who love the movie love it's tense atmosphere, innovative (at the time) storytelling device, and the pure, distilled NothingIsScarier approach. But almost invariably, people either think this is one of the best horror movies ever made, or a complete waste of time.

* CompleteMonster: From the AlternateContinuity tie-in prequels (a {{spinoff}} of ''VideoGame/Nocturne1999''): [[AGodAmI Hecaitomix]] is the evil spirit behind Elly Kedward and Rustin Parr, starting the Blair Witch legend, and [[GreaterScopeVillain the true source of the curse]]. Angered that he is no longer worshipped, Hecaitomix spent centuries torturing and killing, [[WouldHurtAChild children specifically]], with the goal of [[KillAllHumans wiping out the human race]] and ruling over what's left. Hecaitomix disemboweled a child, dubbed the "bleeding child", and [[AndIMustScream kept him alive]] to feed on before trapping the child in his realm. He also conquered a spiritual realm and turns the spirits there into demons. Hecaitomix has Robin Weaver abducted and attempts to possess her, and in the ritual traps children's souls and keeps mutilated victims alive and conscious. Hecaitomix bargains with a man to cure his blindness and turns him into another demon to do so. After Rustin Parr's killing spree, Hecaitomix possesses Kyle Brody to use him as a new vessel, before moving on to a local pastor, and plots to abduct Mary Brown to subject her to the same fate as he did the bleeding child.