12 "Important" Movies That Are Actually Terrible

5. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Any time a new horror movie arrives with massive aplomb, declaring itself the scariest thing ever made, the sensible reaction is to lower expectations immediately. Thousands upon thousands of cinemagoers learnt this the hard way when the Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick's low-budget cause célèbre opened in cinemas everywhere in 1999 after months of hype.

First of all, the notion that the film invented the found footage style is completely fatuous; Cannibal Holocaust took much the same approach two decades earlier. That said, The Blair Witch Project did succeed in popularising the approach, which has since become painfully ubiquitous in contemporary horror. As a result, horror audiences have endured endless hours of nausea-inducing shakey-cam and tedious improvised dialogue, whilst little to nothing of interest actually occurs on screen. And this isn't simply a matter of Blair Witch inspiring lesser imitators; it's that the material being imitated really wasn't much good in the first place.

It's little surprise that the film's stars Heather Donahue, Josh Leonard and Michael Williams haven't been seen much in the years since, as their antics make for tedious viewing here. Given that the lack of special effects or supporting actors mean that basically everything hinges on the core trio, it really doesn't help matters that they're dull, unlikeable and hard to care much about, even when things go south for them.

There's plenty to be said for a less-is-more approach in horror movies. But for goodness' sake, there has to be something. The Blair Witch Project is nothing but a carrot being dangled on the end of a stick for 81 minutes, with no final reward.