Director: Joe Berlinger
Writer: Dick Beebe, Joe Berlinger (Screenplay) Eduardo Sanchez, Daniel Myrick (Characters)
Starring: Jeffrey Donovan, Kurt Loder, Tristine Skyler, Erica Leerhsen, Kim Director, Lanny Flaherty
Plot: A group of tourists arrives in Burkittsville, Maryland after seeingThe Blair Witch Project(1999) to explore the mythology and phenomenon, only to come face to face with their own neuroses and possibly the witch herself
Tagline – Evil Doesn’t Die.
Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Easy Watch Horror
Story: Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 starts in the small town of Burkittsville that has become an overnight tourist attraction because of the success of The Blair Witch Project, with people wanting to know whether the legend is true or not.
Local man Jeffrey Patterson (Donovan) leads a group of tourists, Stephen (Turner) and his girlfriend Tristen (Skyler) who are looking to write a book about the legend, Erica (Leerhsen) a witch and psychic Kim (Director) who all head into the woods to see if they can find some truth about the legend. Only after the first night the five learn that the woods might not be the safest place to go searching for the supernatural.
Thoughts on Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2
Characters – Jeffrey is the local man that has used the success of The Blair Witch Project to create his own business, mostly merchandise before offering tour guides, which this is his first one, he has a reputation within the town for being harmless trouble, which is show in his paranoid mentality he shows in his own home. Kim is a psychic who doesn’t care what people think about her appearance, though we don’t seem to get any hints of any of the abilities she might have. Erica believes she is a witch and is looking forward to getting back with the nature of a witch by arriving in the woods, while Tristen and Stephen are a couple that are writing a book about what has happened with the legend, looking into the reality of it.
Performances – Seeing Jeffrey Donovan in this film is the biggest surprise because of how far he has come, like most of the cast nobody does much wrong, just playing the characters how you would imagine.
Story – The story here follows a group of tourists that have joined the interesting in the town where the Blair Witch Project was set, only to learn they have been caught in the spell behind the legend. Now this is a story that does take us into a world where the previous film was a film in the universe, which is interesting a nice concept that always works, where the story might falls slightly short is by it being about the five people slowly starting to go crazy within the house, with us slowly learning who has made it out of house, revealing slowly who has made it and what they might have done to get out of it. It isn’t as bad as I had heard, though it is just something you could watch with ease.
Fantasy/Horror – The fantasy side of the film comes from seeing how the witch might well be real and not just part of the film, with the horror coming from just what happens from the time spent in the woods.
Settings – We do return to the same town the first film is set in, the woodland area and the random house which is transformed from an abandoned location, which adds to the unsure nature of the location.
Special Effects – The effects are mostly just jumps that work without doing much else, with quick flashes.
Scene of the Movie – The video truth.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Too many just jump reaction scares.
Final Thoughts – This is a simple sequel that does everything it needs to, while having certain strange events that don’t always add up.
Overall: Easy to watch.
