Don’t fear—there’s no world during which lo-fi horror traditional The Blair Witch Undertaking will get a kind of overly clean 4K upgrades. The 1999 movie grew to become a sensation as a result of it seems to be prefer it actually was filmed by a trio of younger documentary makers who get misplaced in a haunted forest: shaky, grainy, bizarre lighting, not at all times in focus.
Although by now we all know the “true story” a part of Blair Witch was a gimmick, the found-footage movie continues to be discovering new methods to shock us. In keeping with one of many movie’s producers, Michael Monello, the movie is lastly—25 years after it hit theaters—getting a house video launch that displays the model its creators (the movie was written and directed by Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick) at all times meant.
The brand new model comes into being on account of a technical snafu that was mistakenly not corrected a long time in the past—and apparently makes a notable distinction within the viewing expertise. Right here’s Monello’s social media publish that breaks it down:
25 years later, our little film, ‘The Blair Witch Undertaking,’ is FINALLY being launched as we at all times meant. Listed below are particulars for the curious. pic.twitter.com/w6S4dm2KKI
— Mike Monello (@mikemonello) November 11, 2024
“The Blair Witch Undertaking was filmed on Hi8 video and 16mm b&w movie and edited on a Media 100XR, a non-linear enhancing system in broad use then,” he wrote. “Since theaters then didn’t have video projectors, we needed to switch our DigiBeta grasp to 35mm by way of a course of known as ‘telecine,’ principally filming the video on a particular display screen in a managed atmosphere with a 35mm movie digital camera.”
That they had no selection on the time, he defined. However when The Blair Witch Undertaking was shifting from theaters to residence video, “[distributors] Artisan made an enormous mistake” and as a substitute labored not from the DigiBeta grasp, however the 35mm telecine switch.
“This launched critical movement errors,” Monello defined. “It gave the Hi8 footage movie grain and muddied all the colours with a brown overcast, killing element. The edits of that switch grew to become 3-frame dissolves, reasonably than laborious cuts!”
The brand new model, he mentioned, is the movie the way in which it was meant to be seen, and it’s “scarier” as well; the brand new switch’s “look, movement, and laborious cuts create a far scarier psychological impact than all earlier variations.”
The discharge comes with 90 minutes of deleted footage in addition to a brand new documentary, he added. However there’s a catch: this shall be a Area B launch solely—that’s Europe, not the USA. (Monello instructed followers “contact Lionsgate on their social channels” to request a U.S. launch; American followers with the flexibility to play Area B discs can decide it up from Second Site’s website, for what it’s price. You may also go to that hyperlink to see the total checklist of particular options.)
And talking of Lionsgate, the studio lately introduced it’s working on a new version of Blair Witch. To that finish, a fan on Bluesky requested Monello if the Blair Witch Undertaking forged—Heather Donohue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael Williams—participated on this new launch. Not too long ago, the actors spoke out to say they weren’t included within the indie movie’s large income, regardless of their integral half in its success.
Monello replied: “They have been made gives to take part, however on account of their ongoing points with Lions Gate they selected to not be concerned. Word that none of us earn any cash from Blair Witch something. Our work on this was unpaid, and we solely did it to lastly get it out into the world the way in which it was meant to be.”
The Blair Witch Undertaking is already scary as hell. It’s laborious to think about a model that’s even scarier—however we’re definitely intrigued to get a have a look at it and see if that’s the case. Will you be checking it out?
Need extra io9 information? Take a look at when to anticipate the most recent Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on film and TV, and all the things you have to learn about the way forward for Doctor Who.
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