Blair Witch Project- lessons?

Cato

Cato

Joined
Dec 28, 1998
Messages
120
Maybe you think this is OT or even absolutely ridiculous, but Jan Libourel's back page column in Gun World ( Dec. 99 ), where he stated that he didn't like the movie "Blair Witch project" because the principals acted like wimps, made me think.

I know this movie isn't based on a real case- BUT:
What would you do if you were in their situation: lost in the woods with hysterical friends, and you began to realize that you were "hunted" ( let's say by a bunch of rednecks, or a serial killer, or even the witch herself
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)?
What was their worst mistake ( beside getting lost )?
Would it be prudent to take a "last stand" or
attack with improvised weapons ( pole, pocketkife,.. ) or even a handgun, like Jan Libourel advised??
Wouldn't trying to escape ( remember it took the "something" in the movie a few days before it made it's first kill ) with minimal survival package and marching all day & night
be more intelligent?
How would you spend the nights?

Are there any escape& evasion drills everybody hiking the woods should practise?

Maybe you can tell me a few of your ideas which came to your survivalist/knife enthusiasts mind when you saw the movie.
Thanks& stay safe

Cato

[This message has been edited by Cato (edited 27 December 1999).]

[This message has been edited by Cato (edited 27 December 1999).]
 
Glad someone brought up this horrible flick. Without a doubt one of the worst movies I've ever seen (My opinion). I saw it as a vulger takeoff on the movie Deliverence, (Which I thought was a fairly good movie. Again my opinion) with a bogeyman twist. Anyhow, I really don't think any of my friends would react like the idiots in the movie. If they did I would loose them real fast. I guess sometimes in a survival situation you have to be a little selfish.

Maybe the kids in the movie should have actually read the "survival manual" they displayed, and practiced some of the techniques before venturing into the woods. Dude, like they probably would have been more at home interviewing an alternative rock band in a coffee house, like, you know. Their greatest mistake was going out in the woods in the first place.

It may sound a little sick, but I personally would pray for a situation like they were in (My opinion).
 
Barry,

I can never tell who is going to come unglued under pressure. Its not always the most obvious candidate. Fortunately, it only takes a little bit of leadership to keep it all together.

What I found fustrating with the Blair Witch project was that none of the characters was willing to assume responsibility. Decision making by ad hoc committee while under pressure leads to some pretty bad decision making. If we keep this factor in perspective we will never have to worry about the ugly meltdown portrayed in this movie.
 
Excellent point not2sharp.

The circle of friends with whom I associate are all people I have known, worked and trained with for many years. Leadership is always assumed while we are together.

To me the way the people in the movie behaved and reacted was far more horrifying than the plot of the film itself.

Thank you, I think you just saved me a lot of money for psychoanalysis. You should change your user name.
 
well I just think that there were certian things that they could of done ahead of time:

1)Figure out how to read a map and a compass
2)Figure out how to navigate by land marks as well
3)If this is your first time to the area, Don't leave the beaten path!
4) If you see something weird/disturbing don't play with it! That will be an indication of wether you have been there or not, and somebody/thing could know that.

5) all else fails, get your self a few smoke gernades, and flare guns the town was not that far away, and flares work great at night.

6) why didn't they use there knifes? I saw a buck 119 on that girl, and she didn't even use it for anything.

7) If all else fails, set up dead falls, make spears and get ready to fight for your life
 
On the flip side.

I watched the movie and found it to be entertaining... my wife taught me a long time ago that "it's just a movie... don't analize it to death"

The movie was made by some college kids having fun trying to entertain people. Take it with a grain of salt.

One other key point... the scene where they run around screaming, etc. this is a pretty good portrayal of what people do when they are lost and scared. I train Search and Rescue teams (to include the USCG) and this is a common theme for the subjects they rescue. The script showed us a couple of kids who weren't ready for the trip and definately didn't have the experience to go out without a guide... Like this never happens
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to bad they hadn't been a part of this forum, used my book
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, or watched Ron's tapes.

------------------
Greg Davenport
http://www.ssurvival.com
Are You Ready For The Challenge?
Are You Ready To Learn The Art Of Wilderness Survival?

 
I and some friends _did_ overanalyze this one, and aside from what we discussed (Primarily who, if anything, was hunting) they did make a few major mistakes.

Lack of any real knowledge whatsoever was one of them. Not realizing when they were lost, and acting appropriately, was the second. Panicking was the last.

Assuming something was hunting them, they were doomed anyways. They did the best thing they could do, given their equipment. They documented it. Now, it woulda been nice if they had actually managed a pic of something other than themselves, but hey, there've been criminal conviction on less...

Lastly, but not least, is the best advice I ever heard for mountain biking in Cat/Bear country (Or hiking). Always go with someone slower than you. And trip them.

Stryver...
 
Guys;
I thinke the Blair Witch Project should have been retitled"What not to do in the Woods". It would have made a great documentary/comedy!!
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------------------
Big-Target>>>>>>SI VIS PACEM PARA BELLUM
 
Big Target,

I actually have started using several scenes from it... during platform presentations... as a prime example of what not to do. It is a great lesson...

I agree... I found it funny also.... especially when she put the camera in her face and cried to her mom.



------------------
Greg Davenport
http://www.ssurvival.com
Are You Ready For The Challenge?
Are You Ready To Learn The Art Of Wilderness Survival?

 
I just watched this movie the other night (after this thread started); pretty stupid movie.

I think this is quite typical of a reaction from a group of college students. No knowledge of the real world and lack of ability to think outside the box. (Heck I guess that's just about everyones problem).

1. They get lost but won't admit it. But when they use the compass they brought they end up going in circles. Wouldn't one think that once this has happened that the compass is either defective or that some anomoly(sp) is causing a problem. How many other ways are there to figure out direction? Seems to me the sun rises and sets the same every day?

2. Actually I think there was leadership (just poor), it was the girls project and she was leading. Problem was she didn't prepare and her actions and lack of knowledge lost the confidence of her peers.

3. They didn't set up any kind of defence when they figured out they were being hunted, yet they were all armed with knives (at least I saw a good sized one on the girls belt). Why not spears, spikes, Comanche stars or something. And why no Fires? What was the point, they set up tents and such, so anyone that was hunting them could certainly find them no matter what. It's not like they were stealthy and hiding.

4. They certainly didn't know the area very well, their map was only for a specific spot. No wonder they didn't know where to go.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Darren
 
I believe this to be another parenting issue. I feel it is my obligation to teach my children how to handle emergencies of all types. I started teaching them weapons handling when they were 5 or 6 years old. My youngest son has been handling liner locks for 2 years now. He is 7 yo.
Eldest daughter called me from Omaha. She was having a New Year's Eve party; she had invited a number of friends over. They all brought their hardware, augmenting my daughter's Colt H-Bar Sporter, H&K USP, and Sig P245. She already had 1K rounds of each caliber. Also a cord of wood, and enough down comforters and sleeping bags to last a very long time. Lots of food as well.

A bunch of untrained, hysterical college kids means to me that there is a bunch of parents who didn't do their jobs. Walt

[This message has been edited by Walt Welch (edited 01-02-2000).]
 
I'm soooo glad that someone else didn't think much of the BWP! I still don't know who was hunting them or who killed them
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As for what I think they did wrong:

1. One compass and one map? Are they nuts? I mean it's not like a decent compass is that expensive or heavy! Also, they might learn to use a compass properly or even read the map
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I mean, when I go out I make sure that everyone in the party has the SAME essentials. That way if separated or if gear is lost we're not all screwed.

2. They didn't tell anyone where they were going. Okay, maybe some of you think that's being a sissy. But even the most grizzled woodsman (that ain't me) can slip and break their leg. It just makes sense to tell someone where you're going and when you expect to be back.

3. Okay they're being hunted. Stop fooling around and get serious. Make a plan. Obviously whatever it is is tracking them with no problem. Lighting a fire isn't going to give away your position; but it just might let you see what's after you or (if big enough) give some protection. Make some weapons, take shifts at night, never separate. I mean is it just me or were these guys stupid?

4. Finally, you find an abandoned house where a murderous hermit supposedly lived and walls covers with little bloodstained handprints all over it. Do you a) Go in the basement (home of all horror monsters) or b) Run like hell! I'm going for b.

------------------
"Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav'n"
John Milton
There are only two types of people; those who understand this, and those who think they do.
 
Johan,

Don't forget this is a horror/monster movie. Doing dumb things is par for the course (remember all those Friday !3th flicks etc.). The Blair Witch Project is just convincing enough that we forget what the movie is from time to time, and we are fustrated when our "hero" stop to return to the standard (watch me do realy stupid things)formula.

1) Do not split up
2) Establish and maintain a perimeter
3) Contact/Get help
4) Maintain order...don't panic
5) Prepare for self defense

That's what anyone of us would do under the same circumstances. But this is entertainment, and its a horror flim; and if most of the major films can succeed with this formula why change it.

Want to see a horror movie that does what we would do? Rent a copy of Howard Hawk's THE THING (the 1951 version starring James Arness). Its dated (funny to us now), but very well done.

 
Not2Sharp, I know it's just a movie, it just bugged me. I do still remember when I studied film for a semester in university-"Movies are all about suspension of disbelief" my instructor used to say (he lifted that from Greek theatre, didn't care much for me when I pointed that out
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). It's like the moview where the mobster kidnaps the main witness rather than kill her. Why? 'Cause if he kills her it's gonna be a real short movie. The only thing that burns me more in movies is when someone gets shot with a big nailing gun (i.e. Lethal Weapon 2). Nail guns all have nose piece safetys, you can't fire it without retracting the nose. You could shoot someone as long as you reached forward and pulled the nose back. But they never do that. I know, I'm rambling
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------------------
"Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav'n"
John Milton
There are only two types of people; those who understand this, and those who think they do.
 
Johann,

For the record, it fustrated me also. I hate movies that move the plot through preposterous means. They risk misinforming the public with potentially dangerous consequences.

There are probably people out there that took this movie at face value and are now afraid to hike in the woods.
 
My biggest problem was the "attitude". They didn't have the will to survive. No common outdoor skills, totally unprepared both equipment wise and mentally. I agree not very well thought out. On the other hand I can see something like this happening out there. Not Witches and the like, just ignorance.

Stay sharp and be well.

Vince
 
How come so many people disliked this movie? Some of you stated it wasn't realistic, well I believe it was. If those kind of people were confronted with that type of circumstance I believe they would act just like the movie characters did. Dont forget that a large part of the population has never been off the pavement. It is common for lost people to do wild things such as cross roads, drop their gun and run from their rescuers. Also dont lump all college kids into their catagory. When I was in college me and my friends always had beer money because we caught and killed most of our food.
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Dave Barry has a very funny column about BWP. Unfortunately, the link to the archive appears to be defective, so here is an excerpt:

>>>Not wishing to be a cultural holdout, I went to see The Blair Witch Project, which tells the story of three young film students who attempt to make a documentary without a tripod. This means the camera constantly moves around, as though it is strapped to the head of a hyperactive seal. (For some reason, the camera is often pointed more or less at the ground, as though the seal is hunting for ants.) The effect of this technique is to create a mood of intense realism for several minutes, after which it creates a mood of intense motion sickness.

>>>The three movie characters are looking for the Blair Witch, who according to legend is a mean witch who is never actually seen because of the high cost of special effects. The characters set out and almost immediately become lost in the legendarily huge uninhabited forests of Maryland (motto: "The Endless Vast Expanse of Wilderness State"). They respond to this predicament exactly as Lewis and Clark would have: by holding long, whiny arguments wherein they wave the camera around and repeatedly shout a very bad word that I cannot put in the newspaper, so let's just call it "darn." Much of the dialogue sounds like this:

FIRST CHARACTER: Darn you! You darned got us darned lost in these darned woods! Darn!

SECOND CHARACTER: Go darn yourself!

SQUIRREL: Will you darners shut the darn UP!?!

>>>The characters are all so busy arguing and yelling "Darn!" at each other that, in the entire movie, they actually travel a grand total of maybe 75 linear feet. You get the impression that if they'd just shut up and walk, in 20 minutes they'd come to a Wal-Mart. But they don't, and after several days they run out of food. They do NOT, however, run out of electricity for their cameras, which apparently are powered by tiny, highly portable nuclear generators.

>>>And thus they are able to keep videotaping, which enables you, the viewer, to experience the terrifying things that happen right outside their tent at night, namely: It's hard to say. Apparently SOMETHING terrifying is happening, but you can't really tell what it is, because pretty much all you see is the ground, or total darkness. Much of the footage near the end appears to be shot deep inside a sleeping bag.

>>>I won't reveal the terrifying and shocking surprise ending of the movie, because I don't want to spoil it, plus I have no idea what it is, since it's not actually IN the movie. The characters all get killed and are unable to videotape it. But at least the darned camera stopped moving.<<<



[This message has been edited by Walks Slowly (edited 01-04-2000).]
 
Never... ever, leave you buddy behind. Never. If you know what you are doing, you can exfiltrate and get your less experienced and totally messed up friends home too. At the very least, there is greater safety in numbers, and morale takes longer to flag.

------------------
When the chips are down, the buffalo is empty.

 
I had some problems with the movie also. If I had been one of them I would have been sitting in the middle of a huge circle of fires all night if I suspected something was out to get me, with all sorts of sharp wood sticks close at hand. Also, there is no way in hell I would have ran into that house at the end. I would have either waited for morning or burned the damn thing down that night!!! As for them thinking that their friend was alive inside, they should have realized that was not too likely after they got some of his organs gift-wrapped and left on their doorstep.
 
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