Released in 1999, The Blair Witch Project became a genuine sensation. The horror movie -- following three student filmmakers attempting to make a documentary about an urban legend -- was presented as a found footage film. Although it wasn't the first of its kind -- both Orson Welles' The Other Side of the Wind and the controversial cult classic Cannibal Holocaust predate The Blair Witch Project -- the success of the film at the turn of the century set off a new wave of similar films.

What The Blair Witch Project accomplished was far from just pretending that the supernatural elements throughout the movie were genuine, however. Instead, the true deft piece of filmmaking that separates The Blair Witch Project takes cues from one of the most iconic blockbusters in Hollywood history. With the Blair Witch & The Blair Witch Project Blu-ray SteelBook release through Lionsgate and Walmart, it's worth revisiting the original film and highlighting how it earned so many scares by replicating the trick that helped elevate Jaws beyond its B-movie potential over two decades earlier.

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The Mystery of the Blair Witch

The Blair Witch Project is about Heather (Heather Donahue), Mike (Michael Williams) and Josh (Joshua Leonard), with the film composed of the found footage charting their final days. Within the film's world, the trio were film students working on a documentary about the mysterious local legends of the Blair Witch. Embarking into the supposedly cursed forest that she once called her domain, the trio steadily realizes they're over their heads -- and being hunted by some unseen force. However, the film doesn't overload itself with scares from the on-set. Instead, the opening segments of the movie are dedicated to interviews with local citizens, introducing audiences to the mythology surrounding them while also establishing the three central characters. This slow-burn approach lends credence to the film's purposeful illusion of being a "real" story, grounding the movie and the mythology in very recognizable aspects of the real world. As the three move into the forest and become increasingly lost, it's less because of any supernatural influence and more driven by their own blunders and in-fighting. This further grounds the film and makes any subsequent supernatural tension feel more realistic as a result.

As the nights wear on and more mysterious happenstances occur off-screen, the trio -- and the audience -- find themselves increasingly pushed to the brink. The Blair Witch Project was shot on a significantly reduced budget compared to most feature-length films, requiring creative tricks to make up for a lack of showy effects. These minor scares were the compromise and ended up giving the film much of its increasingly uneasy atmosphere. As the wandering trio becomes more on edge, so does the audience. It steadily ratchets up the tension by forcing a group of genuinely believable characters into an increasingly intense situation. When Josh goes missing in the second act, this tension gives way to genuine horror -- the mystery of his fate is never resolved, even if a discovery by Heather suggests he met a brutal end. By the end of the film, all three have "disappeared," with the film notably choosing to never actually showcase the Blair Witch. Instead, her supposed home is found by Heather and Mike -- with the latter seemingly entranced in the film's iconic final shot while Heather screams and suddenly goes silent. This decision to never show the Witch is a brilliant feint from directors/writers Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez and quietly follows the Jaws principle of creating tension.

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The Blair Witch Project and Jaws Use the Same Filmmaking Technique to Great Effect

Jaws is arguably one of the most important blockbusters in Hollywood history. The film that put Steven Spielberg on the map as a director, Jaws focuses on a small beachside resort town that finds itself set upon by a massive man-eating shark. The film infamously originally included a mechanical prop as the shark, but malfunctions kept it from being used to its true intended potential. Instead, Spielberg took inspiration from past filmmakers and used the fact that the shark was seldom seen to his advantage. The shark became a seemingly invisible menace, capable of appearing out of nowhere and slaying people with one well-placed strike. Instead of filling the film with jumpscares -- which can become exhausting to an audience -- this lent Jaws a deeply felt sense of dread and tension. It's one of the reasons the film is as rewarding as it is, as the shark's eventual destruction comes with a major sense following its seemingly unstoppable attacks on the film's central trio.

The Blair Witch Project follows a similar suit, using the lack of formal appearances of the Blair Witch to introduce deep tension about her location, abilities and existence. It turns a potentially basic movie monster into a threat that can be around every bend in the forest. It transformed faraway noises and the mere sound of sticks snapping into horrifying harbingers of doom. Any noise could be the Blair Witch, making the film's increasingly desperate exploration of the forest even more frightening. The result is a movie that absolutely nails the feeling of desperation and intensity characters would feel in that sort of setting.

The Blair Witch Project isn't scary because of the monsters the audiences see, but because of the threats they can't. It's a trick that saved the filmmakers an enormous amount of money in filming while also empowering the villain of their story with an otherworldly element that could go beyond the story they were telling. Refraining from even showing the Witch in the final moments, The Blair Witch Project allows the viewer's imagination to paint the most horrifying picture of the concept -- making it an ever-flexible and constantly evolving movie monster. While future Blair Witch sequels may chip away at the mysterious qualities of the Blair Witch, the original film is elevated by that sense of unseen tension. By following the same basic idea as Jaws and avoiding showing the threat in full, The Blair Witch Project was able to turn a small budget into one of its most effective tools.

The Blair Witch & The Blair Witch Project Blu-ray SteelBook is now available from Walmart.