It wasn’t the first and it’s not the best but it’s signicance to the subgenre is undeniable and the whole vibe it carried (I was one of those dopes captivated in the theatre) was an impressive feat. Anyone shoots you with a “Well, technically…” has their head so far up their own ass you have every right to just stop them right there and move on to a much more rewarding conversation. The simplicity of the story made it so easy for the filmmaking team to manipulate, not only the audience in the theaters but the prospective audience thanks to an impressive social media (before it would become the monster it is) marketing strategy. This was money getting made off of the old urban legend standby: “Well it didn’t happen to me but my friend’s aunt knew this guy in college…” It’s fucking brilliant and deserves every plaudit that came its way. As I said earlier, the story is pretty damn simple: years ago a trio of student filmmakers head to the woods of Maryland to shoot a documentary on a disturbing local legend. They vanish and the footage is found some time later. This is that footage. We watch as three completely believable youngsters find themselves in a horrific situation that their educated minds had no need to prepare for. Local flavor builds up the dark history before our heroes head into the forest and the natural performances delivered by all three of our protagonists really allows for the audience to use them as a focal point to project their dread on because of the inevitable just waiting at the end. Frustration grows amongst the group as, at first, they get lost and then something supernatural seems to begin stalking them. Everything falls apart. The environment is used to its full advantage and the fear feels real as not much is shown but weighs upon the audience like a millstone. Agitation does hit because people freaking out and blaming each other is always gonna be annoying. It gets a pass because it pretty much set the template for everything anyways. We’ve seen it so many times since but my respect for this bad boy is vast because how well it pulled everything off. It’s odd and rewarding that something came along and changed the game this far into it but that’s the magic of the genre.
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