The Science of Monsters

Simon Barrett: “The creature you’re talking about, which was played by Breanna Watkins in the film, was originally referenced in a lot of various, ambiguous ways in the script; I believe I called it the “tall figure” a lot. Eventually, before production began, I had to put together a draft where all of the onscreen supernatural elements were referenced by exact names, just so that our crew would know which one I was talking about in any given scene. That’s the problem with writing mysterious horror; it doesn’t quite work on a script level. You need to let the crew know exactly what they need to create. So, from that point forward I referenced it as the “Ellie Kedward thing,” basing it on the Blair Witch Dossier story that Ellie Kedward—who was not the original Blair Witch, of course, but someone who got caught up in the haunting and was later blamed for it—was tortured to death by being stretched, which I embellished quite a lot, I think. So, this kind of elongated body we’re seeing in the woods is what’s left of her. That’s pretty clearly hinted at within the film, but of course we’re also hinting at other possibilities of what that thing in the woods might be, other victims past and future, with other scenes. The figure has tree-like elements, and we see Ashley go through the early stages of what could be a similar transformation with what could be a tree root entering her skin, to cite another obvious example. Adam was bothered by that Ellie Kedward name being in the script in that context, as he felt Ellie Kedward was only a vague possibility for what we were seeing; he always just called it the creature, or whatever. And I made sure to not use Ellie Kedward as a character name on our production documents, so that name wouldn’t be listed in the credits and spoil the mystery. But then I didn’t come up with a new name for the creature either. I should have called her “The Shape” or something, it just didn’t occur to me, so whoever created our end credits not unreasonably ended up labeling the tall figure in the woods as the Blair Witch, so I think Breanna got like, a “Blair Witch stunt performer” credit for one of her scenes or something explicit like that. Which made a lot of viewers justifiably annoyed, thinking we were trying to show them the actual Blair Witch. Whoops. I’ve become a lot more communicative about my intentionally ambiguous ideas like that since that experience.”

Kelly:“Regardless of the character name, she was terrifying!”

The trio in The Blair Witch Project may have been influenced by evil forces when they got lost on their expedition, but what should you do if you lose your way in the woods? The National Forest Service urges hikers and campers to prepare in advance for the unexpected. They recommend you pack enough food and water for the activity you plan as well as a compass that you know how to use. These items may have come in handy for the travelers in The Blair Witch Project, but then again, the witch may have corrupted them anyway. Ultimately a GPS is ideal for going into the woods but is not foolproof. Sometimes they don’t receive a signal or the battery dies. As we saw in the sequel Blair Witch (2016), even a GPS can fail. Cell phones may also not work because of a lack of signal so they shouldn’t be relied on too heavily. Knowing your terrain and studying accurate maps is important before taking off into the woods.

You should always have a compass or GPS when hiking or camping.

The National Forest Service also recommends wearing sturdy hiking boots, clothes that can be layered, and additional socks in case the ones you’re wearing get wet. Other survival essentials like matches and tools should be packed just in case. One of the most important things you can do is tell someone where you are going and how long you plan to be gone. This way, if you don’t return when you’re supposed to, someone can come looking for you.