Blair Witch Project Had A Bad Influence On Its Maryland Town

Blair Witch Project Had A Bad Influence On Its Maryland Town

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The Blair Witch Project was set in the small town of Burkittsville, Maryland, and the film’s skyrocketing popularity did the place no favors.

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Blair Witch Project Had A Bad Influence On Its Maryland Town

The Blair Witch Project was set in the small town of Burkittsville, Maryland, and the film’s skyrocketing popularity did the place no favors. Just over 20 years ago, 1999’s The Blair Witch Project came out of nowhere to become a pop culture phenomenon, and one of the most profitable films in the history of cinema. Written and directed by the duo of Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, Blair Witch cost a mere $60,000 to produce, and would go on to gross an astounding $248 million worldwide.

The Blair Witch Project, like many of the the greatest horror movies, has a very simple premise. Three film students disappeared while making a documentary on a local Maryland legend called the Blair Witch, and a year later, the footage they shot was found. It’s unlikely a success story quite like The Blair Witch Project will happen again, as it came along right at the exact right point in time. Back in 1999, the internet was already getting big enough to become a terrific marketing tool, but also wasn’t quite ubiquitous enough to be able to disprove the marketing’s claims that it a was a true story. As a result, many people legitimately thought they were watching real documentary footage when the film was released.

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The massive success of The Blair Witch Project also put the small town of Burkittsville, Maryland on the map for most people, but unfortunately, that turned out to be a double-edged sword. For the people of Burkittsville, there almost really was a curse of the Blair Witch.

Blair Witch Project Caused Trouble For Burkittsville, Maryland

When The Blair Witch Project came out and became a hit, the town of Burkittsville, Maryland was at first quite happy to play up the connection, including doing its own marketing tie-ins with the film. Unfortunately, the town was soon overwhelmed by rabid fans, many of which decided to steal or vandalize private property, to the point of police being assigned to protect popular targets by Burkittsville’s Mayor. The “Welcome to Burkittsville” sign memorably shown at the beginning of The Blair Witch Project was stolen multiple times, and some even went so far as to desecrate a local graveyard. It got to the point where Burkittsville’s movie theater wouldn’t even screen the film.

Burkittsville also had to deal with obsessed fans of The Blair Witch Project, many of which were annoyed by the fact that the film’s legend was made up, and that the bulk of the film was shot in a state park some 25 miles away from the town proper. The woods near Burkittsville thus weren’t what fans were expecting, and there was certainly no Rustin Parr house to visit. To this day, Burkittsville’s extremely small population kind of resents being featured in The Blair Witch Project, as the filmmakers obviously never asked permission, or if anyone wanted their town to become a famous tourist destination for horror lovers.

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Link Source : https://screenrant.com/blair-witch-project-movie-burkittsville-maryland-bad-influence/

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