Released in 2008, The other half of the original Blair Witch team released a movie that has become a quietly spoken gem among die hard horror fans. Described as Blair meets The Hurt Locker, here is the original review that came out a few years back and if you are like many who have never head of this…….maybe you should seek it out!

While his director partner Eduardo Sanchez has been busy releasing straight to DVD horror crap with the likes of Seventh Moon – but did redeem himself with the rather good Exists,– the other half of the Blair Witch team, Daniel Myrick, had been more quieter…. until he released this little gem!

Coming across as Blair meets The Hurt Locker, The Objective is a strong contender for being one of the best unseen horror films to be released straight to DVD. 

This film which was unheard of, only came to my attention thanks to a guy on a now defunct Film Forum who raved about it so much that I had to seek it out and like many times within the horror genre, its the films that fail to get the publicity that become a surprising treat!

For a start there is a lot to admire from The Objective.  Its plain to see that Myrick had the smallest of budgets but like before, he used what he had to maximum effect, creating a tense mood and a sense of wonder and panic at what is going on. 

It seems that both Sanchez and, Myrick, still know how to play with the Found Footage genre, even though The Objective comes dangerously close to certain moments of that Witch flick.

When satellites pick up a radioactive heat signature in the wastelands of Afghanistan, a CIA agent and a gang of Special Ops are sent to investigate the mystery as worries grow that the terrorists have created the ultimate War Weapon.  But on arrival, and the more they go deeper into the desert, the soldiers soon realise that something is not quite right in the area they are in, and maybe, the enemy this time, are more far away from home than they think.

From its bleak landscape, to the fear of dread, The Objective is a rare beast that deserves a cult following.  The slow pace and lack of gore may not be for the modern horror crowd, but for those who wishes a horror would let it make their own mind up, then this is the one for you. 

The acting is spot on.  All unknowns but raise their game that you wish for them to escape the nightmare they are in and it is such an original film that its a criminal shame that this will be ignored by many.

It does not outstay its welcome either, the short running time means that no scenes drag on, and you’ll be so compelled by the mystery that you be shocked when the end credits start to roll. 

The only complaint is that there are moments that rip off the Blair Witch.  Voices in the dark, Soldiers vanishing on morning light, stumbling across body parts, there is even a map scene in which they are lost, all brief moments that questions if Myrick can move on from the film that made him famous, but then those doubts fade for a bit thanks to a sheer moment of class that raises the film’s quality up to a stunning level

Everyone remembers that scene in Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, with the truck parked up, headlights from behind that first come up to the truck then are revealed to be a car, then second headlights arrive, only for them to start rising above the Truck. 

Well here Myrick pays homage to that scene, but its done so wonderfully well that it actually took my breath away.  It was one of the best scenes from 2008 and it makes The Objective a film that should be watched by all readers of this website.

The climax and final shot may bring the quality down a bit as there is no satisfying conclusion but then the makers have tried to do something different and should be applauded for it, because they could easily have sold out with an ending to keep the basic horror fan happy.

The Objective has a wonderful mixture of War/Supernatural/Cover up/Horror, that is blended so well that its actually amazing that they pulled it off.  It is one of the most underrated of horrors of recent years and deserves its growing status as a Cult Favourite……