We’re heading towards the 30th anniversary of The Blair Witch Project, a film I was fortunate enough to experience at the cinema and watch become one of the most iconic horror movies of all time.
And even three decades later, filmmakers are still desperately trying to jump on the bandwagon, offering their own supposedly unique take on the found-footage phenomenon while rarely straying from the blueprint established when Heather and company first ventured into those infamous woods.
Hunting Matthew Nichols doesn’t just want to be the next Blair Witch. It gleefully tells us so.
Not only is the film repeatedly mentioned, but entire moments are inspired by the 1999 classic. In fact, the two young men who mysteriously disappear in this story were such enormous fans of The Blair Witch Project that they decided to make their own version.
So, off they went into the Canadian wilderness, cameras in hand, never to be seen again.
Well, not until more than twenty years later, when the sister of one of the missing boys decides that heading into those very same woods might be a splendid idea.
Seriously? Did she even watch The Blair Witch Project herself?
It’s during the opening half that Hunting Matthew Nichols is at its strongest.
Embracing the familiar but effective device of the mockumentary, the film introduces us to a succession of talking heads who recount the disappearance of the two boys, the circumstances surrounding that fateful night and the lingering mystery that has haunted those left behind.
It’s an atmospheric, surprisingly engaging setup that generates a genuine sense of unease.
Matthew’s sister, Tara (Miranda MacDougall), is determined to uncover the truth and decides to make a documentary investigating what really happened.
And, apparently having never watched a found-footage horror film himself, the director of her documentary is Markian Tarsiuk, who just happens to be the actual director of Hunting Matthew Nichols.
What’s that famous line from Scream 2?
Art imitating life?
To its credit, the film does deliver a few creative surprises that genuinely make you sit up and take notice.
When footage from the night the boys disappeared finally emerges, you naturally expect the film to switch into the familiar found-footage routine, revealing exactly what happened through the recovered recordings.
But instead, apart from a handful of brief glimpses, we’re largely denied the visuals. We hear the disturbing sounds captured on the tape and watch the reactions of those witnessing its contents.
It’s a clever decision, allowing our imaginations to fill in the blanks rather than simply showing us everything.
Unfortunately, despite having witnessed enough to convince any sensible person to stay well away, Tara and Markian decide to retrace the missing boys’ footsteps.
And, of course, it’s here that the film begins to resemble exactly what you were expecting all along.
Found-footage horror films often live or die by their final act, and Hunting Matthew Nichols is no exception.
Those who remain devoted to the genre will undoubtedly get a kick out of the escalating terror, but anyone who has grown weary of the countless imitators that have emerged since The Blair Witch Project may find themselves shrugging their shoulders as another familiar nightmare unfolds.
And let’s face it, there have been hundreds of them.
Hunting Matthew Nichols has no ambition to rewrite the found-footage rulebook, but what it does offer is a solid central mystery, an impressively polished production and enough intriguing ideas to win over even a few viewers who thought they’d had their fill of people running around dark forests with cameras.
When, in reality, they really should have just gone home.
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