Many would attribute The Blair Witch Project with carving out its own niche in horror filmmaker, effectively launching the modern-day found footage subgenre as we know it. The indie powerhouse is considered one of the genre heavyweights, and has become a bonafide classic over its 25 years in existence. As it turns out, however, we’ve been watching the wrong version of the movie this entire time. Blair Witch producer Mike Monello recently took to Twitter to share an extensive thread on why the version of the film released both in theaters and on home media isn’t the one filmmakers intended to release but rather, the one released due to technological restrictions at the time.
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“In 1999, theatrical films didn’t originate on video, so there was no codified process for putting them out on video. So they did it like all films back then: They transferred the 35mm negative to video,” Monello explained. “Unfortunately, the 35mm negative is NOT the actual camera negative. As a result, the version released for all forms of home video is incorrect. The colors, the motion, the strange rounded corners, it didn’t look like a home video, and it didn’t look like film.”
Now, only certain people will be able to see the film transfer as it was meant to thanks to a new Blu-ray pressing courtesy of the UK-based Second Sight Films. Because it’s being released in the UK, there is one caveat: the Blu-ray is region-locked as a Region B release, which means your Blu-ray player will need to be able to play Region B discs.
“This is the FIRST (and for the immediate time being) the ONLY edition of the film to be properly transferred for home video release. It finally looks the way it did to us when we were editing the film. The way we wanted it to look. In fact, if theaters had been able to project video in 1999, then THIS transfer would have played theatrically! The 35mm print was a step we had to take due to the technology of the time,” Monello added.
Monello ended the thread by apologizing for the release being limited to Region B, and encouraged fans interested in a region-free version to reach out to Lionsgate and request one.
“I know many will be upset that it is Region B. I WISH it were all-region, but contracts and legal stuff prevent that. That said, THIS edition COULD be released in the US. That decision belongs exclusively to @Lionsgate or @LionsgateHorror,” he finished. “If you don’t have a region-free player, I suggest you contact @Lionsgate directly and ask them to release this version of the film.”
The Blair Witch Project reboot has yet to set a release date. The original found footage classic can be rented or purchased through virtually any video marketplace.
