The Final Ghouls Of Horror Podcast
Sep 2, 2026 · 1 hr 29 min · 11 segments
The Final Ghouls are back and getting lost in the woods as we discuss 1999's The Blair Witch project! Holly, Jeremy and L examine their first found footage film together and explore its inestimable…
So, The Blair Witch Project is written and directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez.
Myrick and Sanchez developed the idea for the movie as film students at the University of Central Florida in 1993.
They were inspired by supernatural documentary series like In Search Of, where they realised they found those shows creepier than many traditional horror films.
Jaws and Alien were also big inspirations for them in how those films hit the monster.
The two teamed up with three friends to form a production company named Haxan Films in order to produce the project.
They then developed a 35-page script for the movie with the plan to improvise the dialogue.
Auditions for the film were held in 1996, with a focus on actors with improvisational talent.
Instead of a scripted scene, auditioners were told to improvise a scene in which they were murder convicts and had to explain to a parole board why they should be let out early.
The original script called for three men, but Donoghue won them over by, according to Sanchez, "...scaring the crap out of them by looking them dead in the eyes and saying, I don't think I should be." The film was shot over eight days in October of 1997 in Maryland, including the real Burkittsville.
The actors themselves shot all the footage except for the interview scene where Rustin Parr is mentioned.
Some of the Burkittsville locals were paid actors, though the cast were unaware of that.
The actors were given vague instructions of things to do or places to go, but the directors stayed largely away from the cast for most of the shoot.
The cast didn't know what would be happening in the nighttime scenes and just knew to react to it in character.
The post-production required the directors to edit 20 hours of footage down to 81 minutes and took over eight months.
The first cut was screened at small festivals and Myrick and Sanchez made some changes based on the feedback.
The final version of the film screened at Sundance Film Festival in January of 1999 and became a sensation.
Artisan Entertainment bought the film rights and wanted to change the ending at first as audiences were confused.
The production had an official budget of $60,000 with post-production and marketing costs bringing that up to about $750,000.
Artisan made the film the first wide release to be marketed primarily online.
They used an official website that presented it as real, complete with a missing poster featuring the cast, fake police reports and newsreel interviews.
The studio also released a mockumentary special called Curse of the Blair Witch that aired on Sci-Fi Channel.
Both the website and the special added more detail to the film's mythology.
The witch gets the name Ellie Cadwood and her legend is fleshed out more.
So, The Blair Witch Project is written and directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez.
Myrick and Sanchez developed the idea for the movie as film students at the University of Central Florida in 1993.
They were inspired by supernatural documentary series like In Search Of, where they realised they found those shows creepier than many traditional horror films.
Jaws and Alien were also big inspirations for them in how those films hit the monster.
The two teamed up with three friends to form a production company named Haxan Films in order to produce the project.
They then developed a 35-page script for the movie with the plan to improvise the dialogue.
Auditions for the film were held in 1996, with a focus on actors with improvisational talent.
Instead of a scripted scene, auditioners were told to improvise a scene in which they were murder convicts and had to explain to a parole board why they should be let out early.
The original script called for three men, but Donoghue won them over by, according to Sanchez, "...scaring the crap out of them by looking them dead in the eyes and saying, I don't think I should be." The film was shot over eight days in October of 1997 in Maryland, including the real Burkittsville.
The actors themselves shot all the footage except for the interview scene where Rustin Parr is mentioned.
Some of the Burkittsville locals were paid actors, though the cast were unaware of that.
The actors were given vague instructions of things to do or places to go, but the directors stayed largely away from the cast for most of the shoot.
The cast didn't know what would be happening in the nighttime scenes and just knew to react to it in character.
The post-production required the directors to edit 20 hours of footage down to 81 minutes and took over eight months.
The first cut was screened at small festivals and Myrick and Sanchez made some changes based on the feedback.
The final version of the film screened at Sundance Film Festival in January of 1999 and became a sensation.
Artisan Entertainment bought the film rights and wanted to change the ending at first as audiences were confused.
The production had an official budget of $60,000 with post-production and marketing costs bringing that up to about $750,000.
Artisan made the film the first wide release to be marketed primarily online.
They used an official website that presented it as real, complete with a missing poster featuring the cast, fake police reports and newsreel interviews.
The studio also released a mockumentary special called Curse of the Blair Witch that aired on Sci-Fi Channel.
Both the website and the special added more detail to the film's mythology.
The witch gets the name Ellie Cadwood and her legend is fleshed out more.
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