Synopsis:

Takes the sequel to The Blair Witch Project back to what it was supposed to be by restoring as much as possible the director’s original intentions and stripping out the studio’s forced changes.

Intentions:

Eerf klaw Niaga lliw Nerdlihc eht Listening to the commentary track, Joe Berlinger (director) mentions quite a few times that he is not happy with the finished cut of his sequel to The Blair Witch Project (Book of Shadows: Blair witch 2) and talks about how the studio forced him to make changes he didn’t want. But a director’s cut doesn’t look promising considering that the movie bombed in theaters and is now viewed as one of the most hated sequels ever. Joe Berlinger’s Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 is more of a “fuck you” to the original movie and a comment about what can happen when you blur the line between fiction and reality. Not a direct sequel but more of a standalone film, a movie about the first movie. And now, for the first time, watch it unfold in a similar way Joe Berlinger director’s cut did.

Change List:

Cut: Artisan Entertainment logo. Added: A steFANedit. Added: A little Heather Donahue moment that was in the leaked script for bw2. Cut: Hospital Sequence. Changed: Frank Sinatra – Witchcraft now plays during the credit sequence. Cut: Gore footage. The whole Coffin Rock Massacre footage is now 100% gone from the entire movie. Changed: All the interrogation is now at the end of the movie. Changed: After credits sequence we open up on the van arriving at the cemetery. Added: Produced by…Written by…Directed by… Changed/Cut: the rest of the scenes inside the van (before we arrive at the store) now play out in different order and some things are cut. Cut: Everything at the store except: Kim So where are we going first? Jeff The ruins of Rustin Parr’s house. Cut: Erica The karma’s a bitch. Cut: Tristen You make her sound helpless. I thought witches summon powerful energy? Erica We can. But we still have to eat, shit and die like the rest of you. We just look good doing it. Cut: Erica May I have permission to take this leaf? (beat) Thank you. Cut: Bad joke at the campfire. Changed: When Erica talks into camera “…that’s a Christian concept” the footage is zoomed in, and zoomed out when Kim says “I hate nature” Cut: Jeff talking to Erica about wanting to make a film about Wicca (the way of life). Cut: Erica in a trance and Kim tonguing the camera (the part which isn’t POV). Cut: Tristen Our work. Every word. Cut: Kim Ripped? These things look like they were bit off. Cut: Some of Erica screaming back at Jeff. Cut: Nurse and the ghost (Eileen Treacle) at the hospital. Cut: Hospital flashback after Kim tells Jeff that “…you’re a long way from sane” Cut: All the talk about Coffin Rock. Cut/Changed: The ghost girl seen by Stephen on the bridge is now seen for a shorter amount of time and doesn’t disappear into thin air, but instead through POV. Cut: Erica How come you’re the one who looks like he’s having a breakdown? Stephen Look! I’m a little tense, all right? Erica Sorry. Cut: Erica talking to Kim about the markings meaning that “…you have been touched by a witch” Cut: Kim at the store, interacting with the guy on the floor and the crazy woman. Cut: Rednecks throwing rocks. Changed: Since the Coffin Rock Massacre footage now is 100% gone something had to cover up the few frames when Kim “fucks up the front fender” I added a few frames from “missing hours” Cut: Kim acknowledging to Jeff that the kids she saw was “…the kids Rustin Parr killed” Cut/ Added: Craven calling Jeff and tells him to “turn on your TV” and they find out at the 11:00 News that the people they were fighting with in the woods where found murdered at Coffin Rock. Instead now we have some more “lost hours” footage before the owl crashes through the window. Added: a short “lost hours” clip showing what Jeff is thinking. Giving him something else to think about now when the “11:00 News”scene is gone. Cut/ Added: Some of what Jeff say is deleted because it refers to what they saw on TV. Footage of Tristen is inserted and flipped so she now appears to look the other way, watching Jeff talk. Added: When Jeff accusing Erica for being a witch “I tell you what’s going on here” we slowly zoom in on Jeff. Cut: Shot of Tristen (it’s now used earlier). Cut: Kim saying to Jeff to smoke the whole joint “because you’re not totally psycho yet” Added: Clips to illustrate the passing of time. Cut: Stephen seeing a little girl on the other side of the bridge after it has collapse. Added: Shot of phone ringing. Changed: When Jeff looking through the peep-hole we now see another shot of the hospital footage instead of the Coffin Rock Massacre footage that was originally there. Added: When Jeff opens the door for the last time and the dogs aren’t there we now hear the barking of the dog-alarm. Cut: Tristen The little girl backwards… Cut: Tristen hiding the tapes during “lost hours” Cut: Tristen saying that “Tristen’s gone” Cut: Tristen You wanna kill me? (beat) You can’t, can you, Kimmy? Kim I will rip your fucking head off! Tristen Then fucking do it! Changed: The hanging scene re-scored. Changed: The hanging scene re-cut. Added: All the Interrogation footage at the end. Changed: End credits music, now we have The Shining Theme mixed with The Blair Witch Project Theme which later fades into Poe – Haunted. Cut: Artisan Entertainment logo. Added: A steFANedit.

Additional Notes:

“I got some pretty cool editing equipment at my house” Now the three part structure can be seen more clearly: The Satire The Horror Movie The Social Commentary This was accomplished by taking out the non-linear way the story was told in the theatrical cut and making it chronological. I also deleted the Coffin Rock Massacre 100% and took out most of the mental hospital sequences. I also changed some things that IMO makes for a better movie.

Other Sources:

Source Material: Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 The Blair Witch Project YouTube Video (Sunset Time Lapse HD) Frank Sinatra – Witchcraft The Cellar – Antonio Cora (aka The Blair Witch Project Theme) Poe – Haunted The Shinning Theme Blair Witch 2 Original Movie Score by Carter Burwel

Special Thanks:

“Captain Khajiit” -for helping me out with the overlapping frames issue