I always thought it was weird and a little gross how audiences turned on The Blair Witch Project shortly after making it a legitimate phenomenon in 1999. Some apparently thought they were actually buying a ticket to a real supernatural snuff film and were disappointed when it turned out it was just a bunch of snot-filled actors in the woods. The ensuing "found footage" genre of horror films certainly didn't help with its shockingly low hit-to-miss ratio, either. But as a theatrical experience, Blair Witch is as close as any movie's ever gotten to the elemental fear mined from a perfectly told campfire story at just the right age. And there are too many moments of this movie that still work, decades later, for it to be written off as a crass gimmick or a lame bait-and-switch. Those giggling children. The snapping twigs. The tent assault. Jesus, people still can't agree, after 20 years, on just what the fuck is in that swaddled bundle of blood and hair. The Blair Witch Project deserves its place in the horror pantheon, and don't let the cynics tell you otherwise.