“In October of 1994 three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland while shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found.” It’s a profoundly simple premise and shockingly effective. Though now known as a work of fiction, low production value and clever marketing gave the film a convincing quality when it debuted, and in a way it persists. It feels like watching home video from the 90s, and that feeling expands the eerie atmosphere of the film into the real world. Uncomfortably tense, Project draws audiences in with primal fears, and displays of realistic reactions to those fears. By the final sequence the audience is praying for release as much as the characters. Remarkable for its time and even now, this 1999 classic is well worth the watch.
