Super Amputee Cat
Cyburbian
- Messages
- 2,134
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I can think of no better example of a film only meant to be seen once than The Blair Witch Project. It was four years ago that it was released and it was arguably the most successful movie of all time. (Costing less than $30K to make, it made over $170million at the Box Office).
I remember the unforgettable preview, the rave reviews from Critics like Roger Ebert, the hype leading up to the release, the long lines. People hanging out after the movie in discussing about what they just saw. The chat rooms full of people debating whether this really happened or not. It got 95% on the Creme of the Crop Tomatometer.
Yet by December of that year it was all ancient history. Roger Ebert, who gave the film a resounding four stars didn’t even put it in his Top 20. It just got “honorable mention” or something like that. Dozens of copies languished on the new release shelves at video stores. (Recently, I saw copies selling for less than $3). A huge backlash against the film had developed, partly out of the mainstream capitalizing on it's enormous success.
Which brings me up to the conclusion, that although Blair Witch Project was an enormously successful movie and well made, it was only meant to be seen once. With audiences, now having known the outcome, the film could not hold up to close scrutiny and it was soon regulated to the general release shelves. Hence the backlash.
Any other films fit into this category? What are your thoughts?
I remember the unforgettable preview, the rave reviews from Critics like Roger Ebert, the hype leading up to the release, the long lines. People hanging out after the movie in discussing about what they just saw. The chat rooms full of people debating whether this really happened or not. It got 95% on the Creme of the Crop Tomatometer.
Yet by December of that year it was all ancient history. Roger Ebert, who gave the film a resounding four stars didn’t even put it in his Top 20. It just got “honorable mention” or something like that. Dozens of copies languished on the new release shelves at video stores. (Recently, I saw copies selling for less than $3). A huge backlash against the film had developed, partly out of the mainstream capitalizing on it's enormous success.
Which brings me up to the conclusion, that although Blair Witch Project was an enormously successful movie and well made, it was only meant to be seen once. With audiences, now having known the outcome, the film could not hold up to close scrutiny and it was soon regulated to the general release shelves. Hence the backlash.
Any other films fit into this category? What are your thoughts?
