I have to admit that overall it wasn't THAT impressive. Well, done, yes, both technically and in the quality of the acting. But the storyline and the premise it sprung from has some major problems.

Now, there are spoilers ahead, so if you haven't seen the film yet, don't read on.

These three kids disappear, right? Yet a year later their film is found. Where? How? By who? Proceeding under the assumption they're dead (and yes, there are theories to the contrary, that it's all meant to be a hoax), then someone killed them. Yes, someone. There's nothing supernatural about this film. The last scene you see in the film is definitely meant to be a re-creation of the death scenes enacted by the hermit in the 1940's. If its the putative ghost witch doing it, then she could have done it originally and needn't have bothered driving this nutter to do it.

So someone killed them. And managed to dispose of the bodies without trace (maybe - again, we're not told). Yet a year later someone finds the footage. How? Did the killer(s) just leave it there? It would have been found before. That house would have been checked. And anyone seeing the footage would smell a rat and be given a lot of handy hints for an investigation. The killer could check the videotape to see what was on there, but couldn't really do anything about it. And he couldn't check the 16mm film at all without developing it. So leaving the film to be discovered at a later date doesn't seem logical and would merely draw attention to what would be by then another fading mystery.

Some people might hold that the sheer lack of sense to it all implies a supernatural origin. Anyone who thinks that sort of logic can just bugger off back to the Flameboard to witter on about their religion.

Am I over-analysing here? I don't think so. The sheer power of the film lies in its ability to suspend disbelief (which I did do, a few times) and imply what's going on. It's left to your imagination. But I can imagine a hell of a lot, and the film-makers can't ask me to just blindly imagine the worst without also trying to analyse what's going on. If they just want cheap dumb thrills, then stick a guy in a mask with a cleaver in.

So what are we left with? A few noises in the dark, a disturbance that makes them run away. All of which could be faked. You'd probably need more than one person to do it, and as Josh or Mike says, rednecks aren't that imaginative. They also ask if they've seen "Deliverance." Well, I have, and I've also seen "Southern Comfort." I know how rednecks in woods can f*** with your mind.

There should have been a few clues somewhere. The last scene - Mike goes down to the basement, gets knocked down. Videocamera keeps going. Nothing is heard. When Heather gets down there she sees Mike being made to stand in the corner like the kids were. Was the videocamera still going? Obviously not, or else you'd have the killer telling him to stand there.

Now, I guess I have one theory: It's Mike. Neither Josh nor Heather really know him. He's got a temper. He gets rid of the map. He sleeps or pretends to sleep throught the good bits, He is a sound engineer and could fake the noises etc. He gets rid of Josh while out looking for him (driving Josh to distraction by not having any cigarettes, then later finding some after it's too late), and leads Heather to her doom. I suspect he had an accomplice, especially to enact that final tableau.

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Death before Dishonor!
However Dishonor has
quite a disputed defintion.

It's a movie!

Thanks.

Now, to address some of Lee's points. According to various "official" sources, including the official website, the film and the sound tapes were found buried underneath the house in a duffel bag. Who or what buried them isn't mentioned. (Presumably whoever killed them. But why not just destroy the stuff? Other then the fact that it would mean no movie. )

As to the real killer...well, many think it's Josh. All the previous tales of the witch mention how she gets someone else to kill folks for her. And Josh does disappear. And they do hear his voice. The problem with this is that the bloody bundle Heather finds is supposed to be a tounge, with the implication that it belonged to Josh. (Leading some credence to the idea that the witch has "stolen" his voice.)

Quality of the movie aside, I think it's a testament to its originality that people are still arguing over what the hell happened. (Though I can easily see how some might find that annoying.)

Just call me the Perry Terror.

Hooray for Lee, pouring the cold soup of logic over the fluffy hype around this film.
And anyone who even fleetingly thinks some of the film is "based on a true story" should go home at once, hide under the blanket and make gurgling noises until they die; that way the rest of us can avoid them.

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"NO! NO! Kill you all!
Die! MAKE YOU SUFFER!!!"

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Cordellia: "Well, does looking at guns make you wanna have sex?"
Xander: "I'm seventeen. Looking at linoleum makes me wanna have sex."

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Fool of a Took, throw yourself in next time!!
Gandalf

After all the hype (here in the US) about this flick, I finally saw it on video 30 October. First thing I noticed: This movie would have been much, much better if Heather had said 'fuck' more often. Three hundred times is just not enough.

Whoever "made" him stand in the corner would have had to have been tough. He looked like a fairly big guy. When both him and Heather were attacked there was no noise that indicated that they were shot. They didn't sound like they were being stabbed either. They just sounded like they were hit. So, this guy "hits" Mike, knocking him to the floor, then makes him get up, stand in the corner, not making a sound, and then kills Heather. And Mike doesn't use this opportunity to run and or attack the guy. Suspicious.

One of my mates made a suggestion. maybe Mike is dead at the end. The bad-guy could have killed him, then propped him up against something. We don't get too clear a shot of Mike to make it out.

Still, bloody stupid of them to go out without mobile phones though, wasn't it?

And finally, to everyone who thinks that the film was real. *Ahem*, just after it finishes, look at the first credits to come up. The "Written by" credits. Gee, I wonder what part the writers played in this "real" documentary?

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Cordellia: "Well, does looking at guns make you wanna have sex?"
Xander: "I'm seventeen. Looking at linoleum makes me wanna have sex."