Local company Blood Moon Pictures is helping present a special 25th Anniversary screening of “The Blair Witch Project” tonight at the Victory International Film Festival in Evansville. The film’s producer, Gregg Hale, a Henderson native, will hold a Q&A following the showing. Blood Moon’s latest film, “New Fears Eve,” will be screening on Saturday at the festival, where it has been nominated for Best Feature.
The 2024 Victory International Film Festival is a three-day event that presents short and feature films from around the world that celebrate diverse cultures and their filmmakers’ artistry. In addition, industry professionals conduct panels and workshops to teach craft and give insights about making movies.
“The Blair Witch Project” screening will take place at Showplace Cinema East starting at 7 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $10 and are available here.
“The fact that festivals still want to show the movie and people still want to see the movie after all these years is special,” Hale said. “I’m honored people still care about this weird, little low-budget horror film we made a quarter of a century ago. We lucked our way into becoming a part of film history and I couldn’t be more proud of the ‘Blair’ and its legacy.”
Hale said “The Blair Witch Project” is a love-it-or-hate kind of movie.
“I think most people who saw it early-ish, before the hype got insane, think it’s a great horror film,” he said. “But after the film went really wide and people were expecting a ‘normal’ scary movie, a lot of those people were very disappointed.”
Festival Director Matthew Ulm said “The Blair Witch Project” changed the game for independent filmmakers, and the industry as a whole.
“Screening it is a milestone for our festival, and having Gregg there to answer questions is an exciting opportunity for our attendees to learn firsthand about that landmark in cinema history,” Ulm said.
Producer P.J. Starks of Blood Moon Pictures similarly noted the impact “The Blair Witch Project” had on the industry.
“There are a handful of low-budget genre films that come to mind when it comes to lightning-in-a-bottle success,” he said. “Indie filmmakers aspire to replicate the success of ‘Paranormal Activity’ or ‘Terrifer 2.’ ‘The Blair Witch Project’ is undoubtedly one of those. Made for next to nothing but because of its unique premise and clever execution, it has withstood the test of time and single-handedly created the Found Footage sub-genre. Partnering with VIFF to help present Blair Witch has been a cool & unique opportunity. It’ll be a career highlight for sure.”
Starks is also grateful that his film “New Fears Eve” is being screened and is up for an award.
“It’s always exciting to get an opportunity to show ‘New Fears Eve’ in public,” he said. “We’re incredibly grateful to the team at VIFF for accepting our movie. Being as the film is a horror comedy, it has as many laughs as it does scares. It plays well in front of an audience. Jeffrey (Reddick, creator of the Final Destination franchise) said one of his favorite things about the film is it has the kind of humor Hollywood is afraid to tackle. Ironically the festival gave NFE a ‘trigger warning’ which made me laugh. That’s definitely a first for us and a badge I’ll proudly wear. It’s a fun holiday slasher that’s got a little something for everyone — most notably, genre fans.”
“New Fears Eve” will be screened at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday.
