The Tony Blair Witch Project (2000)

Director:

Michael A. Martinez

Writers:

Michael A. Martinez (writer)
Alan Smithee (writer)

Release Date:

30 July 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

The most important documentary... ever.

Plot:

Told in Documentary form, the film depicts a group of five British film critics and politicians who...

Plot Keywords:

Blair Witch Project Spoof | Spoof | Forest | Fake Documentary | Map

Cast

Tim Jahn	...	Alexander Walker
C. Alan Ploegsma	...	Calan Fairbrain (as Christopher Alan Ploegsma)
Dominic Fantazzi	...	Nigel Thornberry
Greg S. Campbell	...	Gregory Wallin
Chris Bernt	...	Prof. Monroe
Kenton Henry	...	Hick
David Wood	...	Hick
Isaac Paris	...	Smarmy interviewee
George N. Thompson	...	Hick
Raymond L. Martinez	...	Hick with shades
Brian Klapstein	...	Hick
Anthony Fork	...	Store clerk
Shawn Francheck	...	Flippant interviewee
Christy Sandberg	...	GNC store clerk
Shannon R. Anderson	...	Murchison (video store clerk)

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Fairbanks, Alaska, USA

Company:

Scythe Productions

Goofs:

Continuity: Clothing and hair length/color on various characters changes between scenes which supposedly occur the same day.

Movie Connections:

References The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Martinez strikes again!

Honestly, what the hell kind of premise is this? A group of FIVE people (is this a Vietnam movie) go on an "expedition" into the "untamed heart" of West Virginia to find a "Tony Blair Witch" of which they have no evidence even exists! Of course one of the group members is played by the director Mike Martinez, the Alaskan equivalent of Ed Wood, wearing a really dumb looking scanned picture of Tony Blair as a mask. The other four include Alexander Walker, a 70-something British film critic, played by some 20 year old kid with bleached hair! Of course there's the grizzled guide who seems to have no idea what's going on, the quiet guy, and the gay guy (Calan). Now I think it's a tie who exactly is the most annoying character in the film either Calan (who looks like he was actually intoxicated for the majority of the film, or a trailer-trash retarded guy who keeps following them around. At least when their deaths come, it's much more satisfying (and graphic) than in the actual Blair Witch Project with plenty of odes to Deliverance and Cannibal Holocaust (?).

Martinez and his crew go insane breaking dozens of windows on their cheap-looking prop houses in their "ghost town" and drunkenly shouting insults at one another whilst stumbling through the woods. This scene seems to last a million years, but reportedly the film is being trimmed down for pacing reasons - thank god. The prop weapons and animated gunfire later on look really cool though, and the climactic showdown with a posse of local rednecks is action-packed and violent enough to really get the blood going. But who is filming all this? How does the guide film himself getting killed from fairly good distance? This film is full of holes, many of them quite hilarious, such as characters disappearing and reappearing all the time, haircuts and clothing changing between shots, and British accents that seem to come and go as the actors get lazy. This all is quite hilarious.

Of all the Blair Witch parodies I've seen, this is definitely one of best. I just wish I understood their fascination with breaking windows, and how this figures into the plot.