When The Blair Witch Project was released in 1999, people thought it was a true story, but what was the inspiration behind the classic horror movie? Co-written and co-directed by Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick, the film is about college students investigating the legend of a witch in the woods of Maryland. The shaky camera work, the creepy nature of the forest, and the fact that the movie features characters who feel like regular people all contribute to the film's terrifying tone.

While horror fans know that The Blair Witch Project isn't a documentary and that the events didn't actually happen to the three actors, what led the filmmakers to craft such a memorable and powerful story?

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An Image Of A Stick Figure Was Early The Blair Witch Project Inspiration

The stick figures in the woods in The Blair Witch Project

While many horror movies have famous imagery, including iconic villains from slasher movies like Michael Myers from Halloween and Ghostface from Scream, the black and white images of The Blair Witch Project are just as memorable. One of the most unforgettable images? The stick figures that are present in the woods. These are called Twanas and the Blair Witch includes them in her rituals.

The co-director, Daniel Myrick, told The Guardian in an interview in 2018 that he began thinking about a stick figure and that is how the movie began. Myrick said, "I grew up around the woods and swamps of Florida. For a long time, I had this idea of seeing a stick figure hanging from a tree and it creeped the hell out of me. Ed Sánchez, a friend from university who ended up co-directing, helped me work this into a 35-page treatment about three students who go missing after heading out into the Maryland woods to make a documentary about a legendary witch."

He continued, "The idea was that this film was put together later, using the footage they shot. In the late 90s, with digital coming into its own, it was only a matter of time before someone made this kind of first-person movie."

The Blair Witch Project used viral marketing to get people excited to head to the movie theater, and the stick figure imagery looked so real that it's no wonder that audiences thought that this story could be true.

The Legend Of Moll Dyer Led To The Blair Witch Project

Close-up of a face in The Blair Witch Project

According to Astonishing Legends, The Blair Witch Project is thought to be based on the story of Moll Dyer. She is thought to have lived in the 17th century and to have lived alone near Leonardtown. People didn't know much about her and she was very mysterious. Moll Dyer was a "healer" and people think that a rock in that area has a mark that looks like her hand. A group of men attacked her and were said to have been cursed with terrible luck as a result, which suggested that maybe she was a witch or involved in something dark.

Joseph F. Morgan penned the story of Moll Dyer in the 19th century, but there wasn't any official record of someone with this name, which means that "Moll" might not have been her actual name.

While The Blair Witch Project is a horror movie with an unnecessary sequel and fans might prefer the 1999 original to the 2016 reboot, the mystery surrounding The Blair Witch herself is as compelling as ever. She's a horrifying figure and just when someone thinks that they're figured her out, they realize that she will overpower them no matter what.

How Was The Blair Witch Project Cast?

Heather in the woods in The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project is an early example of the found footage subgenre and also one of the best slow burn horror movies, and that's all because the sense of tension builds in a natural way. But how were the actors found, and what did they think about filming the movie?

In an interview with Vice for the 20th anniversary of The Blair Witch Project, Michael C. Williams, Joshua Lenoard, Heather Donahue, and the filmmakers shared what it was like to make the hit horror movie. The article includes the casting call, which asked for "women and men, 18-25, with natural look." The casting call said that these were "EXTREMELY CHALLENGING roles; to be shot under very difficult conditions." The movie was described as an "improvisational feature film" and Williams said that he thought that it could be cool to do improv in a film.

Sanchez said that the plan was to have the three actors shoot their scenes in the forest as if they really were all by themselves out there. He said, "Once they got to the woods, we wanted them to be as alone as possible, so we tried to train them as much as possible as far as filmmaking was concerned."

In 2016, Donahue wrote an article for The Guardian and called filming the movie "a joy" and "scrappy and punk rock."

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