Why The Blair Witch Project's Soundtrack Helps To Add To the Experience Of The Movie.

So, if you were around when The Blair Witch Project came out, you'll likely be aware of the huge amount of tie-in material that went with it. These include a selection of mockumentaries, the movie's website, and the endless advertising campaigns that aimed to convince the average viewer that the movie was real footage of an actual disappearance. One of these items that was made as a tie-in was the movie soundtrack, which went by the name: The Blair Witch Project: Josh's Blair Witch Mix.



If you've watched the movie and didn't know it had a soundtrack, you're probably confused why it exists. The only song in the entire thing is the end credits score by Antonio Cora. So where did the other 11 tracks come from? Is this just an excuse to sell a compilation of unrelated music?

Well, yes, but it is in fact linked to the film in more ways than sharing its name. According to the liner notes, the contents of the Disc were originally on a mixtape found in the car of Joshua Leonard, one of the students that went missing in the film. Obviously, this is a bit of a stretch, but not entirely implausible. Thankfully the choices of music is not just a collection of popular music from 1994, when the movie is set. Instead, a selection of murkier picks were chosen, including Industrial, Post Punk, and Gothic Rock, many of which are rather obscure. This definitely makes the album stand out more from other soundtrack albums that exist.

Also included is the previously mentioned end credits score by Antonio Cora, and a deleted scene from the film in an enhanced section of the CD. On a couple of tracks as well, sound clips from the film appear. This does slightly break the immersion of it being the original mixtape, but it thankfully doesn't ruin it.

As promotional material for The Blair Witch Project goes, you can go way worse than this. This, at the very least, is able to tie into the film and make it feel a bit more real. Then again, nowadays, this isn't really as effective anymore, but eh, what can you do.

You can buy the album here: https://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Blair-Witch-Project-Joshs-Blair-Witch-Mix/release/835030

A special mix of an included Public Image LTD was also released as a single, but not included in that form on the main album, the original is on there. If you'd also like the single mix, it's also available here: https://www.discogs.com/Public-Image-Ltd-The-Order-Of-Death-The-Blair-Witch-Mix/release/542326

Trailer for the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x9iMtfPZA8