Daniel Myrick Movies
After laboring as a production jack-of-all-trades, writer/director Daniel Myrick struck independent film gold on his first try as one of the co-creators of the phenomenally popular no-budget horror movie The Blair Witch Project (1999).Born and raised in Florida, Myrick opted to stay in his home state after graduating from the University of Central Florida School of Film in 1994. Along with collaborating with future Blair Witch cohorts Eduardo Sanchez and Gregg Hale on a trilogy of short films, Myrick supported himself by working as an editor and cinematographer on a number of Florida-based music videos and commercials. After he wrote and directed the promo for the Florida Film Festival in 1997, Myrick's work caught the eye of independent film guru John Pierson, helping to set the stage for the eventual 1999 debut of Myrick and Sanchez's first feature as co-writers and directors.
Rather than make the average indie product, Myrick, Sanchez, and producer Hale hired three unknown actors and sent them into the Maryland woods with 16mm and video cameras, a few supplies, and skeletal instructions. Orchestrating scares out of minimal visual clues, a bogus witch legend, and the actors' improvised-yet-real reactions to Myrick and Sanchez's unexpected tricks, The Blair Witch Project's low-tech, "documentary" look created a sensation when it bowed at the Sundance Film Festival. Brilliantly marketed via a poker-faced website detailing the "true" history of the Blair Witch and the mysterious disappearance of the three student "filmmakers," The Blair Witch Project went on to become a summer 1999 blockbuster, breaking indie-film box-office records, and landing Myrick and Sanchez on the covers of Time and Newsweek. Turning their attention to developing a more traditional romantic comedy through their company Haxan Films, Myrick and Sanchez wisely bowed out of the horrific sequel Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000), save for Myrick's executive producer credit. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Combining Hi-8 video with black-and-white 16 mm film, this film presents a raw look at what can happen when college students forego common sense and enter the world of voodoo and witchcraft. Presented as a straightforward documentary, the film opens with a title card explaining that in 1994, three students went into the Maryland back woods to do a film project on the Blair Witch incidents. These kids were never seen again, and the film you are about to see is from their recovered equipment, found in the woods a year later. The entire movie documents their adventures leading up to their final minutes. The Blair Witch incident, as we initially learn from the local town elders, is an old legend about a group of witches who tortured and killed several children many years ago. Everyone in town knows the story and they're all sketchy on the details. Out in the woods and away from their parked car (and civilization), what starts as a school exercise turns into a nightmare when the three kids lose their map. Forced to spend extra days finding their way out, the kids then start to hear horrific sounds outside their tents in the pitch-black middle of night. They also find strange artifacts from (what can only be) the Blair Witch, still living in the woods. Frightened, they desperately try to find their way out of the woods, with no luck. Slowly these students start to unravel, knowing they have no way of getting out, no food, and it's getting cold. Each night they are confronted with shrieking and sounds so haunting that they are convinced someone is following them, and they quickly begin to fear for their lives. The film premiered in the midnight movie section at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Chris Gore, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Heather Donahue, Michael Williams, (more)
- 2000
- R
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One of the most financially successful independent films of all time spawns a sequel that at once honors and confronts the pseudo-documentary style of the original in this follow-up to The Blair Witch Project. After The Blair Witch Project becomes a box-office smash, tourists begin to descend upon the small town of Burkittsville, MD, wanting to learn more about the truth and legend of the Blair Witch. Jeff Patterson is a local resident with a checkered past who sees a chance to make some fast money; he inaugurates "The Blair Witch Hunt," offering a tour of the woods where the ill-starred student filmmakers were lost. Four students from Boston sign up for the witch hunt, and end up spending the night camping near the home of notorious child murderer Rustin Parr. The next morning, they discover that they have no memory of a five-hour stretch of the previous night; as the day wears on, they realize they encountered something profoundly evil during their lost night in the woods, which has begun to manifest itself with a vengeance. Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 was the first dramatic feature directed by Joe Berlinger, who previously helmed the award-winning documentaries Brother's Keeper and Paradise Lost. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kim Director, Jeffrey Donovan, (more)
The Hollywood dreams of two runaway lovers are suddenly transformed into living nightmares when a momentary pause at an abandoned roadside rest stop turns into a struggle for survival against a predator who sadism knows no boundaries in this tense nail-biter from X-Files writer and executive producer John Shiban. The west coast was a long way off, and when Jess and Nichole decided to stretch their legs at a deserted rest stop they could never have anticipated the terror that awaited them. Now Jess has disappeared, and a savage stranger with a penchant for cruel games has turned up in her place. This is no coincidence, however, and before the day is over Nichole will be forced to fight for her life against a murderous maniac whose creative use of power tools will have her screaming for mercy. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jaimie Alexander, Joey Mendicino, (more)
The Blair Witch Project writer/director Daniel Myrick draws influence from the 2003 Scandinavian thriller Midsummer to tell this haunting story about a group of high school friends coming together for one last blast before heading off to college, and the strange events that begin to unfold when one member of the group suspects that her twin sister, who had recently committed suicide, is trying to contact her from beyond the grave. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elisabeth Harnois, Shawn Ashmore, (more)
The Blair Witch Project co-director Daniel Myrick returns to the helm to tell this tale of two paramedics kidnapped and held hostage by a mysterious cult. David Vaughn and Victor Hernandez were on the road when they received a call about a young girl whose mother has lost consciousness. Upon arriving at the remote area to administer treatment, however, both paramedics are kidnapped and confined in an isolated building. David is determined to discover the true motivation of the cult that now controls his destiny, while Victor suddenly finds his entire belief system crumbling as the fine line between religion and science is inexorably crossed. Now, come sunrise, something big is about to happen. Perhaps if David and Victor can escape the compound before dawn, their lives will be spared. But their chances for survival are growing slimmer with each passing hour, and as the first rays of sun shine over the horizon David and Victor's desperation quickly turns to terrified determination. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Messner, Jon Huertas, (more)
Admitted to the surgery ward for a routine colonoscopy, forty-year old George Grieves (Thomas Cavanagh) finds himself forced to confront his greatest fear when his surroundings take an unsettling shift towards the surreal. Immediately after awakening from his anesthesia, George is horrified to discover that the surgeon has performed the wrong operation on him. Now, as George's mental and physical condition begins to deteriorate rapidly, he discovers that something is horribly amiss in the hospital's East Ward. But in order to find out the truth about what's been happening in the East Ward, George will have to come face to face with the most sadistic nurse around, and make a difficult decision that promises to alter the course of his entire life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Forces in the front lines of the war on terror find themselves battling a foe more deadly than a bomb in this thriller. Ben Keynes (Jonas Ball) is a CIA operative based in the Middle East who is keeping his eyes peeled for a potential crisis a few weeks after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Keynes is checking some readings from a spy satellite when he discovers what appears to be a massive cache of radioactive material in the mountains of Afghanistan. Worried that Al Qaeda guerrillas are constructing a nuclear weapon, Keynes arranges to join a reconnaissance mission headed to Afghanistan, using the cover story that he's trying to ferret out an international terrorist leader. Keynes and the soldiers head into the mountains with a local, Abdul (Chems-Eddine Zinoune), serving as both translator and guide. Abdul warns Keynes and the soldiers that their intended destination is considered sacred ground by Afghans, and that they're risking their lives by trespassing. Keynes pays him little mind, but he and the soldiers soon discover that Abdul's warnings were well founded, and that a supernatural force lurks in the mountains more dangerous than any band of terrorists. The Objective was written and directed by Daniel Myrick, who made his debut in 1999 with the independent blockbuster The Blair Witch Project. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonas Ball, Matt Anderson, (more)
A small town supermarket serves as the setting for this suspenseful sci-fi thriller about a malevolent alien seeking to take over the human race. Nothing unusual ever happens at Hastings Market, so when a heavily armed gang enters the store guns blazing at closing time, the terrified shoppers and employees at first assume they're the victims of a violent armed robbery. But appearances can be deceptive, as they're about to find out. Something inhuman has gotten loose inside Hastings Market - something that, if allowed to escape, could bring about the downfall of humanity. Now, as the police surround the building, a mysterious man begins scanning everyone inside in an attempt to root out the alien invader. Within one of these people dwells an extraterrestrial with the power to claim our planet as its own. But the worst is yet to come, because when an off-duty cop attempts to play hero, he inadvertently destroys any chance of determining which one of the hostages is serving as host to the alien. Now, the only way ensure the survival of our species is to kill everyone in sight, or die trying. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
One year after unsuspecting road trippers Jesse and Nicole were drilled, ripped, and splattered into oblivion, the same psychopath responsible the gruesome deaths of those two young girls returns to refine his torture skills on the three travelers who have come searching for them. Forever roaming the old highway in his Winnebago full of creepy living corpses, the killer finds himself struggling against the forces of the undead when Jesse and Nicole's ghosts return to exact their bloody revenge. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diane Salinger, Joey Mendicino, (more)
Daniel Stern, Ileana Douglas, Kevin Pollak, and Jere Burns headline director Tony Krantz's black comedy detailing the meltdown of the typical nuclear family as they attempt to rescue their little princess from a notorious serial killer. Otis Broth (Bostin Christopher) needs a date for the prom, and Riley Lawson (Ashley Johnson) is just the type of girl he's been searching for. Unfortunately for Riley, Otis has a rather sinister method of charming the fairer sex - it's got something to do with power tools and other assorted sharp objects. When the authorities fail to deliver in their promise to bring Riley home unharmed and the young girl miraculously manages to break free of Otis' dungeon-like cellar, the Lawson's decide that the family that slays together stays together and sets out to seek vengeance against the hulking serial killer on their own terms. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Stern, Illeana Douglas, (more)
