The Blair Witch Project

Note to film-makers: If you're planning to shoot Carry on Camping 2 (or any other campsite comedy) then make sure your cast can sleep soundly, is well fed and dry. Let them know the entire script and what's going to happen the next day. In short, keep them happy.

If, on the other hand, you want to make a terrifying horror movie in which your cast is driven to the brink of madness, then deprive them of all the above, get them to film the result and then sit back and watch the money pour in.

Such was the case with new movie The Blair Witch Project. It cost a paltry $40,000 and has grossed over $138million, making it the most lucrative independent film in history. Those who have seen it can understand why: It starts of as a glorified home movie in which three young film-makers go off to the Maryland Woods to investigate the eponymous legend, but soon turns into a genuine nightmare that any camper can relate to.

The cast were left in the dark - in more ways than one - and had to find their way from site to site over a few days where they would get rations, the next day's script, more film for the camera and batteries.

The cast of unknowns includes Michael C Williams, Joshua Leonard and Heather Donahue, the latter of whom makes an attractive, headstrong heroine reminiscent of Ripley in the original Alien movie; It's her idea to investigate the Blair Witch; film the local inhabitants of the creepy Maryland town and then tramp to the location where atrocities are supposed to have occurred many years earlier.

What develops is an exercise in subtlety and whereas big budget studio offerings such as The Haunting spent $80million on effects and big stars - and lost a fortune into the bargain, TBP spends almost no money on a bunch of stick figures suspended in the trees; a pile of neatly stacked rocks and some blue goo outside their tents. Not to mention what looks like a terrifying picture frame with a few rags and a bit of blood in the centre.

It's not really the object that causes the terror, but Donahue's reaction to it. By this time, directors Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick had deprived the Heather, Michael and Josh of sleep and were leaving about a banana a day to survive on. Tired, hungry and lost, it's little wonder Donahue freaks out upon finding something so creepy - if they'd shown her a plastic skeleton from a joke shop she'd have probably had the same hysterical reaction.

If necessity is the mother of invention, then the film-makers had the latter in abundance and the added bonus of an internet website which created a buzz which advertising can't buy. Word of mouth soon spread and although the movie only opened on a handful of screens across the States, it soon became a national phenomenon.

Armed with a fraction of the $137million plus profit, Blair Witch has now arrived in Britain with a massive advertising campaign, media saturation and that all important advance reaction.

With sequels and a TV series all mooted, you just know the Blair Witch Project is going to be milked to death over the next few years, not to mention a host of imitators flooding the market.

It's likely that familiarity will breed contempt but if you can stand the nauseous effect induced by hand held camera footage, not to mention the highly unsettling undertone, then it's the only movie to see this Hallowe'en.

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