What was controversial about the Blair Witch Project?

Answer 1

It wasn't controversial when it came out. But it was one of the first widely released films -- if not the first -- to use handheld, home-movie cameras. Using hand-held cameras, to get that realistic, home-movie look, is now a bit of a cliche, but at the time, it was a very innovative technique.

The other exciting thing about it was the fact that it was advertised as a true story. Supposedly, the dead kids' tapes had been found in the woods, and all the footage was completely real.

The moviemakers worked very hard to make the hoax believable: for example, when the movie first came out, the actors were listed as "missing, presumed dead" on the imdb (internet Movie DataBase) entry for the film. In fact, some people actually still believe that the film is real!

Passing a fictional movie off as the truth was not a new tactic: both the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Fargo, for example, were also touted as true stories, when in fact they are completely fictional. But the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Fargo were presented as "based on a true story." They were supposed to be fictionalized, dramatized accounts. The Blair Witch Project was not supposed to be based on a true story. It was supposed to be a real, unadulterated home movie that had been discovered in the woods.