The Blair Witch Project is a 1999 American horror

Horror film

Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...

 film pieced together from amateur footage. The film was produced by the Haxan Films

Haxan Films

Haxan Films is a production company headquartered at the Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida. They are famous for producing the cult classic independent horror film The Blair Witch Project. The name is taken from the 1922 Swedish/Danish silent movie Häxan .The company was founded by...

 production company. The film relates the story of three student filmmakers (Heather Donahue

Heather Donahue

Heather Donahue is an American writer and actress who first came to public attention after appearing as the lead character in Haxan Films' 1999 horror film The Blair Witch Project...

, Joshua Leonard

Joshua Leonard

Joshua Granville Leonard is an American actor, known for his role in The Blair Witch Project.-Early life:Leonard was born in Houston, Texas, the son of Joann, an operator of a children's theatre, and Robert Leonard, a theater professor. He was raised in State College, Pennsylvania...

, and Michael C. Williams) who hiked into the Black Hills near Burkittsville, Maryland

Burkittsville, Maryland

Burkittsville is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The population was 171 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Burkittsville is located at ....

 in 1994 to film a documentary about a local legend known as the Blair Witch, and disappeared. The viewers are told that the three were never seen or heard from again, although their video and sound equipment (along with most of the footage they shot) was discovered a year later.