The Blair Witch Project has one of the most iconic and well-known endings in horror movie history, but the movie actually has three more alternate endings. The movie is a found-footage film following three students attempting to make a documentary about the legend of the Blair Witch. After filming interviews with local residents, the trio set out on a backpacking trip into the forest where the witch is said to reside to discover as much as they can about her. Things go terribly wrong when they become lost in the woods.
The Blair Witch Project required a lot of improvisation from the actors who were essentially taken into the woods, told the premise of the film, and then recorded as they really did get lost. They were given less and less food throughout filming to make it appear more realistic. Afterward, they had to fake their own deaths and were listed as “missing, presumed dead” on IMDb to trick audiences into believing the Blair Witch Project's footage was real.
The Blair Witch Project concludes with the original ending that creators Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez wanted, but it wasn’t the only one they tested out. In fact, they filmed four separate endings to the movie. While each ending was the same save for the last image of Mike, it’s the final image of him standing in the corner that has stuck with viewers since 1999. Below is a description of every alternate ending to The Blair Witch Project and how they would’ve changed the movie.
Mike is Crucified
The most infamous of the three unused endings is one in which Mike is crucified. Mike is strung up on a giant version of the stick dolls they find throughout their trip. While no one survives in this version of the horror movie's ending, depicting a more gruesome conclusion than the original, audiences have stated that it would have ruined the entire movie. Some viewers of The Blair Witch Project even laugh at the idea. While having Mike crucified is more violent, it isn’t necessarily better. The original ending is praised for its simplicity. Mike being hung up on one of the stick figures doesn’t have the same hauntingly confusing punch that makes the original memorable.
Mike is Hanged
This ending also doesn’t change the story, but still changes the film's final impact. It is another more violent alternative that, while scarier than the crucifixion, still doesn’t leave viewers with the same level of eeriness as the original. The ending where Mike stands in the corner adds to the Blair Witch Project's mythology and leaves viewers horrified by their own imaginations, as they struggle to understand what happened to the supposedly real college students. While they would’ve still walked away frightened and questioning who kills Mike, this ending doesn’t leave much to the imagination.
Mike Faces Heather
In this ending, Mike faces Heather, staring her down in a very aggressive way that is more startling than the original. It also changes the film overall unlike the other two scrapped endings, namely because it would look like Mike is the one who kills Heather once she drops the camera. Mike facing Heather in an aggressive way may startle viewers. However, again, the found footage movie's original ending works because of the horrifying paranormal atmosphere it creates, and this alternate ending could’ve killed that by insinuating the killer is human. Heather walking through the basement screaming for Mike only to appear while he is staring at her in an inhumanly murderous way is startling, but it’s not nearly as unsettling as the final cut.
Mike Stands in the Corner
The original ending has stuck with audiences for decades. Mike standing in the corner notoriously makes the ending more confusing, but test audiences didn’t find it any less scary. In fact, the opposite is true. Mike standing in the corner, either afraid of or forced not to look at Heather creates lingering questions. It leaves audiences terrified of the entity that kills Heather while Mike refuses to watch. It leaves their minds reeling while trying to guess at what compelled Mike to stand facing the corner. The impact of The Blair Witch Project's unexplainable ending is what has kept viewers talking about The Blair Witch Project and wondering what happened to the movie's missing college kids for over 20 years.