Bare Wench Project (5 Stars)

In October of 1998, four sorority sisters disappeared in the woods near Bareassville, Delaware while shooting a documentary. A week later their footage was found.

"The Blair Witch Project" is the most successful low budget movie ever made. It was made with a budget of $22,500 and earned about $250 million at the box office. The film was so simple in its structure that film makers everywhere, professionals and amateurs alike, kicked themselves and said "Why didn't I think of it first?" Almost immediately the direct-to-video market was flooded with copies and parodies, such as "The Blair Witch Report", "The Bogus Witch Project", "The Scooby Doo Project" and this film, "The Bare Wench Project".

The common themes of the original and the copies are:

• The film claims to document a true story.
• The actors behave naturally, as if being followed by a camera.
• The cameraman is part of the film, frequently speaking to the actors.
• The filming pretends to be amateurish, with a shaky camera.

Other films have also been made in this style without copying or parodying "The Blair Witch Project". An example is "Troll Hunter".

Of all the parodies, "The Bare Wench Project" is by far the most successful. Jim Wynorski was the only director with the skill to mimic the style and theme of the original without making the film look silly. Humorous, yes, silly, no.

Four sorority sisters, Chloe, Nikki, Lori and Toni, are working on a college project. They want to research a local legend about a witch who lives in the mountains, known to the locals as the Bare Wench. The legend is that in the 1850's there was a beautiful prostitute who worked in a gold mining town. The women were jealous, so they made their husbands ban her from the town. The men carried her into the mountains, where they raped her before throwing her into a pit to die. Since then she has been carrying out her revenge on any men who wander into the mountains. She lures men into a cave with her beauty, then chains them to the wall and leaves them to die slowly.

Chloe -- Julie K. Smith

Nikki -- Nikki Fritz

Lori -- Lorissa McComas

Toni -- Antonia Dorian

The four girls hire a man called Lunk as their guide and bodyguard. Maybe this isn't such a good idea, since the Bare Wench only attacks men, not women, but Lunk is keen to spend time with four beautiful young girls in the mountains. Unfortunately for him the girls are lesbians and have no interest in him. On the contrary, they treat him like a fool and blame him when they get lost.

I can't praise the film highly enough. The DVD is now out of print, but you might be able to find it on Ebay. Oh, and did I mention that when the girls finally confront the Bare Wench she's played by Julie Strain?

Lunk -- Lenny Juliano

The Bare Wench -- Julie Strain