So when I walked into the theater, I wasn't expecting to be blown away again. All I wanted was to see a good movie that was in some way connected thematically to a film I loved. Regrettably, Book of Shadows fails even on that level. It's so bad that it automatically enters the all-time worst list of unnecessary sequels.

The film begins, promisingly enough, with actual media clips of people discussing the Blair Witch Project phenomenon. We see snippets of Dan Rather on the CBS news, Jules Asner on the E! channel, and film critic Roger Ebert commenting on the stunning success of it. Then the film cuts to interviews with residents of Burkittsville, Maryland - the small town immortalized as the home of the Blair Witch. Many of the townspeople are none too happy about the publicity the movie brought. They don't much like all the tourists, either.

Jeff Donovan and Erica Leerhsen go back to Burkittsville in Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2

I liked this part of the movie, but it doesn't last. Instead, the movie becomes, as the title card tells us, a "fictional recreation of events" that took place following the release of Blair Witch Project. Our central character is Jeff (Jeff Donovan), a scraggly Burkittsville native who runs something called "the Blair Witch Hunt." In other words, he hauls paying customers into the Black Hills for a camping trip. Joining him on his maiden voyage are a Wiccan (Erica Leerhsen), a goth chick (Kim Director), and a couple working on a book about the subject (Stephen Ryan Parker and Tristan Skyler). They journey to the foundation of the home where Rustin Parr (the killer who made the children stand in the corner) lived. Everyone has a video camera in case there's any paranormal activity to be photographed. When the group wakes up the next morning, their belongings are either damaged or missing. The only thing left are the videotapes.

Jeff takes everyone back to his place, an old warehouse on the edge of the Black Hills forest. The tapes suggest tampering, as evidenced by subliminal little flashes that pop up when played. Meanwhile, everyone begins having weird hallucinations involving violence and gore. Jeff eventually figures out that the tapes reveal something sinister and horrific.

Book of Shadows makes two fatal errors early on. The characters in the movie have all seen The Blair Witch Project and know it's not real. It would have been smarter to have the first film - as referenced here - be authentic. By recognizing it as fiction, a crucial scare element is removed from the story. After all, why should we worry that they'll get attacked by the witch if they know it's fake?

More seriously, the film quickly takes the characters out of the woods and places them in the warehouse, where they all stand around looking at the video editing machine Jeff has. The story quickly degenerates into one of those boring plots where the characters stand around the editing bay and ask if the picture can be zoomed in on, brought into focus, or run backwards. This is not nearly as exciting as having them out in the woods, struggling to survive and facing the eerie darkness. It doesn't help matters that the characters are thinly developed.

Director Joe Berlinger (a fine documentarian who made the superb Paradise Lost films) tries to milk horror from the story by shooting it like a Marilyn Manson music video. There are endless flash cuts of gore and mutilation stuck into the middle of scenes. Berlinger also tosses in little flashbacks of Jeff in a mental institution. I understand the desire to give Book of Shadows a feel all its own, but this approach is not effective. The cinematography is excellent (this is undoubtedly a great looking movie) but the style is just disjointed. For the audience to really feel terror, a director has to consistently tighten the screws. Regardless of what you thought of The Blair Witch Project, you have to admire the way the suspense is continually cranked up. Berlinger's more free-form style makes the movie feel less suspenseful. We never know what's really happening, so there is nothing to be afraid of.

Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 even delivers its own death blow. When the secret of the tapes is finally revealed, the movie ends suddenly - in a manner that offers neither closure nor terror. It just stops. After the original film, I literally couldn't close my eyes for a week without seeing Michael standing in the corner of that basement. I'm probably going to forget the ending of this one soon after I finish my review. Forget that it's a sequel to one of the biggest and best horror films of all time. This is just a bad movie on its own terms.

( 1/2 out of four)

Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 is rated R for violence, language, sexuality and drug use. The running time is 1 hour and 30 minutes.