Die Kamera als Monster

„The camera is the monster“– that’s how the role of the documentary camera in The Blair Witch Project has been described. The application of the documentary mode in the horror genre experienced a milestone with this work, however its roots are leading far back. First steps of mixing subjects of the horror film with the documentary form have been established since the times of silent film. In his book, Author Steffen Lindinger exposes the importance of the camera for the presentation of reality in the documentary film and analyses its benefits for the horror genre. He both examines the unique features of the precursors of The Blair Witch Projects and shows by modern examples, how this form of horror film can be developed further.