Plot twist: horror film ‘The Woods’ is unveiled at Comic-Con as secret ‘Blair Witch’ sequel

Participants at Comic-Con that went into a screening for upcoming horror movie The Woods, last week were surprised to come out from the movie having watched the sequel to the 1999 found-footage horror film hit, The Blair Witch Project.

The subject and title of Lionsgate teaser film The Woods was kept under wraps since it began production but was unveiled at San Diego’s pop culture event as Blair Witch, the third installment of the franchise, in theatres on September 16.

“Blair Witch, it’s all about the mystery,” director Adam Wingard said. “I think the way we’re advertising it is in spirit of that.”

The surprise reveal follows in the footsteps of J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot company, which unveiled 10 Cloverfield Lane, sequel to 2008’s Cloverfield, in January, just two months before its release in theatres.

The Blair Witch Project was a box-office hit in 1999 and ushered in a new era of found-footage horror. The movie featured footage from video tapes found from three documentary filmmakers who went missing in a remote forest as they tried to uncover the local legend of the Blair Witch.

The new “Blair Witch” film follows the brother of one of the missing filmmakers as he takes his friends out to the same forest to search for his sister. Events quickly go downhill when the group loses track of time and their location and get lost in the woods.

“Blair Witch” skips over the events of the 2000 sequel Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 that was derided by fans.