Is a 6.4 rating accurate?

IMHO, it's cool and easy to hate TBWP, like you're special, better or smarter than those who liked it. However, it's much harder to create a very competent horror movie that employed atmosphere, tension and mythology so well like TBWP did. I bet some of who hate TBWP were scared the hell outta them and are ashamed to admit that hehe.

Maybe modern audiences do not like to use their imagination or don't like psychological horror aspect anymore. But if this movie has so many haters who spend their energy criticizing it, it's just a proof of how groundbreaking it was at the time, and how influential it still is, becoming a milestone in the horror genre.

I personally give it a 10. It's one of my favorite horror films and has been for many years. People think the film is just "three people running around the woods screaming at each other giving me motion sickness" but it is much more than that to me. Lots of people to this day believe the movie is nothing more than an advertising gimmick designed to fool the audience and give them absolutely nothing in return for their money. But I think the idea of something coming after you (that also seems to have power over an entire forest and perhaps even time itself) that you can't see or touch so therefore you can't stop it is intensely terrifying.

It's also one of the only found footage movies I've seen that actually feels like found footage. I think the lower quality and shakiness makes it feel more authentic. It irritates when movies claiming to be real footage look all "Hollywood" and polished. People won't settle for anything less than the best of the best high definition these days so you can't really tell the difference between found footage films and straightforward films.

Then there are those that even use real actors we recognize from other things and flashy special effects we can clearly tell are fake. Now I'm usually not one of those people who watches movies and complains about the special effects looking fake. Typically I can enjoy things the way they are, but when you're claiming your movie is actual footage it better look real or else the whole point of your film is ruined. Blair Witch was wise not to go that route and allow you to use your imagination instead.

It's one of those films you either absolutely adore or despise. There's no middle ground. As of right now on Amazon for the reviews, 35% are 5-star reviews and 32% are 1 star reviews. It's a film that really splits up the crowd so I don't find the rating surprising. The film is very divisive and it seems that the more time passes the amount of people who hate it grows more and more which is unfortunate to me.

I saw it in the theatre twice when it came out. Both theatres were packed. No one walked out. The filmmakers basically made an energetic, tense film out of very little. They used simple props and a lot of suggestions of things off camera to create fear. I always thought it was very impressive. But after a short time, people started hating it for many reasons. The primary one in the media was the "shaky camera" complaint. People complained that it made them sick. I also remember a number of other people thought it was real (in 1999 the Sci-Fi channel documentary was very convincing). I think people felt duped after they realized it was just another movie and they became resentful towards the movie because of that. Most regular people hate hoaxes. Today, I think most people dislike it because the POV/Camcorder style it made popular has been so overdone in the horror genre.

I'm honest when I rate. I don't have some agenda. Heck, I give good ratings to movies with strong liberal agendas that about make me throw up, because I still find something good about them. But this one I rated a 6. It's always possible I was just not in the right mood when I watched it yesterday, but pretty much all that happens is someone is lost in the woods and there is no explanation. really the only thing I felt like it should be commended on is it felt like a real amateur filming, although all three of those people were mighty annoying, which doesn't help much.

Tldr but no, it's a decent movie. More like a 7 1/2.

Don't worry about the score. Lots of great stuff is divisive.

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The movie actually deserves lower.

for a breakthrough film, that practically created a genre, its low score