The Blair Witch Project (1999, 87%)
Still reeling from the Columbine massacre three months earlier, the American public was then tempted by a movie claiming to contain the raw footage of the final days of three filmmakers looking for a witch’s house in the Maryland hills, and who have never been seen since. It introduced a new kind of voyeurism in theaters (somewhat affected by the birth of reality TV, and live news drama like the O.J. chase), tapping into a a dark vein of the public interest that was already exposed from the school shooting. Blair Witch‘s not regarded so highly these days, but for one summer in 1999, it captured America’s fear.