Published in AustralianIT, September 9 2003

THE Blair Witch Project was supposed to be the movie that changed everything.

The 1999 film cost just $US35,000 ($55,000) to produce, but took more than $US29 million in its opening weekend at the box office, in large part because of an innovative internet marketing campaign that made a virtue of the horror flick's wobbly handheld camera work.

In the wake of Blair Witch, it was widely assumed that low-budget movies would again become commercially viable. Some commentators went further, predicting that Hollywood's stranglehold on movie production would be permanently broken by an intriguing combination of low-budget digital cameras and innovative online promotion techniques.

Like many other assumptions about the entertainment industry in the internet era, this has turned out to be somewhat wide of the mark.

El cheapo camera work has found a niche, but mostly in art house movies rather than mainstream releases.

The most notable exponents are the growing ranks of dogme flicks, which use digital cameras, minimal lighting and a stark approach to storytelling.

Lars von Trier even managed to attract Aussie actress Nicole Kidman -- whose normal salary requirements would have entirely funded Blair Witch -- to his latest dogme project, Dogville.

Although early buzz suggested this role could even be an Oscar contender, a mixed reception at the Cannes film festival now means that attention has switched to Kidman's more conventional projects, The Human Stain and Cold Mountain. So much for dogma.

Internet marketing has also become a key element of the movie-making business, but this hasn't made it any easier for little-known filmmakers to become visible.

No matter how creative they are, it's hard for a small group of determined individuals to compete with a project such as Steven Spielberg's AI, which had an extensive teaser campaign involving not one but dozens of false websites promoting a mystery associated with the plot. (In the end, the marketing campaign was more successful than the movie itself, which only did modest box office business.)

The net has also proved something of a double-edged sword for movie makers.

Sites such as Ain't It Cool News, which leak results from preview screenings, have managed to send films such as Town and Country permanently off the rails.

Low-budget short films are still a good way to get noticed in Hollywood, but they're lucky to get into general release.

Australian director Robert Luketic won studio attention with his comedy Titsiana Booberini, but the main effect of that was that it earned him the right to direct the smash comedy Legally Blonde, a much more conventional release.

The most lasting impact of The Blair Witch Project may well be its demonstration that movie audiences are chronically stupid, which in turn means Hollywood is going to continue imposing fetid, warmed-over rubbish on viewers worldwide.

After all, if a simple website could convince us this far-fetched horror tale was real, why wouldn't studio executives assume there was going to be an audience for the J-Lo/Ben Affleck train wreck Gigli?