Chapter 40: Stirring Up Ghosts
Can "The Blair Witch" defy the odds and make a run at this summer's Los Angeles box office?
With the effect of audience discussion after the premiere, Yi Feiyang became more ambitious.
Actually, when he bought the copyright of "The Blair Witch" for $200,000, he had already planned to make this film a historic box office dark horse, even surpassing the incredible achievements he knew from his past life and creating new miracles!
The Blair Witch Project became a sudden hit in the previous life, the reason is simple, because it is a "pseudo-documentary", grasping the majority of Americans' awe and curiosity about "witchcraft", creating an atmosphere similar to The Ring.
So Yifei Yang decided to follow the law and make this "pseudo-documentary" mysterious, let all Americans know how magical this strange film is.
To deceive and cheat those American young people who like to join in the fun and look for excitement, Yi Feiyang took out his first bucket of gold worth $30,000 that he had worked hard to earn, and made a meticulous plan.
The entire plan is divided into two major steps.
First and foremost, we must do a good job of "publicity among the people".
The day after Blair Witch opened in tiny theaters, Ye Fayan had Bill the rabbit, who had spent some time at university, stay up all night to write a paper called "A Few Historical Studies on The Witch of Blair", and then had someone deliver it to the North American Association for the Study of Witchcraft at the University of California.
That's right, there is such a research association that makes people feel annoyed. No wonder the United States is democratic, free and open, all kinds of weird associations exist.
The president of the association is a white old man named Anthony who is dedicated to excavating North American mysterious ritual witchcraft.
It is said that this gentleman once ran alone to the Amazon to find a hunting tribe good at "shrinking human heads", had an insect feast with the tribal chief, drank hedgehog urine wine, and then called each other brothers. He was very honored to witness the "miniature human head" sorcery of the hunting tribe.
"The shrunken head of a hunter usually takes several days to complete, with feasting and dancing ceremonies at each stage. Once the shrinking is complete, the eyelids are sewn together to prevent the soul from seeing the outside world, and the mouth is sewn shut to prevent the soul from escaping. The dried head is then wrapped in cloth and placed in a ceramic pot, usually buried under the warrior's hut."
This report earned Anthony great reputation, and he became a professorial big shot in the study of witchcraft, and also got the honorary title of "Witchcraft Association" from the University of California.
His enthusiasm for North American witchcraft has also made Anthony a well-known figure in the entire field of American mysticism, with many people visiting him, like Bill who wrote a "thesis" on ghosts, and those seeking his guidance are not uncommon.
Of course, our old man still has two brushes, at least he saw at a glance that this so-called "Blair Witch" was purely nonsense.
"I've gone through all the historical records of witches and haven't found any mention of this Blair, Mr. Bill, are you trying to fool me?" When the old man got angry, he was ready to throw him out.
Rabbit Bill smiled, "Dear Professor, you've only read the first half of my paper and haven't seen the last page. Perhaps after reading it, you'll change your mind."
"Hmph, don't try to be eloquent. I've seen people like you before. You just conjure up some witch and want to gain fame...” Professor Anthony flipped through the paper, finally seeing the last page... where a $3,000 check was attached!
"Perhaps my view is slightly narrow, for the development history of witches, apart from what is recorded in books, we should also allow some folk transmissions to be added, such as this mysterious Mrs. Blair..."
Under the enthusiastic help of Professor Anthony, Bunny Bill's "Some Historical Studies on Blair Witch" was finally published in a special issue of the California Association of Witches.
Then, through newspapers and magazines in major cities, it was continuously reprinted on other magazines, and reprinted again...
At the same time, a story about Blair Witch began circulating at the University of California.
"Hey, old chap, have you heard the story of Blair Witch? I heard this thing is specifically killing kids!"
"Hey, buddy, did you know about Blair the witch? She's a terrifying witch with incredible magical powers. Anyone who gets cursed by her will come to no good end!"
……
"Have you seen The Blair Witch? I heard it's a real death record, so scary!"
"This I haven't seen before, but I heard that the two college students who filmed that movie were cursed to death, oh God, it's too scary!"
……
"The cameraman is dead, but the cursed film is being screened!"
"What a poor devil! He went so far to shoot some witch and ended up losing his life!"
……
Rumors about Blair Witch and the cursed filmmakers have spread like wildfire on the campus of University of California. Through this campus, such terrifying rumors spread like a virus, quickly spreading to other schools.
As the most unlucky person in history, Dennis and Edvard undoubtedly became two photographers who were cursed to death in "Urban Legend".
As they were lavishly spending the $200,000 they had obtained, drinking red wine, soaking in hot springs, hugging horses and smoking marijuana, this news also reached the ears of the two guys.
From the very beginning, Dennis and his wife thought that Yi Feiyang was a complete Chinese moron, spending 200,000 to buy his own DV film, either he had water in his brain or his brain was kicked by a donkey.
But now, Daniel suddenly had a feeling that perhaps it was he who had been kicked in the head by a donkey.
"For Pete's sake, what the devil is this guy doing? We were living just fine and then suddenly we're dead? What crap Blair spewed, it was all our nonsense, but he actually believed it!" Edyado exclaimed in exasperation.
"Calm down, buddy!" Dennis swirled the deep red wine and took a light sip. "Now that we've sold this play to that Chinaman, what happens next is none of our business!"
"Sounds good, but look at what he's doing? Constantly exaggerating our fabricated witch stories and publishing research on 'Witch Blair' in some crappy magazine! God knows, we're the ones who are Witch Blair's real parents!"
"So what? We've already sold the rights, which means that no matter what happens, we're not responsible for this Blair Witch crap!" Dennis repeated.
"Pal, don't you think... we're selling this play at a loss?" Edyardo said cautiously.
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean is... Originally, making 200,000 yuan from that foolish Chinese guy was great, but now with the release of this movie... I suddenly have a premonition, maybe we're the foolish ones!"
Dennis: "!!!!!!"
"For Christ's sake! Are you blaming me? We've spent the money, what can we do now? Are we supposed to cry and scream until that damned Chinaman gives us back our footage?" Dennis was getting angry.
"Cough cough, I was just casually saying that, you don't have to get so angry!" Ediado said in a low voice.
Dennis was exasperated, but didn't know whether he was angry with himself or his companions.
"That damned Chinese!!!"
He cursed angrily.
However, the happiness of the two was disrupted by the police who came to their doorstep again.
The reason is that someone reported anonymously that "Blair Witch" belongs to a real murder case. And they are likely to be the murderer!
What, murderer?!
Dennis and Edvardo thought this was the most ridiculous joke under heaven. Originally, they made such a pseudo-documentary to fool the audience, but now they found that in the end, they were the ones being fooled.
Those police didn't give them any face, making them make oral and written confessions, busy for half a day, before the two of them knew they were reported by someone.
The two are not fools, and anyone with a brain knows who benefits from this.
God, please strike this wicked Chinese man dead with lightning!
Please!
