I have the distinction of being the very first person who put up a fan site dedicated to "The Blair Witch Project" in December 1998.

Is this article aimed at discrediting the filmmakers (who I met for the first time at the opening of the film on July 16 in Los Angeles), because larger studios are jealous of the attention this tiny film has gotten? Thousands of fans online are absolutely furious at the lack of facts in this utterly ridiculous piece. The only ones pointing fingers at Haxan Films are other studios. The only spin doctoring that happened came courtesy of people like myself who wanted the word to get out about this film early.

How did we know about it so far in advance? The Independent Film Channel ran pieces about three missing students who disappeared making a documentary over a year ago. People looking for information on the subject found only one source: the Haxan Films Web site. That is where we started the community, where the buzz began. "The Blair Witch Project" got its first major exposure before the Sundance Film Festival when I talked about the film on the syndicated Mark & Brian Show in October. They booted up the Haxan site on the air and got major interest, both from new fans and industry insiders.

Directors Ed Sanchez and Dan Myrick have been very accessible to all of us; that made us want to spread the word about the film. I can guarantee you that no one from inside Haxan Films used a single plant to help spread the word.

As for me, I have been fascinated with this whole film from the first moment I saw a clip of Heather Donahue crying into a camera. Everything I have done has been for the love of it, as a film fan. Haxan Films didn't offer me a cushy job or pay me for my services. After all the whole purpose of our actions was to draw attention to the film. Well, we did it, didn't we?

-- Jeff Johnsen

My daughter, Abigail Marceluk, is not a fake or a charlatan. She is a cum laude graduate of Yale, with honors in Film Study and a graduate student in Film and Media Arts at Temple University. She was investigating witches for a Masters thesis film project when she happened upon the Blair Witch. She became involved with Eric in the chat room. They decided to create the fan site on their own. They are two very talented people, I agree, and am flattered that you think their site is a bit "too glossy" for amateurs.

Impressed with the site, the producer of TBWP invited Abigail and Eric to the Florida Film Festival. They were so fascinated by the pair that they invited them to their offices to hang out. That's why Abigail and Eric appeared in the SciFi special.

Abigail has been ahead of the pack since she was a small child. It does not surprise me that she is in on one of the first Internet fan sites. I am sorry that you are so jaded that you cannot accept true youthful enthusiasm when you see it.

-- Robert Marceluk
Wilmington, Del.

Patrizia DiLucchio implied that many of the reviews of Blair Witch were planted because Artisan "was enforcing a strict no-tapes policy." I suppose you are also going to tell me that bootlegs of "The Phantom Menace" aren't available either? If you had bothered to do your research, you would have found that many people had copies months in advance. The movie was even downloadable over the Internet!

DiLucchio also implies something sinister in the fact that Harry Knowles mentioned the movie before he saw it. In his mention of the pre-Sundance buzz it was very clear that he had not seen the movie yet. He did see the movie before he wrote his review, and was genuinely excited by it. The truth -- that this movie is getting good reviews because it is excellent and innovative -- is not sexy as a vast conspiracy.

-- Andy Howell

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