JJ's Carmalised Movie Review
Created | Updated Mar 6, 2002

The Blair Thumb DVD
Time: Approximately 15 minutes.
Director: Steve Odekerk.
Cast: Mostly Steve Odekerk, and a few other people whose names IDMB refused to cough up.
The Blair Thumb isn't what most would call a cinematic masterpiece. At it's best it is an under-budgeted B- flick (but seeing as that is mostly what I review, why are you acting so surprised?). But seeing as I am in the middle of a pre-Oscar slump, I am going to review it. And like it or no, you are probably going to read it. Isn't that lovely?
So yes.
The Blair Thumb. A parody of the Blair Witch Project... with a decidedly lower budget, seeing as the actors in this version were (appropriately,) thumbs. Dolled up thumbs, but thumbs all the same.
If you want to read more of the process of Thumbimation, I suggest going to Steve Odekerk's personal1 website.
Now then. The story opens much like the real Blair Witch did, with the main character (in this version, a string-haired thumb named Stressy). Flicking her camcorder at random objects - a few books, most of them having quite funny titles; my personal favourites were 'DIE' and 'Unsteady Camera Techniques' - and eventually at the next (main) character, named Jish (After Josh of Blair Witch. Nobody ever said Steve Odekerk was creative with his names!).
They follow each other about a bit with the cameras and eventually go to a third character's house. His name is Vic.
'Is that short for Victor?'
asks Stressy.
'No!'
answers Vic.
'Victom. My dad was dismembered.'
And it goes downhill from there, as most of his films do, but in a happy squishy lovely 'Gods I love this crazy, crazy man', sort of way.
This the Blair Witch Project, but decidedly... made fun of. And instead of an unseen witch-horror in the end, a green... guy. I don't want to ruin it for you. So I won't.
I'll tell you a bit about the extras though.
There are two versions of director commentary on the disc. The first is 'the regular commentary', the second, 'INsane Commmentary' - which I believe to be much more enjoyable.
In the second or third, or perhaps fourth scene, the campers are ravaged by a shark attack. A voiceover on the INsane Commentary comes on and begins ranting sucklike:
'Now, we put this in to show that there is a good side, and a bad side to shark attacks. Most of it's bad yes, but there is a good side. Like, say your arm was bothering you to the point that you wanted to remove it. A shark attack could change that. I'm not saying it would happen, only that it is possible...'
Most of the INsane commentary is a lot of screaming. And chanting of either 'Hair, hair', or 'Mallow, mallow'2.
I think that's more or less all I have to say on the subject. One can only review a 15 minute parody for so long, you know.
As for my thoughts and ratings and all that, The Blair Thumb gets a lot of things. Mostly 's though, because of the pirate in the film (That reminds me, watch the 'Making of' in
the Death House Extras,)... And it would get a marshmallow if there were a marshmallow smiley to give it. Since there isn't, I'll give it some and leave it at that.
It's a good rental kids. Have fun.