This summer’s surprise hit is “The Blair Witch Project.”

Set in the woods outside of Burkittesville, Md., it is a pseudo-documentary by a group of college students about the mythical Blair Witch.

The film follows the reconstructed events of three days in the woods, where these amateur filmmakers get lost and descend into near madness as fear and desperation take hold.

“Project” shows their journey into the heart of darkness.

Some have been calling “The Blair Witch Project” the “Star Wars” of horror films, an inaccurate label if well meant.

Certainly it is the “Clerks” of the horror genre, though.

And if Kevin Smith has proven anything in his short career, it is that sometimes a project comes out of left field and takes the industry by surprise.

“Project” is the brainchild of Daniel Myrick and Eduardo S nchez, two college filmmakers with a dream.

A dream and absolutely no money.

Their dream was to scare people senseless by using all the tools that were at their disposal: lighting, imagination and myth.

It is a project that Joseph Campbell could have a field day with.

“Blair Witch” plays on our deepest fears without the aid of special effects, cats jumping into frame from nowhere and screeching violins used to sweeten the suspense.

It is raw, real and scary.

As the film’s characters go on their journey to interview people about the Blair Witch with a light-hearted attitude, the audience is allowed to get to know them as people.

They aren’t taking anything too seriously, and this adds to the sense of inevitability the audience goes in with.

Without ruining anything, everybody dies at the end of this one.

No surprise happy endings here.

The cavalry isn’t coming, but everyone should know that beforehand.

So why see it?

The reasons are few but profound.

Every once in a while, something comes along to cleanse the palate of all the “Hellraiser” and “Friday the 13th” been-there-done-that nonsense.

It should been seen because it reminds us all that the fake freaks and gallons of blood and complicated effects are not what scare people.

What scares people are their own fears of the unknown.

So much can be done with next to nothing that it’s good to be reminded that no amount of money can make up for the imagination.

The film’s hour-and-a-half buildup opens the senses to the possibilities of the conclusion.

After this much tension, the audience is so ready for anything that if a cat did jump out at them they would think they were watching an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

But S nchez and Myrick use the film’s mythology to its fullest.

Most of the film has little to look at but the actors and the trees.

The simple stacks of stones, the stick man based on the burning man rune and a few voices, all of these anticipate what happens later.

When the filmmakers are searching an abandoned house for their friend, every detail on the walls and floors becomes a feast for the eyes.

This film is a challenge.

Pay attention to the mythology and the details.

Don’t let the shaky camera work throw you off, and you will have an experience to remember.

At this point, one would be hard-pressed to tell if “The Blair Witch Project” is a good idea soon to be bastardized by cheesy sequels or the beginning of a new era in “less is more” cinematography.

One thing is certain. Whether or not we are going to remember this movie in 10 years, it is worth seeing if for no other reason than it proves a horror movie doesn’t have to be full of expensive special effects to be scary.

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Greg Jerrett is a graduate student in English from Council Bluffs.