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Heather Donahue of "The Blair Witch Project" changed her name to Rei Hance and is now a "spiritual guide"

posted a year ago by TMC-4 (19457)
8 replies | jump to latest

https://www.datalounge.com/thread/32651708-heather-donahue-of-the-blair-witch-project-changed-her-name-to-rei-hance-and-is-now-a-spiritual-guide-

In 2020, Donahue changed her name to Rei Hance (with Rei short for Reigetsu, meaning ‘Spirit Moon’ in Zen tradition), after a reinvention that saw her become a spiritual ‘guide’. This followed a troubling few years for Hance, whose personal association with – and use of her real name in – The Blair Witch Project became a burden.

https://www.eightieskids.com/blair-witch-heather-donahue-name-rei-hance/

[–] DoctorThirteen (10475) a year ago

Heard she was doing some weird stuff. Didn't realise she'd changed her name too.

[–] zmeyka (179) 6 months ago

I'd change my name too if I was in a terrible movie..! :P

[–] ElectricWarlock (104) 5 months ago

If that is the case, she should still be Heather Donahue because that was far from a terrible movie.

[–] Darren (1152) 5 months ago

No, it was a terrible movie. I found it utterly boring. I went to see it in theaters, and I remember a large part of the hype of the film was the promotion of the idea that this really was genuine, found footage, made by real people, who had really disappeared. That didn't last, of course, but there were plenty of people who initially believed it. (They shouldn't have, naturally, since the families of actual victims might have released the recording to 20/20 or 60 Minutes, or some news outlet, but they'd have to be ghouls to approve the release of film of their loved ones' last moments on earth as a for-profit motion picture.)

I think the film succeeded financially so well because of a combination of hype, curiosity, and novelty -- "found footage" was a rarely used format up that time. As a film, on its own merits... I'm sorry, I think it's deadly dull.

[–] DoctorThirteen (10475) 5 months ago

Yes, I saw it in the theatre and it was a real letdown. I thought the marketing was brilliant, though. I actually enjoyed the 'documentary' The Curse of the Blair Witch much more than TBWP itself. Very interesting study though, as a cultural phenomenon.

[–] ElectricWarlock (104) 5 months ago

You can think whatever you want, it doesn't make it true.

[–] Darren (1152) 5 months ago

Sure it does. You can't define for me what a good movie is. Your particular taste isn't a law of nature. And the fact that this movie spawned a (thankfully brief) surge of "found footage" movies, which has since faded away, rather suggests to me that a lot of people are inclined to regard this movie the same way I do -- this movie succeeded thanks in large part to a lot of novelty value, so it spawned a host of imitators. None of the imitators succeeded nearly as well, because the novelty quickly wore off.

Thank God too. I hate "found footage" as a movie format.

[–] DoctorThirteen (10475) 9 days ago

'Thank God too. I hate "found footage" as a movie format.'

So much utter crap came out in that 'found footage' craze.