Say what you will about The Blair Witch Project, but I still stand behind the movie wholeheartedly; in my opinion it was both brilliantly marketed and brilliantly executed. Unfortunately, a steaming pile of crap known as The Blair Witch Project 2: The Book of Shadows sealed the fate of this franchise, and now we’ll probably never get to see that prequel that they were talking about once upon a time. Since then, Blair Witch director Eduardo Sanchez has kind of fallen off the map. It’s been 6 years since Blair Witch 2 (which, I should make clear, he was not involved in). Finally now we have word that Sanchez has a new movie on the way this December. But, here’s the thing… it’s going to be direct to DVD.

Altered is another low budget horror movie, this time about an alien abduction, but there’s a twist: it’s also a revenge flick. Fifteen years ago, five friends were abducted and only four returned. Now they’ve managed to capture one of the creatures responsible for taking their friend… payback is a bitch, right? Personally I love alien abduction movies, but the direct to DVD aspect does have me a little worried. No one wanted to distribute a movie with the Blair Witch guy’s name on it? Hmm. It looks like Sanchez is also attempting some creative online marketing once again, with a fake blog from one of the main characters up on the movie’s official site. Unfortunately there’s not much to read there as of yet. Look for Altered in stores on December 19th.