In theaters

BOOK OF SHADOWS: BLAIR WITCH II. Directed by Joe Berlinger. Written by Dick Beebe and Berlinger. 90 minutes. Rated R.

If ever there were a time I’d encourage the burning of a book, it’s with Joe Berlinger’s “Book of Shadows: Blair Witch II,” the self-aware, self-important, muddled sequel to 1999’s surprise hit, “The Blair Witch Project.”

It’s terrible – a pretentious piece of marketing gone bad that claims to be a horror movie, but isn’t. Indeed, the only thing here that’s frightening is the fact that the filmmakers couldn’t improve on the mediocre original, which looks like cinematic gold next to this cold bucket of dirt.

What begins as a humorous documentary about the original film’s impact on audiences and, by extension, its considerable influence on pop culture, quickly becomes something altogether different and less appealing – a noisy, gimmicky slasher flick filled with unlikable characters who never connect with us or with the thin material.

Worse, “Shadows” misses what gave the original film its crazed moments of energy – the dark. Instead of allowing audiences to use their imagination, as the original did, “Book of Shadows” makes the fatal mistake of showing everything. Time and again, director Berlinger shines a spotlight on the guts and gristle of his over-the-top gore. The result? A film that spills more fake blood than a Hammer movie.

I hated “Book of Shadows.” Hated it. It made my skin crawl off my body and slide down the street. Somehow, Berlinger, who made the excellent documentaries “Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills” and “Paradise Lost 2: Revelations,” both of which focused on several real-life murders, has cranked out a film that looks and feels like every other teen slasher going. His characters are interchangeable twentysomething caricatures; with the exception of Kim (Kim Director), who is a cheap, humorless knockoff of Elvira, everyone in “Shadows” could have walked in from any number of today’s horror movies – “Urban Legends: Final Cut,” “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” the “Scream” series.

Boring, angry and shrill, these moronic slackers are supposed to represent a generation, but all they represent is Hollywood’s idea of a generation. Since we never come to care for them, we don’t care what happens to them as they plunge into the woods to allegedly learn more about the infamous Blair Witch.

But don’t expect any answers; “Book of Shadows,” which has nothing to do with a book of shadows, isn’t interested in providing any. It is, in fact, hard to say just what the film is interested in, though there’s little question that it wants to be much more than Berlinger can deliver.

Some might call that ambitious. I call it a waste of time.

Grade: F

SOLOMON AND GAENOR. Written and directed by Paul Morrison. 110 minutes. Rated R. In English, Welsh and Yiddish, with English subtitles. Now playing, Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville.

Paul Morrison’s “Solomon and Gaenor” proves that even the most familiar and predictable love stories, when done well, can rise above formula and offer audiences something real and meaningful within a genre that usually offers less.

In spite of recalling Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” – not to mention all the films, plays and books that work has inspired over the years – the film manages to be unique. It uses three languages – English, Welsh and Yiddish – and two religions to shape one love.

Set in 1911 Wales, the film is about two people from vastly different backgrounds who never should have met or fallen in love: Solomon (Ioan Gruffudd), a nice Orthodox Jewish boy who sells swatches of fabric to the poor; and Gaenor (Nia Roberts), a nice, church-going Christian girl who buys swatches of fabric from people like Solomon.

It’s a setup for tragedy audiences have seen countless times before, but Gruffudd and Roberts are so convincing in their roles – and have such great chemistry together on screen – the complications of their actions make for a stirring drama, one that only falters at the end when Morrison strikes a false note.

Grade: B+

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays in Style and Thursdays in the scene.