In a small town in Massachusetts, a group of friends attempt to prove
that Slender Man isn’t real, only to find the monster in all his glory. HORROR
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Slender Man (2018)Directed by Sylvain White
Written by David Birke Starring Joey King, Julia Goldani Telles, Jaz Sinclair, Annalise Basso, Alex Fitzalan, Taylor Richardson, Javier Botet, Jessica Blank, Michael Reilly Burke Based on the character created by Victor Surge |
As I’m sure most of you are aware, Creepypastas have been an internet sensation in more recent years. They are typically horror stories which can be creepy, after you wade through a bunch involving bad grammar. Nonetheless, there have been some genuinely horrifying, well known stories on the site. The most famous one being the Slender Man. Shortly after his story popped up on the internet, it quickly took over. So much so that some people started to actually believe the stories were true. And, in one unfortunate case, the stabbing of a young girl by her friends who claimed Slender Man told them to. So, with all the attention this character has garnered over the years, how does his major Hollywood movie hold up? I’ll give you a hint, not very well.
The biggest issue this movie faces is its writing. Our characters are introduced, and we spend the entire film knowing absolutely nothing about them. They’re friends and females. That’s about it. The script also borrows elements from better horror movies in crafting their story. Tell me this doesn’t sound familiar. A group of friends watch a video and are then killed off by a mysterious entity. Go on, I’ll wait. And as for the title character himself. Is he scary? Not in the least. Between showing too much of him, the awful CGI, and extremely muddled intentions, all scare factor is taken from this character. I’m starting to think people forgot what made Slender Man so creepy to begin with. I will at least give a shout out to the performances and direction. Both are competent enough and don’t make the film a total train wreck. I’ve sat through many a crappy horror movie. It comes with the territory of being a huge horror buff and being willing to watch anything. I was genuinely excited when I first heard they were making a Slender Man movie. And then the trailer dropped. But I held out hope that maybe this would still be good. Unfortunately, I was wrong. This movie takes everything once scary about the character and, instead, makes him boring and generic. If you’re curious about the internet legend that is Slender Man, just check out the Creepypasta instead. |