By: JWBM
There have been many different incarnations of "Slender Man" from the initial outset of being created on an online forum. What started as a spark of an idea, spawned into a legend for anyone to expand on. Now, it's an actual full length horror experience fleshed out: one that keeps it dark, moody, and mysterious, though something that also feels lacking in scope to get this far.
Four high school aged girls are having a sleep over. You know the drill: there's always gotta be something risky going on, or what you're "not" supposed to do. Why else would sleep overs exist? One thing leads to another and a website is pulled up centered on this tall, lanky silhouette. At first it's something new and daring, but after a little while the strangeness settles in and starts to turn nightmarish when one of them disappears without a trace.
This feels like your standard formulaic horror feature with scares and storytelling boxed in and somewhat lazy from what's been done before. I mean, take "Candyman," for instance, which had layered characters, reasoning, and captivated with a local legend that was genuinely unsettling but also intriguing. Heck, even the video-game-turned-film "Silent Hill" was ambiguous as they come, and only had a rough outline of what was going on, but still set up an interesting, out-there, and demented world to get lost in. This has four girls that are, well, four ordinary girls that remain that. The outside characters are two dimensional, and the interactions start to feel similar but with slightly different variations instead of creating new paths to take you down. It's like they're just biding time till the tall man—who often hides in corners, at the end of hallways, or mixes with branches in the woods—does a sudden "boo!" without you expecting it. There was a particular scene that used a first person Facetime kind of effect where the character was too paralyzed to move, but could only watch as something crept up. It made little sense, but I felt it genuinely worked for the moment to lock you in and throw away the key to a dungeon of possibilities.
To its credit, it does make generous attempts at mood. That's what it set out to do, and that's practically all it did. I mean, I'm all for letting my guard down for a weird or atmospheric ride, but this gets to the point of grazing over certain fundamental interactions and riding off the rails. It tries to put the horse blinders on you, but you can't help but feel this world isn't real and a made up fantasy. The story forces you to believe, instead of giving space for you to believe yourself. Sure, it's dark, and as far as horror features you wouldn't bring it home to your mother, though it's like a weak "The X-Files" episode that didn't make it from lack of greater substance or overall intrigue.
The film keeps it simple to the point of being predictable at almost every turn. The Slender Man, here at least, is essentially a more decorated Boogey Man in different form. He's that dark and mysterious entity that transforms into something abstract depending on who's perspective he's talked about from. It's like he wants to make you squirm, though with no clear or apparent purpose. He's reduced to being a prankster that decided to wing it on punchline. Maybe you'll get a visit, maybe you won't. It seems if you're not visiting shadowy websites or hanging out in the woods, you may not be bothered. Without putting you in their shoes, the fear is reduced and isolated to terrorizing four random teenage girls who had one curious night on the internet. What were their names? Who can remember these things.
Rating: 3.5/10
Director: Sylvain White (I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, The Losers)
Actors: Joey King, Julia Goldani Telles, Jaz Sinclair, Annalise Basso
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link
10 Things Slender Man Really Wants:
10. Tea
9. A nice tie
8. A night light
7. To help with top shelf needs
6. Nail clippers
5. Conscientious recyclers
4. To be able to scream in a library
3. To dominate in some hoops
2. A small companion
1. A face
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