zddgame
/
Gaming News
/
Slender Man Review: A 90-Minute Horror Montage
Slender Man Review: A 90-Minute Horror Montage-October 2024
Oct 31, 2024 3:22 PM

  In a weird way, horror meme and internet urban legend Slender Man seems like one of the world's easiest genre movie pulls. After his 2009 "debut" on the SomethingAwful forums, he's garnered a pretty active, albeit niche, fanbase of internet residents who like their spooky photoshops and creepypasta stories on message boards and wikis. The premise itself is simple, too: A tall, faceless guy with a bunch of arms (sometimes) or tentacles (other times) who may or may not abduct children and who can "infect" people who think about him too hard. It's easy stuff, really, and low hanging fruit for anyone looking for a quick and easy monster movie.

  However, despite the obviousness of the premise, it's taken nearly a decade for Slender Man to make the jump to the big screen with the eponymously named Slender Man, directed by Sylvain White (Stomp The Yard)--but it turns out the internet's favorite monster should have kept the home field advantage and stayed online.

  You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.

  Click To Unmute

  Thompson: The Pop Culture Icon’s Strange Legacy - Loadout

  Firearms Expert’s FAVORITE Weapons Of 2023State Of Gaming Handhelds In 2023How Lies of P Cracked the Souls GenreLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Ichiban Kasuga Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Chitose Fujinomiya Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Saeko Mukoda Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Eric Tomizawa Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Kazuma Kiryu Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Seonhee Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Koichi Adachi Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Yu Nanba Character Spotlight Trailer

  Share

  LinkEmbed

  Size:640 × 360480 × 270

  Start at: End at: Autoplay Loop

  Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?

  Sign up or Sign in now!

  Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.

  This video has an invalid file format.

  00:00:00

  HTML5

  Auto HD High Low

  Report a problem

  Sorry, but you can't access this content!

  

Please enter your date of birth to view this video
JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031Year2023202220212020201920182017201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987198619851984198319821981198019791978197719761975197419731972197119701969196819671966196519641963196219611960195919581957195619551954195319521951195019491948194719461945194419431942194119401939193819371936193519341933193219311930192919281927192619251924192319221921192019191918191719161915191419131912191119101909190819071906190519041903190219011900

  By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's

  Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

  enter

  Now Playing: Slender Man - Official Trailer #2

  Slender Man follows a cluster of teenage girls in a sleepy town trying to navigate their unremarkable high school lives while planning their escape to the very grass-is-greener world beyond graduation. There's Wren (Joey King), the consummate "bad girl" who has a vague interest in the occult and a prickly attitude; Hallie (Julia Goldani Telles), the track-and-field all star; Chloe (Jaz Sinclair), who is squarely in the "normal" category; and Katie (Annalisse Basso), who dreams of running away from her alcoholic dad. Their hobbies seem to be sneaking alcohol and bumming around in Katie's basement while her dad drinks himself into a stupor upstairs. They do some authentically teenage stuff together like watching weird videos online and trying to gross each other out--you know, the usual.

  However, one night their routine is interrupted by a rumor. There's this video they've heard about, and supposedly, some of the boys at school are planning on watching it. If you watch it, you'll summon Slender Man to come and haunt you. If this is starting to sound a bit too much like The Ring, don't worry, it gets worse. Of course, the girls watch the video--a hacked together bunch of unsettling clips of random, eerie images--and then shortly after begin suffering its effects. Spoiler alert: The rumors were true, and now Slender Man is after them. This is a horror movie after all.

  Things promptly start going off the rails from there. The Slender Man mythology as told by the internet is full of random, contradictory bits and pieces--the nature of an urban legend that's been built by committee--and you can absolutely feel the movie trying to wrestle with the myriad pieces of the puzzle while simultaneously attempting to put its own spin on the story. It's an admirable effort at times--there are some genuinely cool moments of tension where the girls try to initiate contact with Slender Man in the woods, or go online to start searching for help--but those ideas never really come to fruition.

  What's left is a blurry and unfocused mess of seemingly random ideas. As the movie really starts to pick up and the girls start going missing, Wren becomes obsessed with energy fields (?) and the effect electromagnetic waves can have on a person's brain (??). Hallie starts hallucinating images that look like they were pulled from a roulette wheel of stereotypical horror tropes: really long hair, pregnant bellies, people without faces, endless hospital hallways--you name it. Slow motion and montage become less spooky and more obnoxious as the surreality of the situation gets kicked up to 11--dreams start overlapping with reality, images from the tape start popping up randomly, people start going crazy. There isn't much of a plot--the girls are terrorized, they try to fix things--and the rules are never clear. What does Slender Man want? No one knows. What does he do with people? Great question. What are his powers? We can't be sure. What's the deal with the video and why does it matter? Your guess is as good as mine.

  That said: the movie does manage to wrangle a handful of semi-interesting scares. When it wants to, it pulls back on the throttle a bit and lets the ominous foreboding fear of being followed really work its magic. More than once, one of the girls sees visions of the Slender Man in broad daylight. There's a trick with shadows and one with smartphones that really does manage to evoke some genuine terror, if only briefly.

  At the end of the day, Slender Man isn't unwatchable, but there are better ways to seek out your cheap, internet-based thrills. In fact, if Slender Man is really your jam, you might be better off sitting down to watch one of the many free YouTube found footage series he's inspired--they'll do better to scratch that itch and probably provide more genuine scares per second than this 90-minute montage.

  

The GoodThe Bad
A horror movie where the teens look and act like teensCluttered and confusing
A handful of well done daylight horror momentsNo real rules and no explanation for the monster
Unobtrusive 90 minute runtimeAborted plot threads
Way too many obvious horror cliches

Comments
Welcome to zddgame comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Copyright 2023-2024 - www.zddgame.com All Rights Reserved