SLENDERMAN (2018)

[indianasmith]

   I first heard of Slendy on this forum, probably 10 years ago or close to it.  The post directed me to the Marble Hornets video series, one of the early entries in the Slenderman mythos.  From the start the character hooked me in - the creepy photoshopped images on the net, the hokey found-footage YouTube series (which I never did finish, I gave up after Episode 60 or so).  Then a couple of years ago someone made ALWAYS WATCHING - A MARBLE HORNETS STORY, which was a better done movie but still not a high grade production.  But Slenderman himself captured my imagination - the tall, spare frame, the extra limbs, the blank void where a face should be.

So this movie came out last spring, during my busiest time of year.  Of course my daughters went to see it and I didn't, and Rachel got called in to work early and they missed the last 30 minutes.  Both of them roundly complained about how bad the movie was, and I found myself glad I didn't watch it.  But tonight I thought, OK, Halloween, it's an obligatory horror film night.  And what should pop up in the Redbox but SLENDERMAN?  I rented it, and I am glad I did.  My girls had lowered my expectations enough that I was pleasantly surprised to find it well done, solidly acted, and downright creepy.  You see just enough Slendy to be frightened but not enough to become jaded.  The film has elements of THE RING, JEEPERS CREEPERS, and even BLAIR WITCH PROJECT woven into it; enough to be homages but not ripoffs.  Overall, I enjoyed this one on multiple levels and highly recommend it.

4/5