“Slender Man” Movie Review

    So I assume that most of the people reading this movie review are probably aware of Slender Man.  For those unaware, Slender Man was a popular creepypasta about a creature resembling a man who lures children to him and they disappear afterwards.  The “legend” of Slender Man also creeped it’s way into real life when two young girls from Wisconsin stabbed a classmate of theirs and claimed it was on behalf of Slender Man.  The film isn’t about the real life event (thankfully) and instead focuses on the elements from the creepypasta story.

    Upon it’s release, the movie “Slender Man” was met with horrible reviews.  I know that movies like this often don’t get a fair shake from mainstream critics so I thought perhaps I might see something redeeming in this film that other critics could not.  Not only was the story of Slender Man a popular creepypasta, but it was also a successful video game.

    The movie “Slender Man” focuses on a group of young teenage girls who watch an online video which summons Slender Man and the girls soon find themselves trying their best to escape the clutches of Slender Man.

    The movie is far from a masterpiece but not the worst movie I have seen either.  While this might not sound like much of a compliment (and it isn’t), I think the critics were a bit harsh on the film.  While many aspects of the film failed, there were things that worked.  The film sets a good atmosphere and the design of Slender Man essentially sticks to the design created in the creepypasta.  Joey King was very good with the little she was given as well.

    Now for what I didn’t like about the movie.  I thought the pacing was off and caused the film to drag a lot.  I wish the editing was a little more focused as well.  Things just kind of quickly cut from frame to frame a bit jarringly.  On that note, it also appears as if several scenes were cut from the film for some reason because many scenes from the trailer were absent from the film.

    The makeup and computer animated images were not particularly well done but were passable.  The worst aspect of the movie is that it is boring.  You see a movie for escapism and this movie doesn’t help someone escape their 9-5 life.  It might have helped the film if it had a killer ending but the film really didn’t even have a bad ending, it essentially had a non ending which is a cardinal sin with me.

    So, “Slender Man” basically feels like what should have been a five minute short film stretched out way too long to make feature film length.  It is a bland film and ultimately not worth it’s running time.

Grade: D