Released last week, the horror film Slender Man was received with abysmal reviews. But does it deserve such negativity?
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Yes, yes it does.
When a film about teenagers being afraid of Slender Man taking them away is not only so comical, this reviewer had a good chuckle at the poor dialogue, writing and ‘scares’. It made you wish Slender Man would actually take you away so this reviewer could stop watching.
At only 93 minutes long, this film felt like a solid three hours. Not only was this because of bland characters and stale dialogue, the portrayal of the mythical urban legend relied solely on CGI rather than an eerie atmosphere, lighting and Foley sound.
The film needed to have a building escalation of tension and suspense. It would have been much better than the few sequences of CGI ridiculousness and so, so many quick cuts the audience actually got.
The trick to constructing a good horror film is to have either likeable protagonists, or an interesting villain. In this way, the audience either supports the endeavours of the characters and wants to see them overcome the supernatural hardship they are faced with because they relate and identify with the teens, or barrack to see an interesting, cool creature wreak havoc.
Instead, this film presents a slow teen drama with such abhorrent attempts at horror that the audience can’t help but laugh.
From the opening few lines of dialogue, the film was poorly written. This reviewer did find some sequences to be very funny in the poor execution of lines and supernatural spookiness, but the rest of the movie is so boring it cannot even be fully recommended as a ‘so bad it’s good’ film.
It’s not to say that the film won’t be scary or frightening to all audiences, as fear is purely subjective. However, it is doubtful this will prove to be anything more than dull for the average viewer.
For those who may not typically find horror films scary, it is worth appreciating the genre and investment in interesting narratives and good acting.
Slender Man falls short in all these aspects.
If you’re really into terrible movies, you may find some good laughs. And if you scare easily, well you might have a very fearful time.
But for anyone looking for an interesting horror movie or even a fun one, as horror films can be so much fun – think Nightmare on Elm Street – ignore Slender Man completely.
MOVIE SCORE: 3/10 Torpedoes
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