Slender Man is a 2018 American supernatural horror film directed by Sylvain White and written by David Birke, based on the character of the same name. The film stars Joey King, Julia Goldani Telles, Jaz Sinclair, and Annalise Basso, with Javier Botet as the title creature. Slender Man was released in the United States on August 10, 2018, by Screen Gems, grossed over $51 million worldwide and received a largely negative reception from critics and audiences alike.
It’s no wonder that the movie had mostly negative reviews. This is one lazy movie in terms of moving the story along and scares. Also, teens – ugh! High school teens are usually the worst lot you can have for a horror film. But I still held out some hope. It was not to be!
Small town, 4 close teenaged girls at the high school who have stupid dialogues and cliched stuff. The four friends, Wren, Hallie, Chloe and Katie summon the Slender Man. A week later, Katie disappears and the other three girls go to her house to investigate for clues. The three discover that Katie had been involved in the occult and that she wanted the Slender Man to take her. Abusive alcoholic father and all – he even threatens Hallie and her younger sister Lizzie trying to find out where his daughter was. He is quickly hauled away by the cops.
The three girls decide to make contact with the Slender Man in an attempt to get Katie back in exchange for something else. Wren, who has researched Slender Man mythology, warns Hallie and Chloe not to open their eyes while the three are making contact with the Slender Man for fear of death or madness. Chloe panics, opens her eyes and comes face to face with the Slender Man. Sometime later, the Slender Man enters Chloe’s house and drives her insane. A short while later, Lizzie, Hallie’s younger sister, suffers a major panic attack and is sent to the hospital and sedated. Hallie discovers Wren had attempted to come into contact with the Slender Man again, with the help of Lizzie.
Hallie confronts Wren about her sister. Wren tells Hallie that the Slender Man only wants them before she is taken by the Slender Man. Hallie, realizing that the only way to save Lizzie is to give herself to the Slender Man, sacrifices herself for her sister. Lizzie is able to recover and reflects on the situation that resulted in the death of her sister and her sister’s friends.
There’s these weird scenes, scare tactics that don’t work on us and some real bad acting by a couple of the lead girls. Otherwise, it’s dull, predictable and boring. I was on my phone a lot. 5 outta 10! And that is generous.