Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story Review · 2:33pm Oct 9th, 2017
Marble Hornets. I only know a little bit about them, but from what I understand they've done quite a good job of creating short videos that involve one of the greatest creepypasta characters made: Slenderman.
You all know who he is, well dressed man with no face, if you even so much as look at him, you're screwed. Kind of like with banshees, but in this case reflecting on eyes. If you're a blind man, I think you might be safe from Slender since you can't see him. Where as with banshees, I think you'll be safe if you're deaf since if they scream that means someone is going to die. Or not safe, I don't know for sure.
But I found this movie over in a Walmart and I figured I'd take a look, I want to see a good Slenderman movie. And sadly... this might be the best we'll get. But for what it has, its actually... okay. Lets dive into, Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story.
So the movie centers around this news team who come across this very particularly interesting story. They come across a house that while looks completely okay on the inside like the owners are, the owners are nowhere to be seen. Several missed calls, lights still on, and even fresh cookies left on a plate. But as they investigate some more, they find this peculiar symbol down in their basement with a circle with an X over it, along with a bunch of cassette tapes. But as they continue to watch these tapes, they suddenly realize what they have uncovered has a dreaded curse. The same entity that stalked the family who departed their house has now returned...
First thing I must say is, this is a found footage style movie which I'm sure annoys a lot of people. But surprisingly in this case, I have no problem with it. Yes, it still suffers from the found footage cliches, but its actually okay in this case. The web series has been done through recording through someone's camera, and even the Slenderman games have you going as a person looking through someone's camera. So this style makes sense for the movie.
And now time for pros and cons!
Once again, found footage style is actually okay for this movie since its based off of a series that has used that style.
Another thing I'll give credit is a bit of the Slenderman himself. He actually does feel a bit like the real Slenderman at times, appearing and reappearing on camera and the static tone like he always does comes into play.
Also I have to admit, I like the buildup to this guy. If not for this one problem, which I'll get to later. But the buildup is actually very interesting. We aren't told what he is, we're only shown a little bit of some clues and we get a few hints of what has happened at the start. We get to see the abandoned house, we see the basement, and we see a bit of the tapes that have Slender on them which actually makes the buildup to Slender more interesting.
And I have to say, I like the family that we first meet who deals with the Slenderman. To their credit, they actually do kind of feel like a real family, and even the little girl does a good job of just playing a little girl. And when you see what happens to them, you actually do feel sad for what happens to them.
But... thats all I got. Now for the sins!
We do have some flaws with the found footage style. Shaky cam galore, constantly and unrealistically filming everything, all of that fun stuff.
And to be honest, our main characters just aren't that interesting. Yeah Milo himself is alright when he's not being a creeper and filming this one girl he likes behind her back, but nothing else aside from he has a dog stands out. Oh and he looks like Shia Labeouf.
But something I have to bring up, the dog. One of the best actors in the movie, but... if you know horror movies, animals don't mix. I hate it when animals are brought into these movies because something bad always happens to them. I barely faze when some humans are killed but the minute you bring a dog or a cat into it, I lose it.
Very first scene. A couple, I assume they're a couple, are fleeing in terror from the Slenderman. That's a terrible way to start off the movie, I can understand if maybe this could have been a prequel thing going on, but there is no prequel, but as far as this movie goes, they're giving away the entity early on. Now I understand everyone probably already knows the entity but come on! You were doing so good with the buildup and the visuals, and then you did this! Way to ruin the monster early on guys.
Death. Bad enough when the only likable characters are killed which is the family, but it relieves you by killing the people who should never have tampered with those tapes in the first place and left them alone. Maybe if they did, none of them would be dead now would they? They really need to leave a note on those tapes that says 'Do not watch or you will die.'
That's about it. If you like a good Slenderman movie, this is probably the best you'll get. But as for an average movie goer, this is more of an average film. The special effects are alright, Slenderman himself is a little creepy at times, but for the most part there's nothing that memorable about this movie. Its not a complete waste of your time though, it does keep you interested in wanting to know what happens and the family is likable enough.
I give this movie, a 5 out of 10.
That's it for this review, thanks for the read, and lets continue our adventure through Halloween!
