Setting aside the tastelessness of centring a teenage horror film around an internet meme primarily associated with a real-life teenager-on-teenager stabbing, (as explored in the 2016 documentary Beware The Slenderman), this highly derivative would-be franchise-starter fails to distinguish itself in any significant way.
The fictional Slender Man film follows four
sassy teenage girlfriends who dare themselves into watching a creepy internet video that supposedly brings forth the titular spectre, a tall, faceless figure with the silhouette of a man-sized matchstick. According to the lore of the film, if you see him, you're a goner.
After one of the girls goes missing, the other three begin to suspect their Friday night lark may have drastic implications for them all.
From The Ring-evoking, generically creepy internet video onwards, a strong sense of boredom-inducing familiarity permeates Slender Man despite its best efforts to texture the central characters' friendships and infuse relevance via a clumsy emphasis on social media and cellphone culture.
The main set-pieces have the girls being individually tormented by horrific visions comprised of cheap-looking CGI, buffered by a bevy of ineffective jump scares. Although the colour palette on display here was no doubt employed to emphasise a shadowy atmosphere, the film is underlit to the point of obfuscation.
