Review Draft - Nick

With many recent video game adaptions that we have had to endure in recent times, we have now fully learnt the lesson that special effect junk piles such as most video game adaptations, belong in the box office rubbish bin. That is of course thanks to big name movie distributors and the big budgets that come provided. However it’s not often that a videogame movie is penned by an indie company; perhaps it’s this that may yet prove there is a light at the end of that 32bit tunnel for video game movies.

From the ashes of video game movies comes Slender, a narrative of 3 friends who venture into the forest to disprove the existence of the internet phenomenon aptly named “Slender-man”, a disturbing figure, who according to internet myth, is believed to be a tall, thin poltergeist in a suit who steals unwanted visitors in the dead of night. A simple premise for a short film, and yet executed in a way in which is least expected.

With many throwbacks and obvious references to the ever popular “Slender the Eight Pages” you can see that the directors and writers have taken time to study the source material, and it shows in thisLuckily for Slender, the references aren’t forced down your throat. Subtle references here and there creatively add to the atmosphere of the film.

Like most independent films, the cast and crew are relatively unknown. This is the first Time for Director Andrew Peters, and for first impressions we are intrigued to see more from his imagination. Most scenes are shot in a way that creates a sense of Isolation which at times can be genuinely scary, which of course does not come around too often in horror movies either for that matter.

In addition to a first time director we have first time actors also. Max Hilbourne’s role as the ironicallynamed “Max” is an interesting one at best. Hilbourne brings a presence to him against the other supporting actors, however the more isolated scenes can become at best times subpar to that of how he acted in a group. Perhaps the ironic thing is that his acting shines when accompanied with other actors.

Overall all for The Little Company’s First film outing, they’ve officially set the bar a few inches higher than it has been for the past decade. Perhaps this is the direction that more adaptions should follow for the future, less effects, more stories; and if this is the vision of future video game adaptions to come, then perhaps there’s a little hope for hard-core gamers at the theatres. NICK BANNISTER