“Slender Man” is the kind of bad that defies explanation. For those who are not aware, “Slender Man” is an internet horror icon, commonly depicted as a tall man in a suit, with a featureless face, who would lure children into the woods, never to be seen again. He was conceived in 2009 on the then-popular “Something Awful” online forums and gained popularity from the indie video game spin-off “Slender: The Eight Pages.”

Urban myths like these tend to be at their scariest when first discovered, carrying a sense of vague unworldliness until one digs deeper. That is where this movie goes wrong. It reaches a terrible middle ground where viewers know enough about the Slender man to the point where he does not scare anymore, but they also do not learn enough about him to garner any genuine intrigue.

When it is not doing that, the film is constantly following this loop of jump scare scenes with back-to-back shots of simply building up to a “boo” moment without a second to breathe. The worst part of the movie is that many of the scenes do not contribute to the main narrative. Once the first scene is over, the film does not feel the need to build up suspense. Not a single moment of levity or character-building can be found, and that ironically makes the scares very weak.

Many people make fun of older horror films for spending half the movie watching cliché teens acting like jerks to one another. Despite their cliché delivery, however, they were important in building the characters. Someone whose goal and personality are unknown to viewers will not be as engaging as a character who has an arc. This is another ball that “Slender Man” drops because the four leads do not have a single character trait between them, making them all seem like the same person, with the only sight of their names being in the opening credits. Audiences probably assume any scenes telling their names must have been moved out of the way for more jump scares.

Whenever the “Slender Man” takes center stage, he does not look quite right. His head is wrinkly like it is made of paper-mache, and his tentacles look fake. The whole film has terrible effects overall. There is one scene where the effects used were so silly-looking and awkwardly paired up with the goofiest looking screams of terror that the entire theater began laughing.

Thankfully these effects are not used too often, and the movie relies on surprisingly good camera work. Strong use of depth of field, dolly shots and close-ups help give the film a professional vibe. The only complaint toward the camera work is that the subject matter of the Slender Man is the kind of thing begging to be paused and combed through, searching for Slender Man in the background. However, the aforementioned close-ups rarely allow this to happen.

To those who are still interested in the “Slender Man,” look to the spine-chilling stories on the web, the “Marble Hornets” YouTube series, or the countless fan video games. They provide a creepier and more immersive version of the myth than the movie has to offer.

1.5 out of 5 stars

Image from Sony Pictures Entertainment via YouTube.com