At first I thought she was mistaken. A friend mentioned, in a litany of horror films, The Tall Man. I thought she meant The Slender Man. Then I saw an online post that referenced The Tall Man and I grew curious. That curiosity almost cost me my lunch. Not for the reasons you might assume, but because The Tall Man’s one of those movies that seems to think the camera has to be in constant motion. I have an inner ear condition that makes me extremely susceptible to motion sickness. It happens even if I watch train cars passing (which is, indeed, one of the images with which the movie starts). I kept telling myself, give it a few more minutes, maybe they’ll buy a tripod. I’m glad I stayed with it because it was inspired by the Slender Man urban legend. Later, The Slender Man was made into a movie, perhaps inspired by The Tall Man.
Although horror, this probably isn’t what you think. The reason I was glad that I stuck with it is that, although confusing, it has a good message and everything becomes clear at the very end. Director misdirection is very common, of course, but this one worked on me. There’ll be spoilers here—so you’re warned. The common thread behind both Tall and Slender is missing children. Some mythical or folkloristic creature snatches them away. There’s no supernatural in this movie. It revolves around a widowed nurse in a dying town, Cold Rock, Washington. The children are suffering and the nurse wants them to live a better life. Here’s a spoiler—read no further unless you want the ending ruined. I’m serious. The next paragraph will spill the beans!
Her husband isn’t really dead. Working together they kidnap working class children and get them to loving, caring, affluent families. There’s a ton of social commentary in this film. As the nurse explains, the system is broken. Too many children are left to suffer and the only way to break the cycle is to break the rules. The appearance of William B. Davis made me think X-Files, but his role here is a straight-up sheriff. There is no “Tall Man,” just like there is no Slender Man, but legends do take on lives of their own. This isn’t one of my favorite movies, but it is better than I was led to believe. And having a social conscience, while not rare, is always a good thing to see in a horror movie. If only they could keep the camera still.
