The Slender Man is a 2014 psychological horror film produced by Lions Gate Entertainment and starring John Lithgow as the titular Slender Man. The film incorporates many aspects of the Slender Man mythos, including content from the Something Awful forums, various CreepyPasta stories, the Slender video games, and the Marble Hornets series.
Plot[]
The film takes place in two time periods: the present and the past. Psychiatrist Scott Swiger is an interviewing a deranged man: John Cedillo. As John relates his story of the Slender Man to Dr. Swiger, John becomes more and more insane as the days go by.
In the past, John was out in the woods with a group of friends, including girlfriend Rebecca Henson, best friend Paul Hamby, crew members Daniel and Sheila, and actors Cynthia Morrow and Clayton Hyman. A group of filmmakers, John is hoping to make a fantastic movie and win an award for best film at their college. However, the filmmaking does not go unplanned, due to uncoorperative actors, faulty and missing equipment, and the increasing anger of director John. One night after filming, John sees a mysterious, tall man in a black buisness suit and a plain white face with no features, and runs after him. John's camera is suddenly overcome by static, and once the static is finished, discovers a paper that says "GET OUT!" John hides this paper from the crew, as John continues to become more and more enraged at the slowness of production. A couple of nights later, John has another encounter with the man, and discovers another paper: "DON'T LOOK OR IT TAKES YOU." John decides to reveal the papers to Rebecca, and takes them lightly, telling John that it's probably a prank. John insists that Rebecca stay up with him, which she does for several nights with no sight of that mysterious man. After these nights and John constantly getting angrier and angrier by the day, Rebecca decides to bring it up with the rest of the crew. The crew all agrees that it is time to scrap production, as they worry about John's mental health. John does not want to leave, and begs the crew to hear him out. He strikes a deal with them: they stay in the woods for two more nights, and if there is no sight of the man, they would leave. They agree, and though the first night is uneventful, the second night turns into a nightmare. The man makes his appearance, and the crew gets split up. Actors Cynthia and Clayton are pursued by the man first, and are stabbed by his monstrous tentacles that sprouted from his back. Next, the man teleports to the camera operators Daniel and Sheila, and as they try to get the man on camera, it's no good as the cameras turn to a static image, and Daniel and Sheila are sucked towards the man and their fate is unknown, but it is assumed they were killed. Rebecca and Paul suddenly notice that John disappeared from their sight. Paul urges Rebecca to head to the car and drive far away from here, as he goes to find John. Rebecca does not want to leave without her friends though, and goes with Paul. They witness John confronting the man, and as John turns around, he has a smile on his face, and lunges towards Paul and Rebecca with a knife, stabbing them repeatedly.
After John finishes his story, Dr. Swiger's diagnosis is "uncurable insanity." John is last seen in his cell, banging on the metal door, begging for the doctor to believe him. Dr. Swiger returns to his office, with a grim look on his face. He pulls out from his desk drawer, a picture. It is black & white, given to him a long time ago by another patient. The picture contains a black-suited, tall, white-faced man among a group of kids, and it is labeled "The Slender Man."
Cast[]
- John Lithgow as The Slender Man
- Hugh Laurie as John Cedillo
- Angelina Jolie as Rebecca Henson
- Ian Somerhalder as Paul Hamby
- Brad Pitt as Dr. Scott Swiger
- Simon Baker as Daniel
- Daniel Radcliffe as Clayton Hyman
- Kate Beckinsale as Sheila
- Zooey Deschanel as Cynthia Morrow
Trivia[]
- The Slender Man runs glitches across the screen, after the finale credits -- He's still hungry and yawned, and searching for back doors.