The Man in the White Van

As a florida native,I hadn't heard of this movie or the plot line until recently. Very interesting! I'm not sure how I missed Skai Jackson being in this film as I remember watching her in the Disney Channel days. Read what the film is about and definitely give it a watch....

Without giving spoilers for the film. You could say The Man in the White Van story builds suspense and the performances and the mix of true events and fiction intrest me the most. I would recommend going ahead and taking a gamble and giving this film a chance . It's definitely one to consider if you're into suspenseful dramas....

Expectations were low going into this film, after all the below average reviews online.

They needn't have been

For me, one of the more realistic films in the horror genre. Yes, some lingering scenic shots were a bit much, not every character had its arc completed, and the time jumps showing previous victims felt like they could have been worked in a bit better.

But the film, as based on true events, doesn't go to a place with insane twists and turns and wild jump scares. Instead it builds to a climax that feels real and as if you were in the protagonists POV and the ending is satisfying, which a lot of horror films fail to accomplish.

You're really rooting for the lead girl and feel for her.

If you're expecting a dramatic twist where they unmask the baddie and you want a "it was X all along!" then maybe give this a miss.

Cracking soundtrack too, both with the 70s music and the original compositions.

Would recommend :)

There is a book about these homicides that is more detailed than the movie. The movie was good but I enjoyed the book about the Mansfield homicides more. There's a book called "When Angels Weep: The Weeki Wachee Homicides" by WR Langston on Amazon that got into more specifics. I highly recommend the book for a better backstory and detail. The movie runtime wasn't too long and I would still recommend it to watch, but probably more as something to stream at home, not see in theaters. People local to the area are more familiar with what actually happened to Billy Mansfield since he was arrested recently, but the movie left it very open ended.

Simply put this is a very bad film. Boring story, zero character development, cheap look. There is absolutely nothing about this that feels 70s - it was clearly shot on a lousy digital camera, and the actors couldn't be more gen z. There's really no plot- it's literally the title. There's a man in a white van apparently. He drives around abducting characters we don't know or care about. Not sure what the "real story is" behind the meandering script, but it's bound to be more interesting than this movie. I feel like two stars is more than generous, but i guess sean astin being in it is cool (?)

The Man in the White Van is a Legion M production. For those who don't know, Legion M is a movie production company funded by fans - i.e., people like you or me. I bought into Legion M back during its first round of investments and have participated in multiple rounds since then. So it was cool to watch this film, knowing that my involvement helped make it possible (though to a small degree, of course). This is the third Legion M production I've seen, and it's loosely based on a real-life serial killer in Florida (from the mid/late 70s to the early 80s), but the story here is entirely fictional. It revolved around a character named Annie who is known for exaggerating and having a big imagination. So when she starts to notice a mysterious white van in the area doing things that creep her out, no one seems to believe her. What ends up happening feels like something out of the movie Halloween, with Annie being systematically stalked and terrorized by the mysterious man in the white van. The film does show flashbacks of the man's previous victims, but the main focus of this story is on Annie and her family. While there were multiple nitpicks I had about the film (most occur during the climactic showdown between Annie and The Man), it was still enjoyable enough that even though I had already screened it at home, I wanted to go see it again when it came to theaters, so my son and I went to see it last night (December 15th). The nitpicks remain, but it's still an enjoyable enough way to spend an hour and a half. Madison Wolfe is a good actor; I've liked her ever since being impressed by her performance in The Conjuring 2. Recommended. Video review is available on my YouTube channel.