User reviews

Tall Man has come in for a fait of criticism from people expecting one thing and getting another. If you've seen (Director) Pascal Laugier's previous film 'Martyrs' then you may be a little more prepared for a film that deliberately leads you in one direction, only to almost switch genres midway through and go off in a totally different direction.

Tall Man is about a woman (Jessica Biel) whose child goes missing in a town where this sort of kidnapping is commonplace and put down to the legend of the 'Tall Man' - a shadowy figure who steals children. From there, she has to unravel the mystery behind the kidnappings.

Most people (including me) expected a straight horror film. What it turns out to be is more than that. Perhaps 'thriller' would describe it better. Everyone turns in a solid performance and, if you're in the mood for something a little different, with a few twists and turns, then you could do worse than this.

Just know that this isn't simply your average 'horror.'

I don't understand the negative reviews (rating 1 or 2) - this movie got fine acting, pro production and a fine twist + a thought provoking idea/story.

Best if you watch this one without reading too many reviews - I watched this one without knowing anything about the movie but Jessica Biel was involved and didn't see the end or resolution of the movie coming. Read the synopsis and if it sounds interesting to you - watch.

First of all my wife wasn't a big fan of this movie. Not enough explanations for her and I get that but all in all I thought The Tall Man was original as a story. This story has never been told before and for that it gets some credit from me. It's nicely filmed with enough dark passages, twists and intrigues to keep you interested. It's not a horror movie though. A thriller yes but certainly not a horror movie. The cast is good with good performances, nothing bad to say about them. I liked the fact that I thought I figured it out completely but that at the end I was completely wrong. I like movies that can surprise me. Nothing more boring then a movie where you know exactly what's going to happen next. And that's not the case with The Tall Man at all.

The Tall Man – CATCH IT (B-) The Tall Man is a very interesting movie about an an isolated, slowly dying mining town, children are vanishing without a trace - abducted, the townsfolk whisper, by a mysterious entity known locally as "The Tall Man." Town nurse Julia Denning (Jessica Biel) seems skeptical...until her young David disappears in the middle of night. Frantic to rescue the boy, Julia lives every parent's darkest nightmare in this twisting, shock-around-each-corner thriller. The First half of the movie is really enjoyable as it's a complete thriller about a town, a woman, missing children and tall man. But once the shocking revelation was made after 50mints the movie becomes more of a social message than a thriller till the end. This doesn't goes in favor of the movie because maybe it's the biggest cover up in the town we still want some chilling running from the evil. Jessica Beil is great and perfect for her role but the twist they have in the movie only works if the woman is as strong as Jessica Beil. On the whole, it's a good thriller in first half and an okay movie in the second part.

Indescribable, other than to say there are so many twists and surprises there is no way to guess what's next...or how it ends. And this movie has plenty of depth that allows for interpretation. Definitely not a one trick pony!

The movie started slow, and I was bored for the first 15 minutes, but I hung in there and so glad I did. It's a really good movie! The acting is terrific. The characters are complex, each conveying some "good" and some "bad" as well as some mystery. The plot is complicated but eventually everything comes together. What you thought you knew, you eventually realize was far off base.

The constant twists are very effective at moving the storyline along at a pretty fast pace (I.e., you don't want to miss scenes or you will not get the full impact). Everything gets explained, but you have to pay attention to every scene.

Kudos to the writers and producers for tying up the storyline in a neat bow. So many other movies leave lose ends all over the place and fall short on the logic/explanation, but not this one. Stick with it until the end and you will be happy that you did!

Not a perfect movie, but far better than average and definitely worth a watch. It's a really good example of what lesser films "should" mirror to be better.

This is an absolute gem of a crime thriller. I was a little surprised at first when I watched it because the trailers made it out to seem like a horror movie but nevertheless it was really good. It didn't feel "done before" at all and kept you guessing as to what would happen next. Right in the middle you have this massive OMG didn't see that coming moment and it changes the whole overtone. Sure there were a couple of small flaws but what do you expect from a low budget movie. It didn't need expensive tricks and effects as it instead relied on a strong story and talented cast. Speaking of which, Jessica Biel is such an underrated actress as she does a fantastic job in this movie. She is incredibly believable in the role and really immerses herself in the character.

So ignore all the haters on this one as it has so much to offer. By the end you will realise that this movie is so much more than its synopsis and I promise that you will really enjoy it.

The basic premise of 'The Tall Man' is that some neckbeard is going around abducting children from the town of Cold Rock, a town full of belligerent arseholes. Immediately I thought that this was some generic slasher film but it turned out to be so much more. There are many twists and turns, though sometimes they can be incoherent and it took me a short while to figure out what was actually happening. Don't watch this if you're drunk.

Jessica Biel is the star of the show playing a nurse who I think from what I gathered has lived in the town for a while with her son. Biel is fantastic in this film and I think that she deserves a lot of credit as she really lifts the quality. Without her this film would have been savaged by the critics. It's that type of film. I'd recommend it as Wednesday night entertainment, but the main problem is that it just fades into the background which is unfortunate. In summary, if you have a couple of hours, kick back and enjoy.

This is a well conceived, well directed and well acted film. The atmosphere throughout is very ominous and the twisting plot keeps us questioning both what is happening, and what our feelings about the unfolding events are.

It is, in my mind, quite similar to Martyrs, the writer/director's previous film, in that they both have sophisticated concepts behind them that we don't often find in horror. That's not to say, however, that all fans of Martyrs will enjoy this. Martyrs' disturbing content was relevant to the overall concept of the film. This film has an interesting concept but doesn't require the 'shock' to make it's point. So, if you are hoping for something really disturbing, a 'Martyrs 2' if you will, you will probably be disappointed. If however, you want something fresh that makes you question and think, then you should get something out of this.

I can't say that this is as good as Martyrs, but very few horror films are. It is however, a lot better than many seem to think and it's low rating seems to suggest. This film is an interesting next step for the writer/director. It feels like his movie, it just doesn't leave you feeling mentally scarred at the end, which is fine by me.

This movie is barely worth reviewing given how terrible the script, acting and directing is, but what's given me the urge to do so is the narrow-minded and pathetic concept that is revealed at the end of the film.

For those looking for the next "Martyrs", beware. You may be fooled by the first act of the film, and indeed when the first twist is revealed going into the second, but the story soon looses itself in a tangle of ambiguity and plods along in an attempt to land on its feet and make a pseudo-sociological point. A point which reveals Pascal Laugier's narrow perspective on society and reveals him to be a callow and clumsy writer.

Certainly one of the worst endings I've ever seen, and not just because it disappoints on a narrative level, but also because it ends on such an idiotic and banal question.

The first half of this movie is a simple but good horror with a good action climax of a mother Jessica Biel trying to catch a kidnapper. Then something happens and all the first half needs to be re-examined. I won't spoil the twist. Needless to say, I didn't know anything ahead of time and all possible explanations are opened when it happened. I'm sure many people will have a good argument about its morality. I'm not going to do that as much as it's an usual twist that caught me completely by surprise. Definitely a should see, but don't read too far ahead. Let it unfold. It's not so simple. Sometimes a movie can do more than paint by numbers.

However, this time people don't dread watching his movie, unlike with Martyrs, his grand opus that will live in infamy forever for being excessively brutal, gory and bleek, which isn't a bad thing in the context of Martyrs.

The Tall Man starts out bleek, goes down a familiar road, checks all boxes for a supposed horror/drama/thriller, but just when you think you know where it's going, Laugier, like most of the New French Extremity director-auteurs, pulls out the rug from under you and feeds you a heavy dose of somber reality and expands on his initial storyline with a genuine message that can't be easily dismissed.

Without wanting to spoil anything, The Tall Man is not a classic horror movie, it's about real life and what it takes for each person to fight for the weakest among us. Jessica Biel's performance elevates this crime drama into a actual, believable scenario. Pascal Laugier is a must for movie buffs.

I thought this was a great film. There were so many twists that it kept me engrossed from beginning to end.

I had read the other reviews so I realised it was not a horror (and it's not)it is more of a psychological thriller, but since I personally prefer suspense type films anyway it was a plus for me! The acting was superb, the characters all believable and as the twists kept coming it just got better and better.

If you want to see a good, entertaining thriller with lots of suspense then this is definitely one for you. If you want blood and lots of gore then don't bother.

As for me, I loved it.

Fun movie to watch. Very unpredictable first half. However just past mid way if you're good at picking up clues you'll know the ending way far in advance.

Before properly expressing whether or not I even liked the movie, I just want to state that watching "The Tall Man" is like ordering a plate of spaghetti with French fries at a restaurant. Or a cocktail with rum and cold beer in a bar. It's mixing two things that are practically impossible to mix. You start watching an eerie small-town-with-a-sinister-secret type of thriller and, suddenly, you find yourself gazing at some kind of sentimental melodrama. You know; the type of made-for-TV feminist dramas loosely based on true stories and starring washed up sitcom actresses. Many die-hard defenders of the film will promptly claim that "The Tall Man" is not a horror movie and never pretends to be one, but I dissent. With plot elements, themes and scenery like these, and without reading any reviews prior to watching the film, you expect a horror movie or at least a very dark and sinister thriller. It just doesn't feel natural, and my initial reaction – being an avid horror fanatic - was disapproval, but luckily I allowed myself some time for the film to sink in. I still think it's a very peculiar and somewhat bizarre choice writer/director Pascal Laugier made, but now I realize it's also a highly original, courageous and ambitious choice. Without spoiling too much, "The Tall Man" seeks for rational explanations instead of supernatural ones and doesn't avoid inserting genuine emotions. Also, in spite of the horrific themes, the film only stars human beings instead of monsters. The little town of Cold Rock, Washington is – like the youthful female narrator aptly states – dead… Practically the entire population worked at the local mine, but ever since it shut down six years ago, the town pauperized completely. The male population now wastes its time drinking in the diner or impregnating the teenage daughters of their girlfriends. The sole thing that still puts Cold Rock on the map is the unusually high amount of missing children. No less than 18 children in a few years time have vanished without a trace, and – based on just a few vague and unreliable testimonies - the petrified townsfolk baptized their child snatcher The Tall Man. The sole authority figure who persistently investigates the strange occurrences is Lieutenant Dodd. Young widow and town nurse Julia Denning wakes up one night and witnesses the Tall Man abducting 4-year-old David. She instinctively pursues dark shape and the truth about the kidnappings slowly gets revealed. French director Pascal Laugier (who made the brilliant "Martyrs") treats us to a phenomenal first half, with a thoroughly creepy atmosphere and a wonderful use of the clichéd small-town setting, including its eccentric locals and forsaken places. The second half, and thus all the vital tone shifts and plot twists, is … well … Let's just conclude it is unique! Jessica Biel gives a strong and mature performance and she carries the entire film quite impressively. The only significant supportive roles are for Jodelle Ferland and the über-cool Canadian actor Stephen McHattie, but the latter is sadly underused. I would recommend "The Tall Man", but be open-minded and prepared to think outside the horror-box.

Sometimes it is necessary for trailers to tell a different story. This is necessary to keep viewers guessing while simultaneously preventing plot twists from unraveling too early. THE TALL MAN does this and more, but from start to finish feels like a bizarre and bloated episode of THE X-FILES.

Written and directed by Pascal Laugier, the person who brought us the brutal but phenomenal and mind-boggling MARTYRS, the story here had huge potential. It begins like a horror thriller, just like the trailer seems to suggest. Children from a rural town in Washington are disappearing; never to be found again. Formerly abuzz as a mining colony, Cold Rock is now a poverty stricken town with fewer jobs, increasingly dysfunctional families and minds idle enough to invent an entity no one has seen but frequently refer to as "The Tall Man" – a silhouetted figure responsible for allegedly kidnapping and murdering children. As the town nurse, Jessica Biel plays Julia Denning, a single mother whose son becomes the latest victim of the Tall Man. What follows is a frantic search to find her son even as the plot thickens in mystery before finally revealing the truth behind the children's disappearance.

I found the revelation - albeit intended as the film's double edged twist - has a rather lukewarm feel to it as I was trying to figure out the who, what and when of the mystery. This is not to say that the story is confusing, but it is clear there are various other ploys at play that are meant to keep viewers guessing. Adversely, some viewers may not even know when the film approaches its pinnacle because the transition from horror-thriller to drama-mystery is almost seamless, and not in a good way. There are a few sub-plots that help you dwell into the mystery, but others are just fundamentally weak and sometimes even contradicting. Instead, these feel like fillers before 'the main event'. Before you know it, the focus changes and you find yourself grappling with the motive behind the kidnapping – the all profound 'why', which as it turns out, is as necessary as the pain and torture depicted in MARTYRS. Although noble and original, Laugier's message on social and civic altercations loses its impact due to the lack of a meatier plot buildup, in addition to a restricted viewer advisory that is too harsh for content barely requiring a PG rating. Towards the end this message becomes almost poetic in lamenting the woes of motherhood and parenting, especially when it becomes a cross to bear. But by then it may be too late to fathom the sheer scale of what Laugier is trying to impart.

As a mother of sorts, Biel plays her role with conviction and with insurmountable pangs of sorrow and suffering. Hers is perhaps the only character that personifies loss and belonging in the same frame, an irony that manifests itself in taut reference to the painful lesson between being a good or bad parent. Aside from Biel, Jodelle Ferland has a vital role but only in the final act. As Jenny, a selective mute, Ferland doesn't utter a word throughout but serves only to narrate the final moments of the film by pulling away the shroud, just in case you still find yourself in the dark. Even so, Laugier brings the curtains down with ambiguity by letting us decide the fate of some his characters. While this technique works in part, most viewers have little to mull over. Even past its thin plausibility, THE TALL MAN is largely shadowed by its older sibling and by comparison, will sadly remain so.

This movie is not of the best quality, probably due to its mediocre production budget, yet it successfully stands out from the other movies of its genre. Although at parts THE TALL MAN might feel like JEEPERS CREEPERS or even Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE (Yep, Jessica Biel is terrorized again and she will have to attend some dreary and shabby places for one more time) those viewers who expect tons of blood and slaughter will be disappointed. TALL MAN is not a slasher, it is a gloomy and dynamic thriller/drama with a nice, strong plot which, unlike in the movies mentioned before, is logically grounded.

The performance, delivered by both leads and figurants is fine, Jessica Biel is at her best and one can tell that thriller genre is her territory. Jodelle Ferland, a young Canadian talent who gave me creeps in SILENT HILL, unfortunately underperformed a bit in this movie (her acting has become a bit of cliché, and just as in TIDELAND and SILENT HILL, she remains mysterious and silent throughout the whole movie). The atmosphere is cold and depressing, decorated with wide shots of beautiful Canadian nature, snow-covered mountains and woods in particular.

As I and other users have mentioned already - THE TALL MAN is not a horror/slasher movie, yet it has some really jumpy and tense moments, that not even the best horror movies can boast of. Generally - I am surprised and would recommend you to watch it - you will not waste your time!