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.
Review of The Tall Man
