Did the creators of this movie just go, "We'll get permission to do a 'spinoff' of Marble Hornets, loosely 'borrow' their Slenderman-type villain's name and symbol, make a couple blink-and-you'll-miss-them references to the web series... and that way, we won't get too much crap for trying to make our own Slenderman found-footage move."Because that plan totally backfired. This is not a Marble Hornets story. They totally screwed up how the Operator works, and with the exception of one tiny reference to the Alex Kralie character, this movie has nothing to do with Marble Hornets canon.What would've been better is if they'd gotten Joe and Tim to write an actual Marble Hornets movie, and still kept Doug Jones as the Operator.

Trying to develop a news story, a reporter and her crew intending to follow up a recent spate of home foreclosures instead stumbles upon a strange unseen supernatural spectre following them and must try to solve the mystery of his appearance before it's too late.For the most part this one here isn't really all that interesting or enjoyable. What really holds this one down is the fact that like so many other films of it's ilk the whole thing being presented as a found-footage effort really underscores so much of what's going on in this one. Forcing itself into all the usual trappings with this style gives this one such a rather bland and tired feel here where it's pretty heavily flawed just by the general sense of familiarity runs rampant throughout here. This one isn't all that original or creative in the genre and really doesn't do much to really differentiate itself from the usual tropes associated here by constantly failing to focus on something that should be front-and- center in the main part of the frame, getting way too many shots that wouldn't occur unless someone was specifically trying to make a film of this caliber on purpose as well as the ever-dreaded scenario of managing to keep filming in scenes where a person's life is in danger which is quite a troubling issue here with this one as this leads into many scenes with utterly troubling and infuriating behavioral choices designed to push the film further along rather than anything to save themselves. The shaking camera that keeps running throughout the film never helps either as there's so many potentially amazing scenes ruined by the inability to properly tell what's happening during the action. Still, the root cause of the film's problems lie in the fact that this one just doesn't have any real fear or terror in its lead. If there was no mention of who he was in the film's promo materials you wouldn't know who he was in the film proper as it never explains who he was, how he came into being and why he's targeting the troupe here makes for a series of questions about what's going on with this one as there's nothing given here about that main villain which just takes so much fear out of this one. Lastly, the film's pacing is so off here that it seems to take forever in setting up an encounter or attack by the mysterious figure yet it breezes by without much difficulty in that it manages to remain watchable despite nothing happening at all as it seems to focus a lot more on simply getting them to yell and argue with each other over his sanity rather than showing why it's deserved or even setting up chilling encounters on its own. This results in a large discrepancy here with the pacing really being another big factor holding this one down. There's a few solid parts to it, as the central idea gleamed from what's going on with the killer is a solid core idea of a mysterious being tormenting a group of friends, and how it goes about delivering some solid action in the later half where they get targeted at the house and later on in the cabin refuse which are somewhat chilling and creepy set-ups here. Still, this one has too many problems to really generate much else.Rated R: Violence and Language.

I give this Film a 2, just because I'm a massive fan of the 'Mable Hornets' web series ~ So it gets the first point for that alone, and, I give the extra point for Doug Jones' involvement with it (He's one of Hollywood's most underrated Stars, IMO). But that's it.This Movie bears none of the originality, nor sinister foreboding contained within the outstanding 'Marble Hornets' web series. It's just very standard, bland, mediocre horror fare, that focuses way too much on God-awful jump scares, and not enough on creating actual paranoia based fear and eerie tension like the brilliant 'Marble Hornets' series did by the Fleet-load.And our Slender Man/Operator has been shrunk down to the size of a regular Guy, who looks like He's had a hankie thrown over His face, who's only shown in pathetic static little blips. What a waste of the aforementioned awesome Doug Jones. You'd think that a Feature-length Movie featuring 'Slender Man'/'The Operator' would create a much more substantial monster than the one delivered here.When a 0 budget monster, in a web series, is infinitely more terrifying than the one served up in a Movie ~ You know that Movie has failed on all fronts.Go marathon 'Marble Hornets' right from the 'Introduction' video, and see how this sh*t is meant to be done! (Best viewed at Night, curtains open, with very hot black Coffee)

This movie may resonate more to those who are familiar with Slenderman or Marble Hornets web series, practically anyone who has interest in internet creepypastas. The transition for cinema uses hit-and-miss medium of found footage, but at least it justifies them to constantly carry cameras. It's nothing much from usual found footage cliché and for what it's worth, it may be mildly amusing when it runs its course.A group of journalists investigates abandoned houses to document foreclosure process. They find a collection of tapes in one of the houses, which display a sort of haunting entity. Soon this lanky ghostly man starts to haunt them as well. Underneath the suit and modern gimmicks, the movie is pretty much mediocre haunting, only extensively recorded.It presents the usual tension with dark corners and lingering object that may or may not be present. There's an effort to bring more tech stuff as parts of tension, yet it's no more than Grave Encounters and the likes have done. In some scenes it can get pretty immersive and intense, although these instances are too brief and certainly not that many.Flaws that have plagued this subgenre are unfortunately here and they are clearer than the flickering apparition. It's all too common when the situation escalates, characters would scream at the same time to emulate real life debacle. Filmmakers should know by now that it's very overwhelming and unappealing to have first person perspective of bickering, and this movie does it in excess.Cumbersome shots, particularly slow motion and a couple of jittery scenes are expected although not exactly welcomed. It may work as popcorn flick, but the stale use of the subgenre doesn't invoke much fascination.