Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

While I am very fond of the internet series Marble Hornets, the review I give is fair. That is to say, instead of enjoying it despite the flaws, I enjoy it with flaws included. Marble Hornets is a suspense-horror drama employing the 'found-footage' technique. I was late to whole Slender Man hype, as I was late to almost every other internet fad, and I approached the series with apprehension, which soon turned to wonderment. I could not see how an internet series employing a technique as redundant and clichéd as 'found- footage horror' and dealing with subject matter as corny as the Slender Man could evolve into such an absorbing, somber mood piece. I say this with no hint of irony. Granted, the series begins unexceptionally, with hokey jump scare tactics and juvenile plotting. For many, this is what enthralled them. For me, however it is not until season 3 that the show reveals it's genius, even it is perhaps unintentional. Between seasons 2 and 3 the plot becomes irrevocably confused, with twist upon twist and much backtracking, and the more we saw of Jessica and Alex, the more unintentionally humorous the show becomes. However, it is the confusion which I believe, propels the show to greatness. Take entry #54 for example, my personal favorite of the entire series. The episode opens with typical Marble Hornets, driving sequences. There are lots and lots of driving sequences. Jay talks to Tim about more tapes, and then the tape begins to run. So far I am unimpressed. But once we see the contents of the tape, the atmosphere is like a punch to the head. Not to say it is not subtle, for I believe it is, but rather that the shift in tone and sudden dislocation is truly incredible. The men run out of the rain, they sit in "Tim's music room", the power cuts out. Slender Man appears. They goof around in the dark by torchlight, and a long thin leg-like thing darts into the room. The tape ends. It is this simple sequence of events that I find so beguiling. I believe this entry to be a miniature masterpiece of escalating tension. When it is released, it is not as we expect. Sure, it's a jump scare, but it's less like Slender Man's leg, more like a giant spider's. This entry blew me away with it's effective simplicity. And yet, the flaws are equally important in my opinion of it. The keyboard "beats" sequence in crushingly unfunny in a trying-to-be-funny way, and yet paradoxically, that is why is works. I believe that the same can be said for the entire series. It is this combination between the genuinely scary atmosphere and anticipation and the poor jump scares, the uncomfortably, and sometimes unintentionally humorous acting, (take Tim's hospital confession in season 3 for instance) and the sometimes unbelievably naturalistic acting that sometimes surfaces. It's not perfect, but that's why it's perfect.

A long-running web-series, "Marble Hornets" is something of an odd beast. On one hand, it's concept is great, and it's generally a well-executed example of the "found footage" sub-genre of horror.On the other hand, I do find there to be many problems with the execution, holding it back from reaching the perfection it is capable of reaching.But still, for fans of horror, this is definitely a must-see.The series seems to predominately follow Jay, as he tries to solve the mystery of what happened to his friend Alex that caused him to seemingly lose his mind and withdraw from society. Told from a "found footage" perspective, the early episodes alternate between footage shot by Alex some time earlier that Jay is reviewing (during production of a student-film he was working on) and newer footage shot by Jay as he investigates the matter. Little does Jay know that the mystery of what happened may be linked to a twisted, possibly-supernatural figure known as "The Operator." (Based heavily on the "Slender Man" mythos from the internet.)I'm quite torn by what to give the series for a score. As I said above, it's a series of strengths and weaknesses. And I fear that my decided on score of 7 may be misleadingly low, despite being a decent score. Because I do genuinely love the series. (Well, at least what I've seen so far.) And in terms of entertainment value, it's great for a free series.I think the biggest strength of the series is atmosphere, and wonderful use of the "found footage" style. If you're in the correct mindset, this series will definitely creep you to the bone. While the quality might not be great, it comes across as generally "true to life", and there's a wonderful sense of pacing, build-up and payoff as the episodes continue. Technical aspects like composition are also well-handled. And I find the storyline incredibly intriguing, and definitely one that makes me want to continue watching.That being said, I have some big issues. First, (and I hate to say this), the acting can be pretty bad at times. At least early on. It does rob some of the suspension-of-disbelief that is required for a "found footage" series. I also find the episodes to meander a bit too much. I feel like there is a lot of room and time that could be condensed and make for a more compelling experience. It can almost get boring here and there. Which makes it harder to want to sit through the episodes.Thankfully, despite those weaknesses, I feel that the strengths make the series one that fans of horror (and especially "Slender Man" fans) certainly must at least try out. I think it's great fun. It has a good story. And it has some absolutely, positively spine-tingling scares.I give it a pretty-good 7 out of 10. Frightening and fun, but not without its flaws.

This starts out great: suspenseful, mysterious, and it has your attention right away. As film student Jay takes a look at the tapes of the unfinished project of a fellow film student, (Alex) he notices a mysterious figure appearing in several strange shots that don't seem to fit in with the rest of the film. It becomes clear that something happened to his friend and might have been hunted by the creature, also known as Slender Man. As Jay keeps studying the footage, he gets involved in it up to a point there's no way back.So, like I said, this started out very promising and it had me thrilled. However, as the series unfold, it just keeps going for too long and in my opinion, the story loses its vigor. The story stops being coherent, they keep adding things to it in a way that makes it seem like they just make it up as they go along. 'Oh, here's another tape I hadn't seen before'. Plus it seems a little too easy to include memory loss every time as an excuse to fill in the gaps, and it becomes annoying after a while he doesn't remember anything. On top of that, the character's actions don't make sense half of the time and they behave completely unrealistic. There's a scene in which Jay follows Alex deep into the woods without even knowing what they're going to do there, and at some point he just goes back on his own and Alex stays behind, in the middle of the woods. (Maybe they explain Alex's strange behaviour later on, but it's still weird Jay followed him for no apparent reason.) Also he willingly keeps wandering around in desolated houses and woods on his own, even though he knows Slender Man can show up any moment and despite his previous statement he doesn't want anything to do with it anymore.What also bugs me is the complete lack of emotion and/or fear Jay seems to have. He never once screams, seems in shock or looks/sounds the least bit frightened, panicked or emotionally affected even though his whole life has become a complete nightmare. Whenever he's on camera he just looks kind of numb, which could make sense since he's wrecked, but it's the only state he's ever in. I know I would freak the hell out in his situation, and most people would express at least some kind of emotion.Halfway through the entries, the only thing that kept me watching is that I wanted to know how it ends. I feel like the concept is really good but there's just a lot of missed chances. Too bad, I really loved the concept and the very strong beginning. That doesn't mean there are no plus points: it did keep me watching, so it's very addictive and they keep up the suspense constantly. At the end of every entry, it made me and my boyfriend go: 'Ok, ONE more'. It's definitely a recommendation if you like mystery/horror and a good scare, but don't expect a genius storyline.Still worth a 7 out of 10.

Only yesterday did I find the you-tube show "Marble Hornets". It was recommended to me by a friend because I love psychological horror and mystery. These two words perfectly describe this show.The show follows Jay, a young man who's best friend encountered a tall, blank faced creature in a business suit by the name of the Operator (or Slender Man) while filming his student film "Marble Hornets". Jay goes through the tapes in an attempt to figure out more about the creature, and is eventually forced to run from the seemingly unstoppable force as he begins to unravel the mystery.Continuity is highly important and very well done in this series. Tiny things in the first few episodes come into play in later episodes. If you are like me and LOVE connecting the dots and consuming every detail, this show rewards your hard work.The acting is a little spotty in season one (Entries 1-26), but does not detract from the story or experience. As season two hits the midpoint, the acting improves, and the story begins to unfold.The shaky hand-held camera quality is really effective in adding to the disturbing atmosphere. The creators do an incredible job of building tension and giving you a sense of dread. I found myself searching every pixel on the screen for a glimpse of Slender Man.One more small thing that I appreciated was the fact that there was close to no profanity, no sexual content, and very little actual gore. By throwing those factors out, the creators took on the challenge of making their series strong with good writing and editing, which really pays off.Overall, this show scared me more than any modern day horror film has, and is highly reminiscent of Christopher Nolan's "Memento". If you want to be scared out of your wits, enjoy playing Sherlock Holmes and solving mysteries, or both, this is a must watch.9/10