Documentary: Beware the Slenderman Review

Slenderman. This urban legend has inspired numerous creepy stories, legends, and videos online. As most of these seem obvious that they are fictitious, they may not be to everyone. A horrible crime occurred in 2014, caused by this sinister character, and “Beware the Slenderman,”a documentary that made its Quebec premiere at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival, will depict the entire event revolving around this ominous figure as more than just a story used to scare children.

On May 31st, 2014, two 12-year-old girls commit a heinous act on one of their friends, stabbing her numerous times in the woods. The victim managed to crawl away, spilling her blood along the way, and luckily got rescued. Their little town in Wisconsin was absolutely shocked by this disturbing crime. The girls say they did it for Slenderman, to becomes proxies of him, and impress the faceless figure. Through the real video police interrogations of each girl, hours after the stabbing, interviews with their parents, and court testimonies, “Beware the Slenderman” unravels the horrifying and unnerving details of this very existent case.

Even if you are unaware of Slenderman’s myth, the documentary does a great job at explaining his origins and how his popularity spread on the World Wide Web like wildfire. It does an even better job at slamming the cold, hard facts of the crime in your face, exactly how it happened. The harsh testimonies of the two girls through their police interrogations will chill you to your core. The heart-wrenching discussions with the girls’ parents will tear your heart apart.

If you’re looking for an extremely well-developed, real-life, eerie, crime-related documentary, look no further. Even non-verbal in-between shots of scenery are beautifully filmed and directed, adding another layer of creepiness to the documentary.

What I really enjoyed about this documentary is that you get an explanation of the crime and why they did it. At first, I saw myself shaking my head, thinking: “Even at 12, impressionable as you may be, how could you go so far as to attempt to kill another human being from simple myths that you read online, which have high possibilities of being unreal?” However, as the documentary unfolds and important details are brought forth to you, you have no choice but to understand, even just a little, what occurred, as disturbing as it may seem. The ending of the documentary gives us a thorough clarification without leaving us on a mysterious cliffhanger of “no one can truly explain what really happened”.

For all lovers of the macabre and seekers of creepy, real life cases, “Beware the Slenderman” is a must-see, deserving 4 stars out of 5.