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Released by: Image Entertainment
Released on: September 25, 2012.
Director: Pascal Laugier
Cast: Jessica Biel, Samantha Ferris, Jodelle Ferland, Teach Grant, Stephen McHattie
Year: 2012
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The Movie:
Written and directed by Pascal Laugier, The Tall Man is set in the small town of Cold Water, Washington where we meet a girl named Jenny (Jodelle Ferland) who lives with her mother, Tracy (Samantha Ferris), her older sister Carol (Katherine Ramdeen), and her mother's boyfriend, Steven (Teach Grant). The town used to be quite prosperous but as the mine that was its main source of employment has been shut down, what's left of the population has fallen on hard times - buildings are boarded up and the whole place just looks rundown and sad.
As the mine is closed, an F.B.I. agent named Dodd (Stephen McHattie) wants the entrance sealed. The town's Sheriff Chestnut (William B. Davis) accompanies him to the site and after they leave and head back into town they meet Julia Denning (Jessica Biel), the town nurse who lost her husband some years back, having pieces of broken glass removed from her face.
From here the movie hits us with a few flashbacks and ties in a few different stories. Tracy brought Carol to Julia to treat because she's gone into labor, pregnant with Steve's baby - something that Tracy claims to have had no knowledge of before the labor started. When Julie goes to check on Carol later that day, she's told that she's been sent to live with her aunt. As more develops, plot wise, we learn that Cold Water has been plagued with a rash of disappearing children for years now. The locals blame a 'fictional' boogeyman referred to as The Tall Man for the abductions, but most figure that this is nothing more than an urban legend. When Julia's own child is taken she starts to investigate the legend and the truth behind the identity of The Tall Man and that of those responsible for the abductions comes to light.
Pascal Laugier asks us to suspend our disbelief in a big way here - to believe that a town with a missing children problem as rampant at the one that is occurring in Cold Water would be so completely unrepresented in the media and remain a small town secret in this day and age. It's a bit much to swallow, but if you're able to get past that you'll be rewarded with a pretty intelligent film. Kids in peril have been a staple of horror movies since the beginning and while countless tales of the boogey man have been told over the decades, The Tall Man at least tries something new in how the reveal happens. You can't quite call it shocking, it's a bit too understated in spots for that, but the twist here is a good one and it's also quite frightening if you actually sit down and think about it.
Performance wise we're in good hands here. Biel's lead is well played and it's nice to see her appear here without loads of makeup, giving her the right sort of 'common people' look to let us believe she could very well be a widow nurse in a small town trying to get by as a single parent. Supporting roles are also strong here, and the movie is really well shot, letting the gloomy grays of the Pacific Northwest add to the sense of dread cast over the already very depressed town. A far cry from the nastiness of his earlier film, Martyrs, this latest effort from Laugier show some interesting growth as a filmmaker and this dark, atmospheric and deliberately paced picture is one worth seeing.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The Tall Man looks great on Blu-ray from Image in this VC-1 encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 2.40.1. Shot on high grade digital video there's obviously no print damage, dirt or debris to note. The colors are reproduced very nicely and look quite lifelike, though the movie is a bit on the dark side stylistically speaking. Flesh tones look lifelike and natural and black levels are strong while detail and texture remain very impressive throughout the movie. There aren't any issues with noise, edge enhancement or compression artifacts to complain about - the movie looks excellent.
The only audio option for the feature is a very strong English language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix, with optional subtitles provided in English SDH and Spanish. Surround channels are used very effectively throughout the movie to help build atmosphere and suspense while the dialogue, most of which comes from the front of the mix, sounds nice and clear. Levels are well balanced, there are no issues with hiss or distortion and the score sounds good. No complaints here, the audio is very good.
Extras are very slim, limited to a single deleted scene, a still gallery of visual concepts, and a trailer for the feature. Menus and chapter stops are also included and the extras are all in high definition.
The Final Word:
Despite the absence of any substantial extras, Image has otherwise done a very good job bringing The Tall Man to Blu-ray. As to the movie itself, it's a smart, well made film that offers up some very strong tension and good performances. It's not the slasher film that the cover art makes it look to be but instead a more realistic and grounded picture and it's all the more effective for it.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
