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movie reviews the tall man 2012

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The Tall Man Reviews

movie reviews the tall man 2012

Initially intriguing but quickly devolves into an entirely generic and uninspired experience.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Sep 24, 2023

movie reviews the tall man 2012

Trust me the payoff is completely worth it.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jun 2, 2021

movie reviews the tall man 2012

The final reveals of the plot are so ludicrous and poorly told I am a little bit shocked. Biel does a fine job and the film looks like a real movie. It just has a nonsense script at its heart.

Full Review | Mar 31, 2020

movie reviews the tall man 2012

Half-baked and dismally executed.

Full Review | Jul 30, 2019

movie reviews the tall man 2012

The Tall Man's twists and turns make for a fun time, but its attempts at provocation fail miserably. Laugier's ambitions are commendable, but they just don't succeed.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Jul 2, 2019

movie reviews the tall man 2012

A colossal waste of time built around tricking us with illogical plot twists, and a convoluted hard to follow narrative.

Full Review | Feb 4, 2016

movie reviews the tall man 2012

There's plenty to like about it in hindsight once it's all laid out, but it isn't enough to lift this mystery-thriller out of the realm of the mundane.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Jul 17, 2013

The Tall Man comes as close as anything in recent years at matching the better monster-of-the-week episodes of The X-Files.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Feb 4, 2013

movie reviews the tall man 2012

for all this thriller's tautness, its true horror emerges from the uncomfortable ethical questions that it poses - and leaves us to answer for ourselves in the dark.

Full Review | Nov 15, 2012

movie reviews the tall man 2012

The Tall Man is a fine thriller that tragically falls off the rails, spiraling into dark, morally corrupt territory.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Oct 5, 2012

movie reviews the tall man 2012

Laugier, as was the case with Martyrs, takes the story in a completely unpredictable and, for a while, baffling direction.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 4, 2012

movie reviews the tall man 2012

Despite the excellently creepy subject matter, The Tall Man contains very little actual horror and ends up being quite a dud.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/10 | Sep 15, 2012

movie reviews the tall man 2012

... can't decide if it wants to be 'High Tension,' 'Jeepers Creepers' or 'The Piped Piper of Hamelin' ... results are arty, jumbled and, ho-hum, Sunday School preachy.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Sep 8, 2012

The result is tedious instead of suspenseful.

Full Review | Sep 7, 2012

movie reviews the tall man 2012

Works surprisingly well, given where it winds up. Give it a chance if you're looking for an unexpected surprise.

Full Review | Sep 4, 2012

movie reviews the tall man 2012

Leaving behind any trace of her eye-candy image, Jessica Biel delivers the performance of her career in 'The Tall Man.'

Full Review | Sep 2, 2012

movie reviews the tall man 2012

A spooky and atmospheric little thriller that contains some actual and unexpected surprises.

Full Review | Original Score: 6.5/10 | Sep 1, 2012

Long on atmosphere and short on sense, "The Tall Man" becomes less gripping as it grows more ridiculous.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 31, 2012

movie reviews the tall man 2012

"The Tall Man" spits out enough scares and twists to maintain our interest, but the film's psycho-sociological layer is almost as cheesy and unconvincing as its low-rent action scenes.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Aug 31, 2012

movie reviews the tall man 2012

What begins as an intriguing Stephen King riff devolves into a Lifetime Original, effectively burning off the potential of the complex misdirection.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Aug 30, 2012

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A Small-Town Buzz About the Missing

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movie reviews the tall man 2012

By Jeannette Catsoulis

  • Aug. 30, 2012

Strange and sneaky and driven by a fury that only slowly reveals itself, “The Tall Man” opens like a ghost story and closes with its feet firmly in the real world. Until then, Pascal Laugier’s chilly little thriller manhandles our sympathies and gladdens our eyes in almost equal measure.

For years children have been disappearing from Cold Rock, a depressed mining town. Jumpy residents whisper about a mysterious stranger who snatches little ones in the dead of night, while Julia (a deglamorized Jessica Biel), the town’s widowed nurse, ministers to those who remain. Then, in one breathtakingly creepy sequence, Julia’s own toddler is taken, and the story appears to lose its mind. It will eventually return, though probably not in the way you expect.

Like an early Stephen King novella, “The Tall Man” buzzes with small-town secrets and downtrodden paranoia. Here the unemployed gather in conspiratorial huddles, and a single mother (an exceptional Samantha Ferris) refuses to fire the handyman who threatens both her daughters.

Filling the screen with dense pine forests and panicky strings, Mr. Laugier stirs apprehension, flirting with “Jeepers Creepers” -style horror and murder mystery psychodrama. But ultimately his story draws more energy from class than from criminality: awash in sludgy browns and rotting greens — the colors of poverty and decomposition — this unpredictable oddity is a little bonkers but a lot original.

“The Tall Man” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Twisted morals and straight-up scares.

Opens on Friday in Manhattan. Directed by Pascal Laugier 1 hour 46 minutes

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The Tall Man

The Tall Man

Reviewed by: David Graham

The wave of extreme horror pouring almost arterially out of France for the past decade arguably peaked with Pascal Laugier’s repeated gut-punch Martyrs , which married torture-porn aesthetics and clichés to genuine substance, benefiting hugely from outstandingly emotive lead performances. The Tall Man operates in a different vein – it’s more like a M Night Shyamalan mystery than the spook-fest it’s tempting to expect, especially given the misleading marketing – but it shares many of the same concerns as Martyrs and Laugier’s visual style is immediately recognisable in several impressive sequences.

Unfortunately, it’s closer in effect to his underwhelming supernatural/psychological debut Saint Ange (House Of Voices). Both suffer from muddled messages, inconsistent acting, incoherent plotting as well as bland, excessive lighting and scores that scupper any atmosphere Laugier occasionally manages to build. His ambition remains commendable, but his execution is questionable, leading to a frustrating if occasionally intriguing experience.

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Cold Rock is becoming a ghost town, left in financial ruin from the closure of its mines, which had been the sole industry for generations. A darker cloud looms over the remote area though, with the impoverished community’s children regularly going missing, their disappearance often attributed to the local legend of ‘the tall man’. A young widowed nurse finds her life thrown into turmoil when her child is snatched, leading to revelations that hint at a larger conspiracy.

All of Laugier's films have featured strong female protagonists, but for his proper English language debut (Saint Ange was filmed in French and English) Laugier is especially well-served by Jessica Biel (also an executive producer), effectively toning down her natural beauty and digging deep for a demanding role that can only really be fully appreciated in retrospect. She’s particularly strong in the second half, when Laugier starts stripping away the layers of his narrative to get to its provocative core.

It’s a shame the supporting players aren’t quite up to scratch, although this could perhaps be down to the flip-flopping stances the story takes, as well as Laugier’s inexperience with non-French-speaking actors. Stephen McHattie’s detective brings an unsettling air of The X-Files to his role but is otherwise wasted, and young Jodelle Ferland – already something of a horror starlet thanks to the likes of Silent Hill – does well with an under-written deaf-mute character, who only develops beyond horror convention in the final 15 minutes. The rest of the cast, however, have a TV-movie quality that dampens the drama, while Biel takes a back-seat for the final third, leaving the would-be thought-provoking final stretch feeling unfocused.

Laugier mounts a couple of reasonably intense set-pieces early on, but these often hinge on the ridiculous, and are let down by shoddy effects work. As the tone shifts from thrills to drama, he also pulls off some excellent extended shots, peppered with well-orchestrated jolts, showing both appropriate restraint and imaginative use of objective camerawork. His handling of his script’s elliptical structure is less assured, with all the sleight of hand feeling like a cheap gimmick to distract from the lack of actual momentum that might have kept viewers on the edge of their seats rather than at the end of their tether.

While his attempts at mature commentary, lingering ambiguity and emotional resonance mark Laugier out as sincere, The Tall Man is ultimately let down by its silly twists and refusal to play straight by and with its audience. He takes care not to align himself with the beliefs of any one protagonist – they’re all revealed to be flawed human beings – but he’s guilty of a potentially offensive thread of moral posturing that will make or break this film for most viewers, with its less balanced take on some of the same ground as Gone Baby Gone . Laugier could never have outdone Martyrs so it’s to his credit that he’s gone in a completely different direction that still bears thematic comparison to his earlier work, but hopefully his next project will prove that 2008 masterpiece wasn’t a fluke.

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Director: Pascal Laugier

Writer: Pascal Laugier

Starring: Jessica Biel, Jodelle Ferland, Stephen McHattie, William B. Davis, Samantha Ferris, Colleen Wheeler, Eve Harlow, Janet Wright, Ferne Downey, John Mann, Teach Grant, Garwin Sanford, Jakob Davies, Lucas Myers, Pat Henman

Runtime: 106 minutes

Country: US, Canada, France

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In “The Tall Man” a figure fitting that description is snatching the children of a remote Pacific Northwest town. Though the local nurse (Jessica Biel) had been skeptical of the legend up to that point, once he breaks into her home and takes her son she springs into action trying to get the boy back.

What happens then is a maddening swirl of events widely open to interpretation: the nurse finds the Tall Man; the whole town is complicit in a conspiracy; the nurse is insane, or she’s guilty.

Writer-director Pascal Laugier, making the follow-up to his 2008 French-language film “Martyrs,” maximizes the rainy canopy of his locations, creating a sense of dreary containment beneath constantly overcast skies.

An actress who hasn’t managed to quite find her niche, Biel tones down her striking beauty and athletic curves to believably play a desperate mother with disheveled hair and minimal makeup. But the story sends her hurtling through a world gone weird, where conspiracies pile on top of one another until the narrative spins out of control.

Long on atmosphere and short on sense, “The Tall Man” becomes less gripping as it grows more ridiculous.

-------------------------------------------

“The Tall Man.” MPAA rating: R for violence and terror, and for language. Running time: 1 hour, 46 minutes. At Laemmle’s NoHo 7, North Hollywood.

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The Tall Man (2012)

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The Tall Man

In an isolated, slowly dying mining town, children are vanishing without a trace – abducted, the townsfolk whisper, by a mysterious entity known locally as “The Tall Man.” Town nurse Julia Denning (Jessica Biel; “Total Recall,” “Strangers”) seems skeptical…until her young David disappears in the middle of night. Frantic to rescue the boy, Julia lives every parent’s darkest nightmare in this twisting, shock-around-each-corner thriller from acclaimed director Pascal Laugier (“Martyrs”) called The Tall Man.

Win The Tall Man Poster Signed by Jessica Biel!

We're also giving away Blu-ray copies of this thriller about a young nurse desperately trying to find her kidnapped son.

The Tall Man 'Children Missing' Blu-ray Clip [Exclusive]

Jessica Biel stars in this abduction thriller, debuting on Blu-ray and DVD September 25.

The Tall Man Motion Poster

Pascal Laugier's thriller is set in a old mining town where children vanish without a trace.

The Tall Man 'Taken' and 'The Diner' Clips

Jessica Biel recovers from her injuries in a diner after being thrown from a truck in these scenes from Pascal Laugier's thriller.

The Tall Man Trailer

Jessica Biel stars as a young mother trying to unravel the mystery behind a child abductor after her son goes missing.

The Tall Man International Trailer

Pascal Laugier directs Jessica Biel in this harrowing thriller about a woman desperately searching for the man who kidnapped her son.

The Tall Man Poster

Jessica Biel plays a distraught woman trying to find the mysterious man who abducted her son in Pascal Laugier's thriller.

The Tall Man Begins Principle Photography

Martyrs director Pascal Laugier makes his English-language debut with this film that centers on a town's mysterious kidnappings.

Jodelle Ferland and Samantha Ferris See The Tall Man

Teach Grant and William B. Davis also join Jessica Biel-starring Pascal Laugier suspence thriller.

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Review: the tall man.

The film holds a harsh light up to our own assumptions and expectations through a process of revising what we thought we saw.

The Tall Man

The small town of Cold Rock, Washington—the bleak setting for Pascal Laugier’s The Tall Man —has plenty of problems. After the closing of the mine that had been the town’s primary source of employment, Cold Rock has been beset with economic hardship, suffering a lack of resources and rapidly diminishing prospects for its residents. There’s less to go around and people aren’t sure what to do next. Also, the town’s kids keep disappearing—from the streets, front yards, even their own bedrooms. Theories abound. Child molester! The devil! Or maybe it’s the Tall Man, Cold Rock’s resident figure of urban legend: a mysterious man rumored to carry children with him into the woods, after which the boys and girls are never seen again.

Nurse Julia Denning (Jessica Biel)—who isn’t originally from these parts—doesn’t believe in urban legends. She’s the only medical practitioner left in Cold Rock after her husband, the town doctor, died several years ago. Yet still she heroically delivers a baby without proper equipment, performs house visits out of concern for the family’s circumstances, and then admirably offers coffee to a grieving mother outside a diner. Later, at home, she nurtures a young boy who she clearly loves. In short, she’s the antithesis of Cold Rock: a caring, generous figure persevering in an atmosphere otherwise devoid of hope. Later that same night, the boy we’ve seen her lovingly bonding with is abducted by a masked figure. So, naturally, she gives chase.

What follows is a whirlwind of events building an intricate mystery out of all that we’ve taken for granted so far, eventually culminating in a philosophical stalemate that actually satisfies rather than frustrates. The kidnapper, of course, isn’t the Tall Man, but that doesn’t mean the Tall Man doesn’t exist. Very quickly we realize that Julia isn’t who she seems, that small towns do indeed keep secrets, and that tall tales aren’t so tall when viewed from a distance. Various tropes are deconstructed and challenged: a small town’s suspicion of outsiders; country bumpkins keeping their struggle and rage to themselves, but taking it out on others; the reliance on the supernatural or the mythical to explain a very real phenomenon; and the desperate measures a woman will take to protect her children. Though the film wears its genre trappings on its sleeve, rather than in its heart, the readily apparent tropes speak to something deeper.

The idea of Cold Rock, and all that it represents in terms of class and opportunity in America, is central to the unwinding of the film’s tense, provocative conclusion: How inextricably are we tied to where we come from? Who decides if we deserve better, and if we deserve it, how do we actually get it? “The system is broken,” says one character in a pivotal monologue about hope and limitations, a seemingly endless cycle of defeat in which people always want more without knowing how to get it. Maybe Cold Rock is broken, or maybe it’s just lost, but the film deftly explores the state of the town in the context of a piece of the world struggling to keep from being left behind. What was the future actually holding for the children of Cold Rock, anyway? The Tall Man illustrates the problem of class mobility with a dark, troubling premise that holds a harsh light up to our own assumptions and expectations through a process of revising what we thought we saw—and, in doing so, the film asks how much else might be blurry at first glance.

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The Tall Man

The Tall Man (2012)

Directed by pascal laugier.

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Description by Wikipedia

The Tall Man is a 2012 Canadian and French mystery-horror film written and directed by Pascal Laugier. It was filmed in the Kootenay region of Southeastern British Columbia and stars Jessica Biel. The film is set in a small former mining town where poverty is rife and children are disappearing on a regular basis. The abductions are blamed on a local legend called "the Tall Man." Jessica Biel plays a widowed nurse whose child is abducted, leading her on a desperate chase to recover him.

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Alternate Titles

movie reviews the tall man 2012

movie reviews the tall man 2012

THE TALL MAN

"provocative mystery".

movie reviews the tall man 2012

NoneLightModerateHeavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

movie reviews the tall man 2012

What You Need To Know:

(PaPa, Ro, B, C, LLL, VV, S, AA, MM) Strong mixed, open-ended worldview with Romantic, moral, and redemptive elements that include condemnation of a cycle of poverty that has put children at risk and a character sacrifices their well-being for a cause; 46 obscenities and profanities (including about seven “f” words and some strong profanities); strong violence with some blood includes a couple pieces of glass painfully removed from woman’s face, image of woman who hanged herself, woman gets dragged by truck, woman hits female lead a couple times then gets hit herself and knocked unconscious, birth scene, man attacks wife and daughter during argument, chase scenes, woman knocked out and tied to chair but escapes, rock thrown through police car’s rear window; no sex scenes but mention of incest after birthing scene; no nudity; alcohol use and woman appears slightly drunk after implied drinking; no smoking or drugs; and, kidnapping of children from poverty stricken homes, woman hides truth, lewd insults.

More Detail:

THE TALL MAN starts off appearing as standard slasher/horror fare but winds up taking viewers on a Hitchcockian rollercoaster ride of suspense.

Jessica Biel stars as Julia Denning, a nurse in a rural, desolate town left reeling by the collapse of its mining industry. Narration by a mysterious teenage girl reveals the town has had 18 children disappear in the last few years. The town blames a shadowy figure called The Tall Man. Julia doesn’t believe in The Tall Man. When her own child goes missing, she’s determined to solve the mystery. An intense series of suspenseful plot twists follows.

THE TALL MAN is a first-class production on almost every level, with stellar writing, direction and performances. Unknown actors play all the supporting roles. Their anonymity makes their behavior more unpredictable.

THE TALL MAN seems like a standard horror movie at first, but eventually turns into a surprising mystery thriller. The ending turns out to be profoundly provocative. The final twists cleverly leave things up to the viewer to decide what’s right and wrong. The plot gets a bit confusing in the middle, however. Also, THE TALL MAN includes excessive foul language, some intense violence and a strong sense of dread and fear throughout. So, extreme caution is advised.

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Film review: the tall man (2012).

Adrian Halen 05/24/2021 Film Reviews

movie reviews the tall man 2012

When her child goes missing, a mother looks to unravel the legend of the Tall Man, an entity who allegedly abducts children. 

I had heard about a film titled “ The Tall Man ” and had instantly pictured in my head imagery of Angus Scrimm reprising his role as the ghoul-toting funeral director. However, you should know this is definitely “not” that kind of film. While the title peaked my interest as a potential horror piece, it’s also worth pointing out that the film is meant more as a crime, mystery thriller.

movie reviews the tall man 2012

Director Pascal Laugier offers up a new product that after viewing, is quite a different beast than his previously extreme-based spiritual-laden “ Martyrs “. I’m quite convinced that Pascal Laugier is a man of invention always presenting a story that not only entertains but leaves you with more to ponder. How you process the information may fall within your own stance on morals an ethics.

Jessica Biel stars as the local nurse Julia Denning who resides in the depressed small town of Cold Rock (Washington). A widow of the area’s former doctor, Julia cares for those who will allow her. The town is in many ways a product of its own ignorance, but a few still champion their roles and give back what they can. The town of Cold Rock has also been hit by hard times for quite some time now. Cold Rock has a dark secret in the form of an urban legend attached to it (due to the missing children epidemic – we are also informed in the opening credits).

movie reviews the tall man 2012

“ The Tall Man ” is an entity name that the locals use to describe the dark man who has stolen the area’s children. Some have claimed to see him while others are merely passing the notion along. In any case, there has been a history of Cold Rock’s children turning up missing. The local police and the FBI all report running into dead ends, however the town is looking for someone to take the fall (.to connect to the more ambiguous Tall Man legend). The main investigator for the case is a man by the name of Lt. Dodd (Stephen McHattie). What transpires is best described as “spellbinding”.

Denning is intent on tracking down the supposed abductor and discovering the where-abouts of the children. This notion will lead you into a few surprises that stack on each quite nicely (as in don’t make assumptions). The biggest thrill here is not knowing and then discovering the bigger picture at hand. Where “The The Tall Man” may lack in scares, or horror content, it makes up for in a cohesive well rounded story. And while it’s my intention to stay clear of its reveals, I feel in the end you’ll really be glad you came and experienced it on your own.

movie reviews the tall man 2012

“ The Tall Man ” is a film I’m expecting many to have a mix of reactions. Mainly due to it being marketed as a horror film and it being in reality something far different. That element is here much like in the film “The Village”, but it seems to hold a deeper purpose based on social commentary. With that being said, I thought this was a fantastic film which “could have” unrolled in a manner that fits within the formula we expect, but in fact aims to make a statement about the quality of life for young children.

movie reviews the tall man 2012

Actress Jessica Biel gives a powerfully authentic performance which easily carries the script farther beyond its potentially bland expectations. With her more recent run of feature roles, it’s no wonder that she is gaining attention after her great performance here. Even when dialog is unneeded, you can still see the purpose within her eyes.

movie reviews the tall man 2012

Do I think this is one to own? I think that Pascal Laugier dares to offer us things that don’t fit all the molds, and for that it makes a great product to have. When we’ve exhausted ourselves of derivative horror films and common storylines, it’s the few like this one that makes a gray week a little more colorful. Well acted, well directed, well written…easily a top contender for the best films of the year category.

The Tall Man (2012)

Tags Jakob Davies Jessica Biel Jodelle Ferland Katherine Ramdeen Pascal Laugier Samantha Ferris Stephen McHattie The Tall Man William B. Davis

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Want to watch ' The Tall Man ' on your TV or mobile device at home? Searching for a streaming service to buy, rent, download, or view the Pascal Laugier-directed movie via subscription can be confusing, so we here at Moviefone want to help you out. Below, you'll find a number of top-tier streaming and cable services - including rental, purchase, and subscription alternatives - along with the availability of 'The Tall Man' on each platform when they are available. Now, before we get into the fundamentals of how you can watch 'The Tall Man' right now, here are some specifics about the Forecast Pictures, Iron Ocean Films, Radar Films, SND, Highwire Pictures thriller flick. Released August 1st, 2012, 'The Tall Man' stars Jessica Biel , Jodelle Ferland , Stephen McHattie , Jakob Davies The R movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 46 min, and received a user score of 60 (out of 100) on TMDb, which put together reviews from 1,116 top users. Curious to know what the movie's about? Here's the plot: "When her child goes missing, a mother looks to unravel the legend of the Tall Man, an entity who allegedly abducts children." 'The Tall Man' is currently available to rent, purchase, or stream via subscription on Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Vudu, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, Amazon Prime Video , Apple iTunes, Microsoft Store, YouTube, and Hoopla .

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GAMES, BRRRAAAINS & A HEAD-BANGING LIFE

GAMES, BRRRAAAINS & A HEAD-BANGING LIFE

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Horror Movie Review: The Tall Man (2012)

The Tall Man is a mystery-horror thriller film that was directed by Pascal Laugier (Martyrs), it released in 2012. The film is set in a small former mining town where poverty is rife and children are disappearing on a regular basis. The abductions are blamed on a local legend called “The Tall Man.” Jessica Biel plays a widowed nurse whose child is abducted, leading her on a desperate chase to recover him.

Julia lives in a small town in Washington called Cold Rock. She is the town’s local nurse, widowed by her husband, who was the town’s doctor. Cold Rock was formerly a prosperous mining town, but has become poverty-stricken. There is little work, the school has been closed and the town is virtually vanished from the map.

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Julia returns to her large home on the outskirts of Cold Rock, which she shares with her son David and his nanny. She eats dinner, puts David to bed, and falls asleep on a couch. Julia awakes to a noise downstairs, followed by a loud radio sermon. She finds the nanny bound and gagged, then rushes to her son’s bedroom, finding him gone. Suddenly, Julia spots a cloaked figure fleeing from her house. She pursues the mysterious person and does everything she can to save her son but inevitably fails.

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Soon after, there is a massive twist in the tale that changes everything. Check out The Tall Man to find out what happens.

On the surface, The Tall Man sounds like a generic horror thriller that will have little to no innovative qualities. However, that is entirely intentional. Just when you think you have an idea of where it may all be headed, it’s completely turned upside down. There really isn’t anything better than a film that takes you by complete surprise. It’s something that can be very hard to execute but The Tall Man succeeds, it succeeds big time. It’s the type of twist that you just won’t see coming. This dark tale drags you in so many different directions, it’s impressively unpredictable.

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The performances are high quality across the board. The only negative aspect could be seen as a big one for some people and that is how plausible it all is. Whether or not you think something like this could actually happen in the real world is open for discussion. Also, many people will be offended by the notion that what takes place in the movie could ever been seen in a positive light.

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In terms of actual horror, The Tall Man is surprisingly lacking. The film almost intentionally presents itself as a horror movie only to purposely shift gear just to throw you off. I can’t and don’t want to say much more, it’s best to see it for yourself. What I can say is that The Tall Man delivers a thought-provoking experience that will incite a fascinating debate surrounding the premise of the film, the harsh truth of the world we live in and the functionality of society as a whole.

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Overall, The Tall Man is a great film with an original premise. It presents you with a disturbing dilemma, one that you won’t forget quickly.

Liam Fisher

Owner/Editor/Writer/YouTuber - Typical 90s-00s kid; raised on Pokémon, Final Fantasy & the Attitude Era. In fact, that makes up about 99% of my personality. The remaining 1% is dedicated to my inner rage for people who still don’t understand the ending of Lost or those that enjoyed the Game of Thrones final season. Find me on GBHBL where I’ll most likely be reviewing horror movies or games. Also, see me on our YouTube channel!

The Tall Man

  • The Final Score - 8.5/10 8.5/10

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  • Cast & crew

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A high-powered CEO puts her career and family on the line when she begins a torrid affair with her much younger intern. A high-powered CEO puts her career and family on the line when she begins a torrid affair with her much younger intern. A high-powered CEO puts her career and family on the line when she begins a torrid affair with her much younger intern.

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  • December 20, 2024 (United States)
  • United States
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  • Man Up Film
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  • Runtime 1 hour 54 minutes

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COMMENTS

  1. The Tall Man (2012)

    TOP CRITIC. "The Tall Man" spits out enough scares and twists to maintain our interest, but the film's psycho-sociological layer is almost as cheesy and unconvincing as its low-rent action scenes ...

  2. The Tall Man

    The Tall Man is a fine thriller that tragically falls off the rails, spiraling into dark, morally corrupt territory. Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Oct 5, 2012. David Nusair Reel Film ...

  3. The Tall Man (2012)

    The widow nurse Julia Denning (Jessica Biel) lives in an isolated manor with her son David (Jakob Davies) and the housemaid Christine (Eve Harlow). When David is abducted by The Tall Man, Julia grabs on the back of his truck trying to save her son. But The Tall Man hits her and escapes with David. Lieutenant Dodd (Stephen McHattie), who is ...

  4. The Tall Man (2012)

    The Tall Man: Directed by Pascal Laugier. With Jessica Biel, Jodelle Ferland, Stephen McHattie, William B. Davis. When her child goes missing, a mother looks to unravel the legend of the Tall Man, an entity who allegedly abducts children.

  5. The Tall Man (2012 film)

    The Tall Man is a 2012 Canadian and French mystery - horror film written and directed by Pascal Laugier. It was filmed in the Kootenay region of Southeastern British Columbia [5] and stars Jessica Biel. The film is set in a small former mining town where poverty is rife and children are disappearing on a regular basis.

  6. 'The Tall Man,' a Thriller Directed by Pascal Laugier

    The Tall Man. NYT Critic's Pick. Directed by Pascal Laugier. Crime, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller. R. 1h 46m. By Jeannette Catsoulis. Aug. 30, 2012. Strange and sneaky and driven by a fury ...

  7. The Tall Man

    The Tall Man - Metacritic. 2012. R. Image Entertainment. 1 h 46 m. Summary In an isolated, slowly dying mining town, children are vanishing without a trace - abducted, the townsfolk whisper, by a mysterious entity known locally as "The Tall Man." Town nurse Julia Denning seems skeptical...until her young David disappears in the middle of ...

  8. The Tall Man (2012) [Reviews]

    Summary. Darkness has descended over the northwestern town of Cold Rock. One by one, its children are disappearing. They leave behind neither clues nor credible witnesses, but instead a legend, a ...

  9. The Tall Man (2012) Movie Review from Eye for Film

    Reviewed by: David Graham. Tweet. The wave of extreme horror pouring almost arterially out of France for the past decade arguably peaked with Pascal Laugier's repeated gut-punch Martyrs, which married torture-porn aesthetics and clichés to genuine substance, benefiting hugely from outstandingly emotive lead performances.

  10. Review: 'The Tall Man' is one tall tale too many

    Review: 'The Strangers - Chapter 1' is a rote rehash that lacks the original film's creepy suspense May 16, 2024 How these meaty speeches drive home the point in this season's awards films

  11. The Tall Man (2012)

    Build 3fc55b6 (7699) When her child goes missing, a mother looks to unravel the legend of the Tall Man, an entity who allegedly abducts children.

  12. The Tall Man (2012)

    The Tall Man 'Children Missing' Blu-ray Clip [Exclusive] DVD, Blu-ray Release Dates Jessica Biel stars in this abduction thriller, debuting on Blu-ray and DVD September 25.

  13. Review: The Tall Man

    The Tall Man illustrates the problem of class mobility with a dark, troubling premise that holds a harsh light up to our own assumptions and expectations through a process of revising what we thought we saw—and, in doing so, the film asks how much else might be blurry at first glance. Score: Cast: Jessica Biel, Jodelle Ferland, Stephen ...

  14. The Tall Man (2012)

    The Tall Man (2012) on IMDb: Movies, TV, Celebs, and more... Menu. Movies. Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. TV Shows. What's on TV & Streaming Top 250 TV Shows Most Popular TV Shows Browse TV Shows by Genre TV News.

  15. The Tall Man (2012)

    R 1 hr 46 min Aug 1st, 2012 Thriller, Horror, Mystery. When her child goes missing, a mother looks to unravel the legend of the Tall Man, an entity who allegedly abducts children. Starring Jessica ...

  16. The Tall Man (2012)

    The Tall Man (2012) - Movies, TV, Celebs, and more... Menu. Movies. ... Metacritic reviews. The Tall Man. 52. Metascore. 8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com. 90. The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis. ... The Tall Man becomes less gripping as it grows more ridiculous. 38. New York Post Kyle Smith.

  17. The Tall Man (2012)

    Description by Wikipedia. The Tall Man is a 2012 Canadian and French mystery-horror film written and directed by Pascal Laugier. It was filmed in the Kootenay region of Southeastern British Columbia and stars Jessica Biel. The film is set in a small former mining town where poverty is rife and children are disappearing on a regular basis.

  18. THE TALL MAN

    Jessica Biel stars in THE TALL MAN as Julia, a nurse in a rural, desolate town left reeling by the collapse of its mining industry. Narration by a mysterious teenage girl reveals the town has had 18 children disappear in the last few years. The townsfolk blame a shadowy figure called The Tall Man. Julia doesn't believe in The Tall Man.

  19. Film Review: The Tall Man (2012)

    Adrian Halen 05/24/2021 Film Reviews. SYNOPSIS: When her child goes missing, a mother looks to unravel the legend of the Tall Man, an entity who allegedly abducts children. REVIEW: I had heard about a film titled " The Tall Man " and had instantly pictured in my head imagery of Angus Scrimm reprising his role as the ghoul-toting funeral ...

  20. The Tall Man (2012) Stream and Watch Online

    Released August 1st, 2012, 'The Tall Man' stars Jessica Biel, Jodelle Ferland, Stephen McHattie, Jakob Davies The R movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 46 min, ... Movie Reviews. 65.

  21. The Tall Man (2012)

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  22. Horror Movie Review: The Tall Man (2012)

    The Tall Man is a mystery-horror thriller film that was directed by Pascal Laugier (Martyrs), it released in 2012. The film is set in a small former mining town where poverty is rife and children are disappearing on a regular basis. The abductions are blamed on a local legend called "The Tall Man." Jessica Biel plays a widowed nurse whose ...

  23. The Tall Man (2012)

    The Tall Man refuses payment, saying that the organization faces massive risks to rescue each child, with Julia martyring herself to save the organization. In Cold Rock, Jenny's birth mother grieves over her runaway daughter, the town continues to decline, and Julia sits in prison.

  24. Babygirl (2024)

    Babygirl: Directed by Halina Reijn. With Nicole Kidman, Antonio Banderas, Harris Dickinson, Sophie Wilde. A high-powered CEO puts her career and family on the line when she begins a torrid affair with her much younger intern.