The Tall Man (2012) - from Pascal Laugier (director of MARTYRS)

[3D4ever]

I got my copy this week and I love it! I don't know if anyone has seen Martyrs, IMO one of the greatest horror films ever made, but this is completely different. The Tall Man was wrongly sold as a horror film too, but it's more a thriller/drama, with lots of WTF moments and twists until the very end. Lots of people have been disappointed on IMDb because they were expecting the horror film they were sold, but if you don't know anything about it, I'm sure you will find it as memorable as Martyrs. Like that film, it seems to starts as a normal genre film, only to become something completely different, with an ending that finally explains what the hell is going on. Check it out, only £10 from ASDA online...

[Impossible]

Martyrs is one of my favourite films ever, but I heard very mixed things about this. I might give it a look when the price drops a bit more.

[rjf78]

absolutely hated this. pretentious nonsense with some utterly preposterous plot twists and a dubious message.

[legendarymatt92]

I've seen Martyrs but, for me, it wasn't so much escapist film than an endurance test. It's designed to be as shocking and horrifying as possible and that's quite distinct from enjoyment for me, although I do admire it somewhat.

Will try and check this out at some point, though.

[Akijama]

Originally Posted by rjf78

absolutely hated this. pretentious nonsense with some utterly preposterous plot twists and a dubious message.

Agreed. Terrible film.

[ghidorah]

Originally Posted by Akijama

Agreed. Terrible film.

Disagree. Brilliant film!

[Impossible]

Originally Posted by legendarymatt92

I've seen Martyrs but, for me, it wasn't so much escapist film than an endurance test. It's designed to be as shocking and horrifying as possible and that's quite distinct from enjoyment for me, although I do admire it somewhat.

Will try and check this out at some point, though.

It's not an enjoyable film to endure that's for sure, but it's overall message is a powerful one. Personally I'd rather violence portrayed in this way as it shows it as the repugnant thing that it is, instead of just being something that's meaningless and throwaway.

[3D4ever]

Originally Posted by rjf78

absolutely hated this. pretentious nonsense with some utterly preposterous plot twists and a dubious message.

Funny, people who didn't like Martyrs were saying the same thing...

The message was not dubious, it was very ambiguous; the "solution" is almost begging for approval from the viewer at the end. It generated lots of discussions afterwards about society, poverty etc. At least it makes you think about the social issues at the heart of the story. Not something that the average film achieves...

[legendarymatt92]

Originally Posted by Impossible

It's not an enjoyable film to endure that's for sure, but it's overall message is a powerful one. Personally I'd rather violence portrayed in this way as it shows it as the repugnant thing that it is, instead of just being something that's meaningless and throwaway.

Oh, I certainly commend aspects of it -- I think it's impressively horrific and its themes are important -- but I don't like it. I don't feel it should be liked because it's almost designed not to be; it tests the limits of film-making, it pushes the boundaries of decency and taste, in order to emotionally affect viewers in an unpleasant way.

[Impossible]

Originally Posted by legendarymatt92

Oh, I certainly commend aspects of it -- I think it's impressively horrific and its themes are important -- but I don't like it. I don't feel it should be liked because it's almost designed not to be; it tests the limits of film-making, it pushes the boundaries of decency and taste, in order to emotionally affect viewers in an unpleasant way.

We do worse to human beings now in the name of many different causes. Yes it's designed to shock and disgust us, but in reality this shit goes on every day and we let it happen.

[BigNickUK]

Martyrs was good (feels weird describing it that way as it was shocking). This was absolute pants. Highly predictable and about as scary as a plate of monkfish

[Impossible]

Watched this last night. I really enjoyed it even though some of the acting was a bit ropey & I predicted halfway through what was going on.

I think some people on here should look up the meaning of the word pretentious as there was nothing pretentious about it in the slightest

[3D4ever]

Originally Posted by Impossible

Watched this last night. I really enjoyed it even though some of the acting was a bit ropey & I predicted halfway through what was going on.

I think some people on here should look up the meaning of the word pretentious as there was nothing pretentious about it in the slightest

Glad you liked it. I don't know about pretentious, but the above comment saying "not scary" proves that the movie was badly marketed. With a title, poster and trailer that imply a horror film, no wonder it was disappointing for some, if not many.

Ironically, the original title was "The Secret" (Pascal Laugier even released the movie under this name in his native France). I can only imagine the marketing team in the US deciding that calling it "The Tall Man" would fool people into buying more tickets. Idiots!!

[BigNickUK]

Originally Posted by 3D4ever

Glad you liked it. I don't know about pretentious, but the above comment saying "not scary" proves that the movie was badly marketed. With a title, poster and trailer that imply a horror film, no wonder it was disappointing for some, if not many.

Ironically, the original title was "The Secret" (Pascal Laugier even released the movie under this name in his native France). I can only imagine the marketing team in the US deciding that calling it "The Tall Man" would fool people into buying more tickets. Idiots!!

Did you not find Zodiac, Shutter Island, Identity or Seven scary in places?