MovieChat Forums > Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story (2015) Discussion > Not bad found footage, but fails as a Ma...

Not bad found footage, but fails as a Marble Hornets movie


'm a huge fan of the original series, seen all the videos at least once. One of the most disappointing things about this movie to me was that it's almost completely devoid of the style that made MH what it was, to the point that this movie would he more accurately called "Slender Man with a creepy symbol repeated over and over: Always Watching). Now for some specific examples of how it didn't fit the style IMO:

1. The first scene was the worst scene in the entire film because it immediately destroyed any sort of tension or anxiety regarding the Operator. I feel like it's Horror Filmmaking 101 to NOT reveal your monster in the very first scene, especially when doing so badly clashes with your source material. It was well into the series, at least 10 episodes I believe, before we got a full look at the Operator (as opposed to a shadow or him being in the background or something). Also, I hated how they immediately showed his powers in the first scene, because that immediately destroyed the ambiguity that surrounded the Operator in the original series. It wasn't really clear in the series that he could control people until much later, and IIRC his teleportation powers weren't immediately revealed either. Overall, I just felt like the first scene was completely out of place, and it significantly lessened the anxiety and tension that a more intelligent reveal would have had later in the film.

2. The abundance of "in your face" Operator appearances was way out of line with the original series. Then, you'd usually only see him in the background in some way, and full on appearances were MUCH more satisfying because of it. Here though, it seems like there's far too many full appearances of the Operator, and not a one of them is scary because they're all signaled by amazingly obnoxious visual or audio effects. Yes, I am aware that the original series had the screen tearing effect whenever the Operator appeared, but it was never as obvious or garish as the effects used here.

3. Speaking of the effects, they somehow seem to be of lower quality than those in the original series! The Operator too somehow looks worse here, from the fact that he looks like a spindly guy with pantyhose on his head, and also that he's completely average height. When the Operator and effects in your big budget movie look worse than the ones in your low budget source, you've done something wrong.

4. Hardly any references to the series other than the "box of tapes," the symbol and the Alex R Kralie sign at the gas station. This movie lacked many of the more interesting aspects of the series, including maskies, the physical effects of being close to the Operator for too long, and the time travel/teleportation mechanic often used. I realize these things may have been difficult to work into a 1.5 hr movie, but I wish they would have at least tried.


Overall, while I did enjoy the movie and thought it worked as a found footage film, it just didn't feel like a Marble Hornets movie. 6/10 found footage 2/10 Marble Hornets movie

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