Good acting, but not very scary or atmospheric

I was very disappointed that the film didn't take advantage of the fact that a lot of the most effectively scary Slenderman stories take place in deeply rural/wooded areas. The setting was truly the most effective part of Slender: The Arrival, for instance. There were some moments in the third act, but it wasn't enough.

I was also very surprised the movie didn't use some variation of the "proxy" - you'd think that would have been a no-brainer. Considering the way they used Slender/The Operator as some incorporeal mindscrew, the stakes never really felt that high or "immediate", and using the proxy concept would have upped the tension by so much. I thought that's where the filmmakers were going with that family, but nope.

That said, the main three actors did a great job, and there was effort made on the writer's part to at least try to make them recognizably human, each with considerable but relatable flaws of their own.

Hopefully we can get a really effective Slenderman movie from a production team that really understands what makes him and the whole mythos scary, but this wan't it.