Rainy Saturday nights call for average Netflix horror films. Tonight's was In the Tall Grass, another Stephen King adaptation. I decided to watch it since Dead Meat recently released a podcast on the film. I got a quick rundown of the novella on the podcast before jumping into watching the film. This film was about an hour too long.
Starting off with my positives, Patrick Wilson was great in this per usual. I absolutely love him in everything I have watched him in. He got to let loose in this film; his character was over the top. I loved it, however. You could tell he was having a lot of fun in the role. I liked a lot of the shots in this film; there were a lot of interesting macro shots. I was a big fan of the general look of the film, especially at night. Even though I wasn't a huge fan of the third act, there was some particularly horrifying imagery. I really liked a certain scene with arms coming out of the ground. This film goes there at one point. If you've seen the film, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
Based on my general knowledge of the novella, this film seemed to be way too long in regards to the source material. You could tell that the film was beginning to run out of ideas, straying away from the short source material. I feel like this film would have been most effective as a 20-minute short film that ended with the first day-to-night cut.
The acting, outside of Patrick Wilson, was extremely lackluster, in my opinion. The two main characters, Becky and Cal DeMuth are portrayed by Laysla De Oliveira and Avery Whitted. I wasn't a fan of either of them personally. Avery Whitted, in particular, was pretty bad. It didn't help that his character was unbearably annoying. I was actively hoping he would die in the film about halfway through the runtime.
The script itself is pretty messy; it seems like a common problem in Netflix horror films. The direct day-to-night cuts are particularly jarring. I didn't like the entire time-loop concept that presents itself around half-way through. It was never explained to any extent and was simply unnecessary.
In conclusion, In the Tall Grass is not the worst and certainly not the best Stephen King adaptation. Creepy imagery and Patrick Wilson's fun performance can't completely save the film's weak plot.
5.5/10
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