When you think about the legends of modern horror, Stephen King would definitely be near the top of that list or perhaps on the top of it. That being said, if we compiled a list of great Stephen King films and compared them to the list of terrible Stephen King films, there might be an equal amount on both sides. This one definitely belongs in the "terrible" section.
I really enjoy horror films and have been at a loss lately to find anything new that can even be remotely considered good. so when I saw there was a new Stephen King film I thought there was a good chance it would be a real winner... and was terribly wrong.
The story is supernatural in nature and just as the name would literally suggest, the entire film takes place inside an area of tall grass. Horror and suspense are provided by a sense of claustrophobia provided by the grass itself. The tall grass is possessed by some sort of evil power. Once you enter the tall grass, you can't get out simply by turning around. Time and space are dictated by the grass and some evil rock that lies in the middle of it.
The first people to enter are a brother and sister combo who pull over in rural Kansas because the pregnant sister needs to throw up. Once done with that ordeal, they hear a young boy shouting for help. His voice sounds very close so they both run into the field to find him, only to get frustrated because no matter how far they go into the field his voice doesn't seem to get any closer. They become hopelessly lost in the field and no matter how far they walk in any direction, they don't ever get any closer to an exit. They can't even find one another. That's pretty much the entire film.
There are a lot of annoying elements to this movie such as continual arguing among everyone which i suppose was necessary to fill the 90 minutes since there is no real plot here. Plus the "feeling boxed in" eerie-ness that the tall grass provides kind of wears thin after 5 minutes or so.
Then of course there is the glaring inconsistencies such as the various scenes that are presented where the grass is extremely NOT tall. Plus Tobin (the little boy pictured above and the person who beckoned them into the field in the first place) switches back and forth from being evil to being one of the "good guys" and again, there is nothing in the film that presents why this would happen.
from Movieclip's channel on YT
I have been lured in to many a Stephen King film based solely upon his name being attached to it. The last couple of King movies I saw that were actually really good weren't actually horror films at all (Shawshank and Green Mile.) I don't know if King has just exhausted all of his horror ideas (which would be understandable since he has been doing this for 50 years or so) but this is just another one of those skippable films that fails to deliver in any sort of appealing way.
By the time the story is finished you are not surprised by the result... mostly you are just glad the movie is over. If I were to compile a list of horror films from best to worst, this one would be near the end on the "bad" side of the spectrum.
My overall opinion?
