“In the Tall Grass” is an aggressively fine horror movie. Netflix’s new horror offering is based on the short story of the same title by Stephen King and his son Joe Hill. In the midst of a cross-country road trip, siblings Cal (Avery Whitted) and a very pregnant Becky (Laysla De Oliveira) pull over alongside a field of unusually tall grass. They hear a boy named Tobin cry out for help, so they enter the grass with the intent of rescuing him. Within minutes, the siblings realize there’s something up with this field.
The one-location gimmick is a great tool for horror movies. Take “Saw” and “The Cabin in the Woods” — one of the more memorable things about each of those movies is that they essentially take place in one location. That gives the actors more room for their performances to really carry the film, and the writers/director can really focus on intensifying the levels of dread in that one location.
You can probably guess the (almost) sole location of “In the Tall Grass” — a field of very tall grass. This setting should have great potential for horror. With grass that reaches heights above your head, you don’t know who’s watching you. And, should someone approach, you will hear them before you see them. Both great ways to build dread.
“In the Tall Grass” doesn’t really seize that opportunity. Instead, the film follows its source material and veers hard in to the supernatural. The movie is filled with things such as time loops and an all-knowing boulder. There’s not many good scares built around these opportunities. This movie is full more of bonkers “WTF” moments than anything. And unfortunately, the film does not do a great job of neatly sewing those moments together.
But the one thing “In the Tall Grass” has going for it? Patrick Wilson. If there was a male version of a “Scream Queen,” (and frankly, how is there not?) Wilson would take the crown. Between “The Conjuring” and the “Insidious” franchises, Wilson knows his way around a horror movie. It fits him like a glove. He’s mastered the balance of light and airy and dark intensity in these performances, which is the perfect vibe for a horror movie. His castmates in “In the Tall Grass” are rather forgettable compared to him. The only moments of energy this film has is when Wilson is on the screen.
Stephen King is notorious for his bad endings. “In the Tall Grass” falls victim to that as well. It’s just anticlimactic. The short story would have been better-served if it was 60-minute episode in a horror anthology series.
