Martyrs left me traumatised. Pascal Laugier’s French extreme horror flick was a truly grueling experience whose overall effect lesser horror films could only dream of achieving. I actually voted for Martyrs in my Time Out Best 100 Horror contribution back in April (click on the highlighted link to read).

Laugier has returned to filmmaking with an American set picture (always a potentially hazardous move for Euro directors) with The Tall Man and a French trailer (it’s in English with French subs, so don’t panic) has landed online.

The Tall Man is Laugier’s third picture and along with Saint Ange (aka House of Voices, 2003) and the masterful but horrific Martyrs, nightmarish scenarios centred on childhood and fears for our children is most strikingly apparent.

Early word on The Tall Man is not good for some reason. The trailer, at least the setup, recalls Silent Hill to some extent with a person travelling to a deserted town. Laugier was one-time assistant to Christophe Gans (who directed the movie adaptation of the video game Silent Hill). It does look a slightly generic sort of kidnap movie but is Laugier luring the audience into a false sense of genre security? Or is Laugier going a bit mainstream and delivering something way more toothless than the incredible Martyrs?

The Tall Man opens in the US on 31st August. There is no UK release date pegged yet and neither is it playing at this year’s Film4 FrightFest. Which is a bit odd.

In an isolated, slowly dying mining town, children are vanishing without a trace – abducted, the townsfolk whisper, by a mysterious entity known locally as “The Tall Man.” Town nurse Julia Denning (Jessica Biel) seems skeptical…until her young David disappears in the middle of night. Frantic to rescue the boy, Julia lives every parent’s darkest nightmare in this twisting, shock-around-each-corner thriller from acclaimed director Pascal Laugier (“Martyrs”) called THE TALL MAN.

UK Release Date: TBC
US Release Date: 31st August