marble hornets review™

I'm going to watch and review every Marble Hornets and ToTheArk entry, in order, right here on tumblr dot com. Spooky!

[moonlightfaust-deactivated20240]

キングスフィールドⅢ King’s Field III (PS1, 1996)

[marblehornetsreview]

Entry #10 - marblehornetsreview

Entry #10 Uploaded 29th July 2009

It’s time for Entry #10. It’s a banger. A classic. A real Alex Kralie Production. Hey, if you’re reading this, consider giving a like or a reblog. I am still kicking into gear and a very small blog, I would love to connect with more members of the community! Bless your cotton socks. On with the review below!

A straightforward caption to start the entry. Alex is in danger. It’s worth noting that this entry is, once again, without sound. A master stroke of these early entries, and a stark contrast to the later entries’ intricate and maximalist sound design.

YouTube’s compression does wonders for the mystique of this instalment, as Alex fumbles his way through a wooded area in the dark, his way lit only by torch light. Torch light that does nothing but tantalise us, providing no clear images to latch onto as Alex teases us with frustratingly brief glimpses of foliage and the ground beneath him.

We glimpse, for barely more than a single pixellated frame, The Operator looming in the dark. Alex immediately runs.

After a few scattered moments as Alex seems to make a run for it, we glimpse his face for a moment as he stops to check out his surroundings. A moment of calm before the storm - has Alex lost his pursuer?

No, he has not. Alex turns his torch into the darkness and we finally get a clear and terrifying look at the Operator, apparently following Alex through the trees. This is enough for Alex, and he once again hits the road at a frantic pace.

The entry ends.We’re left wondering what happened to Alex after this. We’re left wondering how it got to this point.

Entry #10 is another stellar early instalment in the Marble Hornets canon. These early episodes, apparently shot in large chunks as Troy Wagner and Joseph Delage came up with and wrote down ideas, are brimming with youthful creative energy and artistic flourishes that will transform and change over time as the series progresses.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Marble Hornets is watching Troy, Joseph and Tim learn and grow as filmmakers as they develop their own styles and engage with the parts of the process that interest them most. The idea of an Operator appearance in Season 3 being completely silent is off the cards completely - by then, Troy (and eventually Tim)’s love for sound design and editing had bloomed, and we awaited each entry in anticipation of the intricate and complex editing that each entry and ToTheArk video would showcase. An Operator appearance without the accompanying visual distortion and tearing? Talk about Early Instalment Weirdness!

Taken out of context, these bite-sized Season 1 entries have more in common with creepypasta stories than the horror films and mystery stories that primarily influenced the bulk of the series from Season 2 onwards. They’re also wildly digestible, and this shows in the view counts of the early episodes. Share them with your friends! Check out these videos! Are they real? Who knows?! (They are not real).

That’s about it from me today. I’ll see you next time.

⨂

[marblehornetsreview]

Entry #10 - marblehornetsreview

Entry #10 Uploaded 29th July 2009

It’s time for Entry #10. It’s a banger. A classic. A real Alex Kralie Production. Hey, if you’re reading this, consider giving a like or a reblog. I am still kicking into gear and a very small blog, I would love to connect with more members of the community! Bless your cotton socks. On with the review below!

A straightforward caption to start the entry. Alex is in danger. It’s worth noting that this entry is, once again, without sound. A master stroke of these early entries, and a stark contrast to the later entries’ intricate and maximalist sound design.

YouTube’s compression does wonders for the mystique of this instalment, as Alex fumbles his way through a wooded area in the dark, his way lit only by torch light. Torch light that does nothing but tantalise us, providing no clear images to latch onto as Alex teases us with frustratingly brief glimpses of foliage and the ground beneath him.

We glimpse, for barely more than a single pixellated frame, The Operator looming in the dark. Alex immediately runs.

After a few scattered moments as Alex seems to make a run for it, we glimpse his face for a moment as he stops to check out his surroundings. A moment of calm before the storm - has Alex lost his pursuer?

No, he has not. Alex turns his torch into the darkness and we finally get a clear and terrifying look at the Operator, apparently following Alex through the trees. This is enough for Alex, and he once again hits the road at a frantic pace.

The entry ends.We’re left wondering what happened to Alex after this. We’re left wondering how it got to this point.

Entry #10 is another stellar early instalment in the Marble Hornets canon. These early episodes, apparently shot in large chunks as Troy Wagner and Joseph Delage came up with and wrote down ideas, are brimming with youthful creative energy and artistic flourishes that will transform and change over time as the series progresses.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Marble Hornets is watching Troy, Joseph and Tim learn and grow as filmmakers as they develop their own styles and engage with the parts of the process that interest them most. The idea of an Operator appearance in Season 3 being completely silent is off the cards completely - by then, Troy (and eventually Tim)’s love for sound design and editing had bloomed, and we awaited each entry in anticipation of the intricate and complex editing that each entry and ToTheArk video would showcase. An Operator appearance without the accompanying visual distortion and tearing? Talk about Early Instalment Weirdness!

Taken out of context, these bite-sized Season 1 entries have more in common with creepypasta stories than the horror films and mystery stories that primarily influenced the bulk of the series from Season 2 onwards. They’re also wildly digestible, and this shows in the view counts of the early episodes. Share them with your friends! Check out these videos! Are they real? Who knows?! (They are not real).

That’s about it from me today. I’ll see you next time.

⨂

[marblehornetsreview]

totheark "regards" - marblehornetsreview

"regards" Uploaded 23rd July 2009

Our first totheark entry.

Loud, atonal, grinding noise. Blocks of slashes.

Closely.

Really minimalistic, yet still stylish editing. Really cool stuff, but consider this video when we near the end of the series and compare how Troy Wagner’s editing style develops and grows throughout Marble Hornets’ run. We’ve got a while to go until then, however!

Regards. ⨂ 

[marblehornetsreview]

Entry #9 - marblehornetsreview

Entry #9 Uploaded 20th July 2009

Here we go, baby. It’s 2023. I’ve aged several years. We’re once again reviewing seminal found footage YouTube series Marble Hornets, one episode at a time. Alex brought his dog.

Jay pre-emptively leaps to Alex’s defense here, before we are abruptly given our very first proper glimpse of Tim, the third and final main character of the series. Tim will become a special boy, but for now he is simply a part of Alex’s shitty student film.

Some good sass here from Alex and Tim, as we glimpse a profoundly uncomfortable shoot. Alex demands repeat takes, and barks orders at Tim. I have always found the on-screen dynamic between the three Marble Hornets protagonists fascinating - it’s a well-known phenomenon among the MH community that people find comfort and safety in these characters, which contrasts greatly with their mostly prickly on-screen presentation. But I digress.

Alex berates Seth for not having the camera rolling during the break. Seth, you stupid fucking dumbass, he says. You colossal piece of ignorant shit, there’s an eight-foot-tall cryptic in a suit after me, make sure you get that shit on tape. Look at Seth’s little face, like a wounded dog. Speaking of dogs…

Alex is furious Seth brought his dog! He then throws an angry “learn your lines!” at his unpaid actors, before saying he isn’t paying them because they’re not very good. “You spent so much money on tapes you couldn’t afford actors, anyway,” says Tim. This is clever! We know the characters are aware of, and confused by, Alex’s erratic behaviour. There are alarm bells ringing here.

I like this entry. It establishes a few things that will become mainstays of the series going forward, conveys new and interesting information to the audience, and features a couple of iconic Alex/Tim zingers. Fan theories give huge significance to Seth, too, so his appearance here is notable. Not a spook ep, but a good one.

Hmm. Yeah. I s’pose. We could argue about Alex all day (and I’m sure we will!). That about wraps it up for Entry #9, see you next time. ⨂ 

[lesbiantimwright]

[marblehornetsreview]

Entry #8 - marblehornetsreview

Entry #8 Uploaded 12th July 2009

This one's what you call a breather episode, folks. Alex Kralie is seen filming himself as he scrawls on a piece of paper amongst dozens scattered on a table. We can't really make out any of the scratchy writings or drawings, and Alex stops writing as the entry's audio cuts out. We see Alex flick off a light, and our trusty narrator notes that the rest of the video is too dark to see.

We're slowly but surely being given information, and if anything these early entries serve to teach us how Marble Hornets is going to operate. To enjoy Marble Hornets is to get onboard with the unconventional, non-linear way it tells its story. From the outside the series seems almost punishing in its complexity, but once you've adjusted to being given seemingly irrelevant information at random - as if someone were pulling unlabeled tapes from a box - you'll find the bare bones of the story to be relatively simple and easy to piece together.

What was it that Alex writing in this clip? Help? Hell? Helicopter? I guess we'll never know. There's just absolutely no way to ever find out. See you next time. ⨂

[marblehornetsreview]

Entry #7 - marblehornetsreview

Entry #7 Uploaded 7th July 2009

In which Brian makes his understated debut, taking up residence in our collective hearts forever. Jay lets us know that this entry consists entirely of raw footage from Alex Kralie's Marble Hornets production, and we see just how terrible this film was going to be, as Alex films Brian in the front seat of a car. They make reference to another character in the back seat, but she is neither seen nor heard. After some endearing pre-take chatter, Alex calls action and shoots an adorable but unconvincing take of Brian delivering Alex's horrendous dialogue (”maybe this town has grown up”), before spotting a familiar sinister silhouette in the distance. Alex declares that they’re done shooting, and despite questioning from Brian, fumbles with his keys and starts the car. There's a burst of Operator Distortion™ and the entry ends.

Brian's a sweetheart, and the inclusion of genuine banter between his character and Joseph DeLage’s Alex at the beginning of this clip really help sell their relationship and the realism of the entry as a whole. The "movie within a webseries" framework presents Brian's barely concealed smile and stilted delivery as part of his character, and I'm genuinely creeped out every time the tone turns sour near the end as Alex panics. The scare in this one is understated and more driven by Alex's reaction than it is by the Operator's lurking background presence, and these early entries are notable for lacking the varied distortion techniques used to signal the Operator's appearance (and frighten us) later in the series.

Sometimes simple is good, and these early Marble Hornets entries have a strange quality to them that sits in your brain and comes back to you when your mind is wandering. Horror movies make me jump. This stuff gives me nightmares. See you next time. ⨂ 

[marblehornetsreview]

Entry #6 - marblehornetsreview

Entry #6 Uploaded 4th July 2009

Full disclosure: this edition of marblehornetsreview™ is being written as I devour a strong coffee and a bacon sandwich. In Entry #6, Jay tells us he's found a piece of footage that corresponds with the first chilling sighting of the Operator from Entry #1, and then presents the footage for us to see. It's only a few seconds long, but we get a clear look at the Operator as he slowly moves around Alex Kralie's house. The clip ends... and that's the entry. Marble Hornets Season 1 is nothing if not economical.

I don't have a lot to say, really. You know what it is. This is peak internet horror, folks. No audio. Grainy, YouTube-compressed video. An Alabama man with pantyhose on his head, somehow scaring up about 3 million views and counting. It doesn't get any better than this. We now know it was Joseph DeLage playing the Operator, and Troy Wagner behind the camera, but in 2009 this brief clip of Alex Kralie being stalked by the Operator was as good as real - and it was terrifying. What more is there to say? See you next time. ⨂

[marblehornetsreview]

Entry #5 - marblehornetsreview

Entry #5 Uploaded 29th June 2009

Today we're talking about Entry #5, in which Jay, our unseen narrator, reveals that he helped with location scouting for Marble Hornets, and has discovered the footage he shot during this time. Alex and Jay discuss some of the (very underwhelming) story beats of Alex's film as they stand inside a gazebo in the woods, before the audio distorts and we lose parts of their conversation. We will return to this gazebo when the inimitable Tim Sutton makes his debut, but for now we move on.

Following this we see Alex and Jay in an open area, where they continue chatting about Alex's doomed project and discuss the strange red tower in the distance. The Tower, of course, will play a part soon enough, but for now Alex dismisses it as an old climbing wall or something used by the local fire department. There are instances of visual tearing and audio distortion in this section of the clip, too. Jay makes note of these anomalies, and shows us a quick compilation of the previous times we've seen it in the series so far.

I've lost count of how many times I have seen these early Marble Hornets entries, as they played on a near constant loop in our house when the series was in its early stages, and this might be the first time I've really taken notice of Alex's reference to The Tower being used by the fire department. I'm sure it was a throwaway line at the time, but it's a nice connection to later events in the series nonetheless.

This is a simple entry. I can't say it's a favourite - the audio distortion is deafening - but it's one that really sells the pace and realism of the show's format, and no doubt helped convince people of its authenticity. The early days of Marble Hornets were, for me, characterized by an unspoken and uncomfortable question: "but what if it's real, though?"

It's silly in retrospect, but entries like this, in which two Alabama dudes mumble about a crap student film by an old gazebo in the woods, almost convinced you that the unusual events seen in some earlier entries could really occur. Compounding this was the Marble Hornets team's relative secrecy prior to the official formation of THAC, and their commitment to staying in-character on all social media. We all knew it wasn't real, of course we did... But what if? See you next time. ⨂

[marblehornetsreview]

Entry #4 - marblehornetsreview

Entry #4 Uploaded 25th June 2009

Entry #4, in which our narrator alerts us of some further strangeness on the Marble Hornets tapes. He notes that this one also contains no audio track. We see a person, presumably Alex Kralie, wander through a playground as a swing set moves of its own free will, and some see-saws see and saw ominously. Right near the end we're treated to a quick, but fairly clear glimpse of the Operator, and then the entry is over.

What a banger this one is. Marble Hornets Season 1 is just full of short, solid entries like this one, solely consisting of Alex Kralie running around a playground getting spooked by the Operator. This is the kind of fiction that spreads like wildfire online, immediately catching on as people share it out of context to spook their friends or random strangers on the internet. 

This entry is complimented by a flashback entry in Season 3, and it makes this one look tame in comparison. But we're not there yet, and in the context of what we've seen so far and will see for the rest of Season 1, this one is up there. Marble Hornets definitely finds its feet and grows up later in its life, but there is something to be said for the beautiful simplicity of some of these early entries. See you next time. ⨂

[marblehornetsreview]

Entry #3 - marblehornetsreview

Entry #3 Uploaded 23rd June 2009 

Our as yet unnamed narrator (It's Jay. We all know it's Jay) has realised just how many of the tapes he received are unrelated to the filming of Alex Kralie's student film Marble Hornets. He has compiled footage (from twelve or so tapes) detailing Alex's erratic behaviour. Alex and his cool skate shoes were rolling tape constantly, so we're privy to everything: Alex purchasing more tapes, Alex driving around at night, Alex getting paranoid and peeking out of his blinds, Alex setting off the alarm on his now ancient slidy brick phone...

That's about it. Jay even notes that most of the tapes he's been through contain nothing substantial, and the footage from entry #1 is still his best lead. This is not a bad entry - we are slowly learning more about Alex with every piece of footage Jay chooses to share with us. We’re quickly going to learn, though, that the series is determined to have us asking even more questions before it even begins to dangle a single answer. See you next time.

⨂ 

[marblehornetsreview]

Entry #2 - marblehornetsreview

Entry #2 Uploaded 21st June 2009 

Alex brought his dog... for a walk, and encountered a "really tall guy" who gave him the creeps. Alex describes this to us as he drives back to see if the guy is still hanging around - and he's not. (Or is he?) This is entry #2, everybody. Otherwise known as the one we all spent hours of our lives going over to see if the Operator could be seen anywhere (he's not there, right? I'm going bananas over here. It's been years!)

Unlike the last entry, #2 has sound and we hear a human voice for the first time. Joseph DeLage does a good job here, as he does... most of the time throughout the show. The cast of Marble Hornets are at their strongest when the dialogue is casual and their understated delivery contrasts with the (excuse my French) sheer fucking terror of the things we're exposed to over the course of the series. Should I curse on this blog? What's the demographic here? Like, comment and subscribe to let me know if I should curse on this blog.

Every time I watch this entry I forget it cuts off at the end, and it never fails to give me the creeps. Did Alex reach the end of the tape? Did something else happen? Why don't we get to see Rocky, the dog? These are the questions that keep us coming back. See you next time. ⨂

[nick-nocturn-is-bi]

you're laughing. i told you i was doing a documentary about hotels and you're laughing

[marblehornetsreview]

Entry #1 - marblehornetsreview

Entry #1 Uploaded 20th June 2009

We're back for the first full installment of marblehornetsreview! These updates will definitely slow down, but for now I am rearing to go and ready to talk about a proper entry. And boy, what an entry it is. A masterpiece. A gem, I say.

Less than a minute long, with no sound besides a clip of looping distortion. The slightest bit of video tearing. The first chilling appearance of the Operator. A person we assume to be Alex Kralie points their camera out the window, and a faceless, suited humanoid snaps its head in their direction. It’s real nice, folks. A perfectly executed scare, and the video is over. Jay notes that he’ll be looking out for similar occurrences on the rest of the tapes.

This entry is so simple and economic that it’s beautiful. Show me a single person that can watch Entry #1 and not continue, transfixed, for at least a few more entries (assuming they don’t give up because it looks too fucking scary). Should I curse on this blog? I still don’t know if I should curse on this blog. Send me a letter in the mail telling me whether I should curse on this blog.

It’s a good one, folks. The scare is almost good enough for me not to mention that apparently the Operator in this entry was Joseph DeLage wearing stacks of flip-flops on his feet and pantyhose on his head. See you next time. ⨂ 

[marblehornetsreview]

Introduction - marblehornetsreview

WARNING: From here on out, beware of full spoilers for all Marble Hornets and ToTheArk entries.

Introduction Uploaded 20th June 2009

So, here I am. I'm going to go through every single entry, and every single ToTheArk video. I'll probably do the comics, too. I assume they'll be done before I can get around to writing about all of these. I've read the two that have been released so far, but I'm not telling you what I think about them because that's a spoiler.

Anyway, here's the introduction. An unseen narrator (It's Jay, we all know it's Jay) is uploading raw footage excerpts of a student film called Marble Hornets, directed by his old college friend Alex Kralie. By all accounts the film was terrible, but we don't know that yet. 

The driving footage we've been seeing so far fades to black, as we learn Alex was planning to burn the tapes before deciding to give them to Jay. Alex gave Jay the tapes under the condition that he never mention them again, then promptly moved away. Jay hasn't touched the tapes in three years, but has now decided to go through them and upload anything interesting that he finds. The tapes are all undated and out of order, so we're up shit creek as far as context goes. Should I curse on this blog? Let me know if I should curse on this blog.

How do I feel about this entry? It's simple. It's creepy. It's the introduction video. It sets the pace and tone for what we’re getting in for, at least initially. There's not a lot to say other than I have been programmed to fear white text on a black background by this series, and there's no coming back from that. See you next time. ⨂

[the-pretend-fairyland]

I had this thought in my head for so long, I finally had to create it (Youtube version)