The Man in the White Van: A Chilling 70s Horror Thriller

Introduction

In an era defined by both innocence and lurking danger, The Man in the White Van plunges us into a chilling narrative that intertwines the fears of youth with the stark reality of a predatory threat. Directed by Warren Skeets and set against the backdrop of 1970s Florida, this film reinvigorates the horror genre by grounding its story in real events that echo the anxieties of a generation. As we follow the harrowing journey of Annie, a teenager whose warnings go unheard, the film explores themes of disbelief and the very real dangers that can hide behind ordinary facades. With a blend of nostalgic charm and suspenseful storytelling, this thriller promises to resonate with audiences while reminding us of a time when innocence could easily be shattered.

Release date: 13 December 2024

Director: Warren Skeels

Distributed by: Relativity Media

The Man in the White Van

A Horror Movie Review by Hope Madden

A teen prone to exaggeration is disbelieved when she tells of a white van following her around her small Florida town. Working from a script he wrote with Sharon Y. Cobb, director Warren Skeets recreates a time when doors were left unlocked, and rebels were listening to Credence instead of the Partridge Family for his true crime thriller The Man in the White Van.

It’s 1975, but as Annie (Madison Wolfe, The Conjuring 2) tries to protect herself, Skeets takes us back to 1974, 1973, 1972, 1971, 1970 with the menacing van and the other girls nobody believed.  

The story is ostensibly based on Billy Mansfield Jr.’s Seventies era crime fest, although no name is given to the driver stalking Florida streets. Skeets’s framing device—present-day Seventies storytelling punctuated with vignettes from across the murder spree—is reminiscent of Anna Kendrick’s Woman of the Hour. But where Kendrick used cutaways to serial killer Rodney Alcala’s previous victims to deepen our understanding of the villain and humanize his victims, Skeets uses it to tweak tension as we wait for what is to come for young Annie.

Skeets also develops anxiety with Seventies style hijinks—the frustration of a busy signal and rotary phone dialing when in a real hurry.  

Ali Larter and Sean Astin, who also serve as executive producers, help to generate a believable family dynamic as Annie’s loving but skeptical parents. Though the balance of performances are not bad, the writing is superficial enough that the ensemble can’t carve out much in the way of personality. Worse, scenes last a beat too long, the camera often lingering on each line long enough that the unnaturalness, the performance itself, becomes evident.

Interestingly, there’s something about this particular falseness and the sloppiness in the script that actually reflects Seventies horror, which is kind of fun—sort of the The Town that Dreaded Sundown era, before tropes dug in and determined every story beat.

Where Kendrick attempted to push the conversation about serial murder and horror in a fresh direction, Skeets reaches back toward an older version of the story. It doesn’t make for as compelling a film, but The Man in the White Van has its charm.