The Empty Man - Movie Review

As much as we all enjoy movies now-a-days you got admit to yourself that movies aren't what they used to be. It takes a lot of effort, time, and luck to get your own original project made because studios and their executives are all about one thing: Money. Not entertaining people, but getting their hands into our wallets to get every last penny out of us. Just look at Disney, they push their live-action remakes so hard because they know that even if they suck in quality and ratings they're going to make a ton of profit. Not long ago they bought out 20th Century Studios/ Fox Studios and they are now rolling in more money. With this merger a number of filmmakers have had their works sabotaged and making original films has become harder. People who had believed and wanted to promote the work of these filmmakers are replaced by business executives that only want to hear about profit. Which brings us this week's movie: The Empty Man.

The Empty Man is a film about an ex-cop, James Lasombra (James Badge Dale), living his life his normal life while working at a security store in Missouri. One day though a friend of his, Nora (Marin Ireland), discovers that her daughter is missing and the words "The Empty Man made me do it" written on the walls of their bathroom. James starts to investigate into the disappearance and this mysterious Empty Man keeps popping up, leading him to mysterious locations. To make matters worse this entity might be after James as well and soon it becomes a race against the clock to find out what is going on. I could go into more, I really do not want to spoil anything, but there will be a couple throughout this review.

When I first heard about this film I had a good laugh because the name reminded me of 2017's The Bye Bye Man, a horror movie so bad that it has become a meme and a joke across the internet. I mean The Empty Man? Really? Sounds like a stupid and laughable film. But recently the name started popping up and one of my biggest idols in filmmaking/ film reviews, Chris Stuckmann, made a view called, "The Empty Man Deserves a Cult Following." It wasn't like his usual movie reviews titled "[Insert Movie Title] - Movie Review" this one had a unique name to it. That instantly caught my attention I delved a little into the review before he reached the part where was going to talk about spoilers. That made me stop and think for a while. I learned that the film's official trailer was released a week before the movie came out in the theaters, that the film was supposed to be released back in August of 2017, and that the original people behind the film, that backed the director, David Prior, hard in his ideas were removed and replaced with new people who had no idea or hardly any care about the film itself.

Now if you have seen the film and didn't like it or are not interested in seeing The Empty Man that's okay. This film is not for everyone and when I first watched it with a friend we were weirded out (not in a bad way). But this movie is what many filmmakers would kill to make: An original film with a ton of money and professionals behind it in which the director is allowed to really exploring an interesting concept, take their time in developing the film and its ideas, and not worry about executives breathing down their necks. The Empty Man has surprised me in so many ways and upon rewatch I've discovered a fascinating and very-well crafted film that had a lot of back luck to it when it came to marketing and business. But I believe because of how well directed it is, along with its unique story elements, that The Empty Man will gain a huge cult following in the years to come. As shown already this is becoming true.

The film starts off with a 20 minute prologue before the title appears, which was extremely long for an intro. When it comes to filmmaking a big the rule is that you got to capture your audiences attention in less than 15 minutes. Now that's not to say the start of the film was boring at all, it was very interesting in fact and I was hooked when our starting characters come across a giant human skeleton in a cavern, one with multiple arms that have too many fingers and in a weird, creepy pose. Me and my friend when we first saw this skeleton thought, "What the fuck is that?!" Then some horrible and creepy things happens with these four starting characters and after that they're never really brought up again in the film. Some people might not like this opening because it feels pointless and unnecessary. But to me and other fans of The Empty Man it does have importance to it: It's a unique way of starting a horror movie, it creates a bit of mystery to our mysterious entity, and sets up some of the rules of the world. Yes, a lot of other horror films have done this too, but the execution of it in this horror movie was done a lot better than in other horror movies because I was a lot more invested and nervous about the rest of the film.

This brings us to the present day with James Lasombra and the main story of the movie where John learns of his missing girl and begins to investigate this disappearance. The search for clues sends James down a rabbit hole leading to hanged bodies, a strange institute, and a camp out in the middle of nowhere. As I was watching the film it reminded me of a lot of popular works from H.P. Lovecraft. I love H.P. Lovecraft, he has always fascinated me with his dark, eldrich concepts and mind-bending/ mind-crippling imagery, all of which (and more) left a more terrifying impression on me. This horror movies has very few jumpscares and they're a mix of real, scary fake-outs and false ones (which did disappoint me some). As my friend and I watched the film though we were totally gripped by our main character's journey, his desire to solve this mystery, and him trying to deny that these supernatural events that begin to happen around him are real. James Badge Dale puts on a really strong performance in this film, he's so believable and relatable and I just loved it!

This leads us to a major strength of the movie, which is that David Prior did not look down on his viewers. This could make the film less watchable for people who want direct answers, but to others it shows how smart the film can be by letting us viewers really digest and think over what we see. Similar to M. Night Shaymalan, Prior puts trust in his audience, allowing them be pulled into the story and Jame's journey naturally, leading viewers to become more invested in what's going on. This institute that James starts to look into and thinks might be connected to the disappearance continually plays hard to get, giving James (and us the audience) answers that aren't clear, but not just fucking with us meaninglessly. Like how would you react in being told that people you talk to are worshiping some sort of weird entity that tells them mysterious things? Probably disbelieving. That's what we get out of our main character. My friend and I connected with James and his struggles, really wanting to uncover what is going on. This isn't like Nicolas Cage's The Wickerman (2006) where things happen that don't make sense at all, with the world's rule are continually broken, and are just there to surprise the audience. The Empty Man is much, much better written by building up the mystery in a well-paced way that keeps its ideas and standards intact throughout the whole film.

Also, unlike most horror movies that are just in it for the scares and entertainment, The Empty Man can to interpreted as to having a deeper meaning to it: The concept of an ideas becoming real and spreading if thought of or spoken enough. But not rational, logical ideas that a normal person would have, but ideas that don't make sense yet spread to other people like a virus. For example (spoiler alert), when James goes to find out about this mysterious institute he's given a membership application with really weird and at first ridiculous questions such as "The brain can itch," "The scientific method is a tool of oppression," "If science says the sky is blue, it is more likely red," and "Rational thought is deadly." This can relate to real life with how so much information, especially false and destructive information, can be passed from person to person. You probably read my examples from the film and thought how can anyone think otherwise? But there are some people who can and do think these questions have meaning and it's... terrifying to think people like this exist. The Empty Man, as a character, has this kind of power and following over people, leading to bone-chilling moments of dread and disturbing thoughts on our real world.

That is what makes this film so creepy and memorable to me, its depiction of a cult and their belief in things that defy what is real and plausible, especially when the entity and ideals they believe in are bringing harm to "non-believers." This is a major and reoccurring story in cosmic horror stories like H.P. Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth, where the main character and narrator interacts with strange individuals and customs to realize too late there is a dark underbelly to the town he's in. Sadly the film is not as scary as most horror films I've watched and I don't think it'll be remembered for its scares. It didn't leave me shaking in fear like films such as The Babadook did, especially with how weird the ending is, but I feel it is still deserving of a watch because of how unsettling and suspenseful the film can get. And yes, with its cosmic horror elements it might not make a lot of sense to people, but I feel if you just go along for the ride The Empty Man will be a very entertaining film.

And lastly there is the excellent cinematography and editing in the film. It's not just thematically great, but also visually! This is Fox Studios after all, they're going to make beautiful looking films. But it's more than that though because David Prior, his cinematographer Anastos N. Michos, and his editor Andrew Buckland (along with Prior himself) work the camera and editing to make some really beautiful, well-lit wide shots. There is also a use of quick-cutting that brilliant that only the well trained will catch. Plus the transitions are so well done, like this wonderful transition from a map to a forest that blew my mind! Now I did find some of the effects to be a little weak at times, but nothing major and worth complaining about. Overall the film just looked really damn good and professional!

But sadly The Empty Man is a film that's not known to many people because of multiple reasons. Disney's control of Fox studios kept on delaying it because they couldn't understand it, the pandemic pushed it back further, the marketing of the film was awful and poorly handled, and ambitious films like this that take risks and try new things aren't championed because studios are focused on making a buck than giving us entertainment. It's been months since the film came out in October of last year and it still does not have a physical release of any kind. I find this to be almost criminal, the film is excellent and has found a dedicated audience that greatly enjoys it. Why not tell more people about it? When you try new things with people who know what they're doing you're going to make a profit and build on these ideas. I mean look at the Conjuring franchise, it had a great two films and now we got a bunch of horror movies (though those are getting worse and worse with each installment).

The Empty Man absolutely deserves a cult following (no pun intended). It's not the greatest film out there, but it's a lot better than most people say and would have been more widely known if was marketed properly. It has made itself known with certain audiences because of its story, themes, visuals, and disturbing imagery. Yes, the film does do a few things that are out of the ordinary, but it's not doing these things to show off but to enhance the storytelling. In like five or ten years The Empty Man will (hopefully) be viewed in a much better light and be a movie that filmmakers will be inspired by in their own works.

Tentative Score: 8/10

Definitive Score: 8/10

I'm going to tell everyone about this movie. I'm hoping this increased popularity of The Empty Man will eventually get this film more widely known and give it a proper physical release. Upon reflection this film reminds me of John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) in how that film, despite now rated as one of the greatest horror films ever made, was originally a critical and box office failure. If the post-reception is any indication it seems The Empty Man might change to have a similar notoriety as The Thing.

If you want to learn more about David Prior's career (which is very interesting) and The Empty Man you can listen to this podcast episode here: https://www.secrethandshakecinema.com/bonus-features/episode/36f4b88d/bonus-features-8-writerdirector-david-prior-the-empty-man