The Empty Man is one of those movies that slipped through the cracks (er, gargantuan crevasses) of 2020 releases. The reasons for this are legion: there’s the ever-present pandemic, the Fox/Disney deal meant less marketing and support from the studio, a derivative title that calls to mind dreck like Slender Man or The Bye Bye Man, and so on. That said, there appears to be a growing following. After finally learning of its existence and getting over the title, I watched the damn thing and really enjoyed it.
It’s certainly not perfect. Clocking in at well over 2 hours, it’s far too long and ponderous. And yet, I found myself transfixed for the majority of runtime. I’ve noticed that I’m less and less patient with this sort of thing as I get older, but I was able to overcome that hurdle with ease. The only other issue is that the rules of the supernatural force that drives the story are a little hand-wavy. On the other hand, it’s a horror movie about a private detective and secret cults and whatnot. Not sure if clarity would really help here.
The film opens with a 20 minute long prologue that starts off like a typical young-folk on a hike horror setup, but quickly evolves into something more intriguing. What’s more, while the film looks great, it’s not like it’s reliant on CGI pixel stew or something. The effect of a creepy, well designed statue is enough to carry the entire sequence. There are several other scenes throughout the movie that manage that sort of hypnotic effect without relying on anything other than simple photography and good production design. I hesitate to call them set-pieces, because they really aren’t that complicated. Sometimes all you need is Stephen Root giving an ominous monologue.
This is writer/director David Prior’s debut film. His past experience appears to be doing DVD/BD extras centered around David Fincher movies. Prior is clearly influenced by Fincher’s style and you can see that meticulous attention to detail all over this movie. It’s brooding and portentous without straying into indulgent or pretentious. Prior is able to blend the trashy thrills of an urban legend story with something more elegiac. It’s almost got a literary quality to it, even if it’s the sort of literary that would show up in Paperbacks From Hell rather than the New Yorker.
I’ve been deliberately vague about the plot of the movie. This is one of those things that would probably work best if you go into it blind. If you like horror flicks and don’t mind something a little more talky than your typical gore-fest, check this movie out. I suspect it will continue to gain an underground following over the next few years…