I’d been avoiding this one because it sounded exactly like one of those other “… Man” films that have been pretty much interchangeable, copy and paste fare.
About third of the way through, once I understood just how different this film was going to be, I thought; “why didn’t they title it something else to prevent the association and grouping with a bunch of similarly titled, but wholly substandard, other movies?” Of course, I then immediately realized that “The Empty Man” NEEDED to be the title and I’m glad the producers made the artistic choice over the commercial one.
The only other “… Man” film worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as this film is “The Wicker Man”.
This is definitely one of the creepiest movies I’ve ever seen, very possibly THE creepiest…or at least on par with “The Tenant“, “Repulsion“, “Hereditary“, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” and “Inland Empire”….and it’s more epic than all but two of those.
If you like any of these, or other creeping dread, deeper horror films, then you should absolutely buy it (don’t rent it….it has tremendous re-watchibility factor!)
If you are also a Lovecraft fan,
you are in for an even more serious treat. Man, this thing is existential horror dialed to 11.
I only found a couple of things that were a bit untidy as far as the story goes, most other things fit in perfectly and are in sync with the terrifying logic established. The filmmakers were extremely effective in all choices, and if creeping dread was the goal…they succeeded beyond my wildest expectations.
The music is amazing and the sound design is an absolute mind****! I watched it with headphones and had to frequently pause and rewind to make sure I was hearing what I thought I was hearing….deeply dark and unsettling, like it was piped in direct from hell. Only Polanski’s “The Tenant” has a sound design that I’m still trying to wrap my mind around as much as this one….it invites additional views to focus on the sound alone to try and piece it all together.
Maybe it worked so well for me because I’ve long held a similar philosophy as to “what it’s all about”…but not with the dark aspect that was depicted. What’s presented is like a horrifying, never ending loop of expanding and contracting possibilities, experiences and visualizations.
If you can get your mind in sync with it early on, you will spend most of the film with your mind trying to resist meltdown.
Visionary and epic horror, this film shouldn’t be mentioned in the same breath as those other “… Man” horror movies….it’s something so much more heavy and substantial.
This is a film that will grow in stature as time passes. Do not miss it (unless you idea of a great horror includes any of those other “… Man” movies! 😉 Watch is soon, then watch it again.
Highly Recommend
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