The Empty Man

The Empty Man ist ein beeindruckendes Werk mit großen kreativen Ambitionen, das die meisten gängigen Publikumserwartungen durchbricht. Aber führt es irgendwohin? David Prior möchte offensichtlich gerne ein weiterer Ari Aster sein, aber er hat es bisher nicht ganz geschafft und hat hier vielleicht einen etwas zu großen Fisch erwischt. Es ist ein interessanter Film zum Analysieren, technisch sehr gut gemacht, fesselnd bis zum letzten Viertel und völlig frei von billigen modernen Horrorrequisiten wie sinnloser Brutalität und lauten Schocker-Momenten (dafür ein Daumen hoch), aber im letzten Viertel hat er entweder nicht mein Verständnis getroffen oder er hat einfach versucht, eine Illusion von tiefgründigem Denken herbeizuführen, die nicht wirklich vorhanden ist. (17.05.2021)

Die Autoren haben versucht, aus einem Teenage-Horrorthema einen erwachsenen Detektiv-Thriller mit einer mysteriösen und beinahe existenziell philosophischen Bedeutung zu machen. Ein sehr ehrgeiziger Versuch. Aber nicht besonders gelungen. Ohne die banalen Motive eines Teenage-Horrorfilms wäre die lange Exposition kein Problem gewesen. Die Enthüllung des Sekten-Hintergrundes wäre spannend gewesen, wenn die Bedeutung der wichtigen "Gebetsphrasen" Sinn ergeben hätte. Wenn alles funktioniert hätte und wenn der Schlüssel zum Verständnis der menschlichen Seite der Hauptfigur kein oberflächliches Ereignis gewesen wäre, hätte die Aufdeckung von allen Wahrheiten im Finale dem ganzen Film Sinn und Gewicht verliehen. Ein Widerspruch, der eine absolute Desorientierung der Autoren beweist, mit schwachen Nuancen It Follows und Midsommar. PS: Warum sah das Gebäude der Sekte wie das Hauptquartier der Scientology-Kirche in Los Angeles aus? (13.08.2021)

The trailer touted a straightforward, many-times-seen teenage horror flick about a group kids who summon a supernatural being that will go on to cut them down one by one, and the generic name made me expect the same. Really, a monster called “Empty Man” that is summoned if you blow into an empty bottle? That’s almost funny. But this film is something completely different than it would have seemed from the marketing. My initial expectations were raised a little by the name of the director, who’s already made a very good and atmospheric short. But then it was the insane 137 minute runtime. We hardly ever see anything that long in horror, it would have to be something truly monumental and epic for the producers to greenlight it. David Prior really tries to make something ambitious (how many horror films have a 20 minute intro?), but for his feature debut he bit more than he could chew. An idea, a climax and a good atmosphere here and there – there is that, but it’s not enough. Reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb (and soon here, too) say that it’s an empty film, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. This film has actually way too much and it doesn’t hold together – it’s like three films in one! In the end I kind of liked it and it’s a pity that it wasn’t better. And yesterday I was still thinking that I would bash it with gusto. (23.12.2020)

"The first night you hear him. The second night you see him. The third night he finds you." As one of the most divisive horror films (in terms of ratings) in recent memory, The Empty Man is behind me, and I'm actually not surprised. A perfect demonstration of two things: that it is possible to combine themes that no one would think of combining, and at the same time that it is not that easy, because it seems they have bitten off more than they could chew not everything fits in the end as they would have originally wanted. The film starts with an excellent opening, and as it progresses it deftly moves through the horror of a childhood legend to the occult, Nietzschean nihilism and the final existential horror, and unexpectedly managed to hold my attention throughout the entire runtime without me looking at my watch. The film's catharsis and the audience's orgasm would then be a final denouement that would ground us all, only that's certainly not the case here, and the result leaves room for questions, but perhaps too many. So much so that the ending is interpreted by each viewer in their own way and even the "explained" videos don't agree on anything, so the question is what is the right explanation. Well, who knows, anyway, from a genre and technical point of view the film is perfectly handled, it manages to captivate, scare and lure, but then the ending comes and you simply don’t know how to actually conclude the film. It's hard to describe, a film everyone should see for themselves, because on the one hand I want to cheer in my head how fantastic The Empty Man is, on the other hand I simultaneously feel like I didn't really get anything thanks to the ending. But it will definitely stick in my mind for a long time... (23.01.2022)

The Empty Man made it to American theaters, so fortunately it's not a cheap film, but I'm rather hesitant about it. It has an excellent prologue that nicely builds up anticipation, but after that, not much interesting happens. The problem is its running time. 137 minutes for a horror film is unbearable, someone went a bit overboard with the minutes, and it greatly affects the pace of the film, which is very, very slow. It's interesting that the film takes a different direction than it initially seems, but I would rather see a supernatural entity killing teenagers in an interesting way, than watching the protagonist wandering back and forth. It does improve a bit in the finale, where there is an interesting climax, but that the film is actually more of a mysterious crime thriller, as it has very few horror elements. I wouldn't recommend it, but if you enjoy mysterious films, you can give it a chance. Story***, Action>No, Humor>No, Violence*, Entertainment**, Music***, Visuals***, Atmosphere***, Tension**. 5/10. (29.12.2020)