I generally tend, or at least try, to be rather mild when it comes to this sort of films. I'm referring to ultra low-budgeted and largely independently produced amateur horror/thriller movies made by an enthusiast and ambitious crew. Writer/director Sage Bannick is obviously someone who watched literally thousands of movies in his life, and then eventually motivated a bunch of friends and acquaintances to realize his own scenario. Sage Bannick's problem, however, is that he has probably seen too many movies already. On one hand he attempts to combine a lot of small but inventive ideas that don't really connect, but on the other hand he all too easily reverts to some of the biggest and dreadful clichés in the genre. "The Absent" opens in the small town of liberty, where the clever but slightly bonkers 10-year-old Oscar discovers that his parents intend to kill him for insurance money. The joke's on them, though, because Oscar mixes rat poison in their breakfast pancakes. Twenty years later, Oscar gets released from prison and immediately returns home to Liberty, where his twin brother Vincent became the high- school science teacher. Vincent is a bad person, because he lures his girl students to his cabin in the woods and sleeps with them, but Oscar is still the more evil brother because he kills his brother's pets afterwards. The first half hour of "The Absent" is rather compelling and tense, but the plot gradually sinks deeper and deeper into a puddle of clichés. The idea of parents trying to kill their son for money is original and even rather disturbing, but the rest of the themes are sadly derivative. Disjointed siblings, forbidden teacher-student relationships, hillbilly trailer park stereotypes,
Somewhere one third into the film, "The Absent" sadly transferred from an intriguing mystery into a customary slasher with an unbelievably predictable finale. You know, the type of "please say they're not using that plot twist again" finale. The film contains a few very gruesome moments, most notably the sick murder of the blond girl and the painful death of a very amiable supportive female character. The acting performances are quite good, I have to say. I particularly hope to see the two gorgeous Zima sisters (Vanessa and Yvonne) in more horror movies soon.
