The Absence of Light

I had the "privilege" of attending a special screening of 'The Absence of Light' at a horror convention in Ohio.

First off, you know you're in trouble when the director introduces a film, saying: "Now keep in mind, we didn't have much money..." Not that no-budget films are bad, but when a filmmaker uses this as an excuse, the results are always poor. And there is no better example than this unwatchable sleep-fest.

Actually, 'Absence of Light' marks a first in the world of underground cinema: It's the only time I've seen a dream-cast of talented genre vets actually bore me. Charismatic actors like David Hess, Tony Todd and Reggie Banister randomly enter and exit the movie and prove to be every bit as uninteresting as the amateurish no-names. Who are their characters? What are they talking about? Who cares? It's all so dull, you'll cease to care about anything or anyone.

After thirty minutes of this endurance test, I gave up and walked out of the theater. Not surprisingly, so did most of the cast members in attendance.

Any curious genre fans would do well to stay away from this. With a little luck, this movie won't ever see the "light" of day.

I am very lucky to have been involved in this project. everyone was really nice to work with and it is a shame that someone posted a bad review on here when this director has made its audience involved with this project. He deliberately is showing the movie as it goes through many stages of development. I think that is a wonderful thing to do. This person saw the cut of this that was nowhere near finished and was told that before the film started. I think it is a horrible thing to post such negativity when you haven't even seen the finished project. very unprofessional thing to do in my opinion! Also, he says that many actors left during this film preview. Well that is true, but also false! I was there! I had to leave early because I was at the convention to sign autographs and meet fans etc...none of us could stay to watch the film, but it had nothing to do with the film itself, it had to do with what we were hired to do that weekend and obviously if you even noticed any of us leaving you weren't really paying attention to the film anyway, so how can you even review it.

I am proud of how this film is developing, Robyn Griggs

It's obvious that all of the good reviews posted for this movie so far are from insiders who were either involved with the film or who know somebody who knows somebody and have thus seen multiple cuts. Well, I don't know anyone involved, and I've seen the final cut, and it is pure garbage. The only thing it has going for it is ambition and multiple cameos from horror legends (none on screen for terribly long). It's as if the filmmakers made this movie on a weekend during a horror convention and got actors like Tony Todd, Tom Savini, David Hess and Michael Berryman to film scenes during their coffee breaks. This is an ultra-cheap, shot-on-video wannabe X-Files with terrible acting from a cast of non-actors with more mullets than is acceptable in the 21st century. There is little or no action; it's all overly explanatory dialogue that attempts to explain a pointlessly convoluted plot. Ther computer FX are a joke, but there aren't enough of them nor enough action to make this film enjoyable in a MST3K way. After about 8 straight scenes of nothing but talking, you'll find yourself reaching for the fast-forward button...and not letting go. Absolutely worthless.

I found this movie to be quite interesting. The special effects and CGI was very good for an independent film, and the story line was very interesting.

I was very impressed with the number of stars I saw in this film. The guy from Candyman was in this film, as a scientist. Sex Machine from From Dask Till Dawn was a boss of a band of assassins.

The action scenes were great. The film seemed to have a good flow and I didn't notice a lot of inconsistencies like I pick up on in major films.

Overall I thought this movie was really good. Probably the best independent film I've ever seen. I can't wait to see the directors next project.

I am sorry to say that this film is indeed bad. It reminds me of a c-grade porn movie with one major difference: no porn.

The story and dialogue needs a complete overhaul. Maybe then the bad acting would not have been as noticeable. At the very least, the pacing should have been picked up.

While I accept that this had a low budget and the director did a good job visually given what little resources he had, he should have spent more time on the story or better yet, get someone else to write it. Many of the action scenes were just pointless.

It was a complete waste of my time.