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The Empty Man largely went unnoticed when it hit cinemas in 2020, not surprising as a raging pandemic was in full effect & the world wasn't quite ready yet to sit in a darkened theatre for 2.5 hours & be bombarded with an atmospheric slow burn horror that does more for HP Lovecraft fans than the Slasher Kids the initial trailer was aimed at. Great then that in 2021 via Streaming services this excellent little movie is finally getting some well earned recognition. As always the genre that has the longest legs is horror. How many great horror movies flew under the radar only to re-emerge years later as 'Classics'?. Think John Carpenters 'The Thing', Another Lovecraft inspired movie that is now regarded as a benchmark in the 'Sci-Fi Horror' field & thats just the tip of the iceberg. It's true to say Horror fans will never let good movies get away from the general public & in the case of 'The Empty Man' this is already the case & a well deserved one at that. Not a classic yet but the potential is there for sure.

It's easy to see though why those that did brave the cinema (Not that many to be honest) were a bit confused, this is not a Friday night date movie, more one for fans of off-centre Indie horrors like the awesome 'It Follows' or 'Mandy', The Empty Man is full of ideas & be it long, is well thought out & paced slowly enough for anyone to get to grips with it's many concepts. Firmly placed in the realm of 'Cosmic Sci-Fi Horror' a genre represented & pretty much created by HP Lovecraft, you can tell the director is slightly obsessed with all things 'Cthulu' as the movie has all the trademarks. Metaphysical beings, weird cults, ideas & entities human brains lack the ability to comprehend. All of this centred around a career best performance from James Badge Dale (Like Hereditary before it, this is an award worthy piece that will get completely ignored by all in that arena)

The Film is in part a Noir-Like Mystery as Dale goes about trying to solve the dissapearence of his neighbours daughter who's only parting words are written in blood on the bathroom mirror 'The Empty Man Made Me Do It' this eventually leads him to a Crazy Cult who dance around Fires at night & whisper unintelligable ramblings into peoples ears, completely normal right? All the while suffering terrible nightmares & guilt around the death of his wife & son in an apparent car accident. On the surface It's a pretty normal set up but the movie has many tricks & traps along the way & for that reason a second watch is pretty much essential if you want to pick up all you missed first time around. It's a clever thinking person's film & for that reason might not be everybody's cup of tea but if you give it a chance, The Empty Man will have you firmly in it' grasp so don't be put off by that.

The Film starts with a lengthy opening sequence as a group of Kids venture into the snowy mountains of the Himalaya's & stumble upon a cave with a rather creepy looking skeleton inside. This was criticised by some when the film opened for being 'Too Long!' but in hindsight is absolutely essential to the story & like most of what follows, is perfectly paced & beautifully shot (The movie has some inspired moments of camera work that feel similar in tone to the previously mentioned 'Hereditary' & 'It Follows' but have their own stamp of weirdness on it) This prologue sequence really sets up the movie in the best 'What The Hell?' kind of way & certainly delivers on the chill factor & i'm not just talking about the snow.

Overall 'The Empty Man' is one of the best horrors of 2020. It took the Director 4 years from page to screen & you can really tell this is a labour of love for him. It's a shame that the combination of Fox selling to Disney, a pandemic & a misleading trailer all led to it flying under a lot of people's radars but at least in 2021 this chunk of Lovecraftian gold is finally getting the audience it deserved. If your looking for basic linear 'Conjuring' type chills this is not going to float your boat but if you are a fan of dark 'Lynch' like madness without going too far left of centre this will tick every box. Worth watching for James Badge Dale's performance alone. This is 'The Wicker Man if re-imagined by Lovecraft, & if that doesn't make you want to watch it, nothing will. So... watch it & join the Cult of 'The Empty Man'.