The Empty Man (2020)

(On Cable TV, July 2021) By the time the title card for horror film The Empty Man rolls by, twenty minutes into the film after a lengthy epilogue that ends with the death of characters we thought we’d follow for longer, it’s already clear that writer-director David Prior is going for something unusual, and that he’s woefully incapable of being efficient or concise in how he approaches his material. Various sources suggest that this version of The Empty Man is roughly six minutes longer than the director would have wanted (the film was taken away from him during post-production), but taking away six minutes would only begin to address the film’s severe pacing issues. At no less than 137 minutes, the film sports an overindulgent prologue that could have been cut entirely, interminable throat-clearing before the film finds its true identity, and a last ten minutes that merely hammers the same point over and over again. On the other hand, it’s a more ambitious horror film than many — before long, we’re into existentialist philosophical terrors, reality-bending cults, a manufactured protagonist and a far-reaching conspiracy: all good stuff, but weakened by the film’s refusal to get to the point of what it is about. Oh, there’s some visual stylishness on display — Prior is a much better director than a writer. But the film’s zigzagging between familiar tropes before getting down to its true business is more than annoying and contributes significantly to the film’s overall disappointment despite it swinging for the fences at times. I could have blamed the original graphic novel for the lack of efficiency, but a cursory look at the source’s plot summary suggests that the film is far from its inspiration. Prior certainly could have used a story editor — cut away the fat, focus the story on its most distinctive elements and the results could have been much better. But in its current state, The Empty Man is a laborious slog, and I don’t think that even an inevitable director’s cut will fix most of its problems.