The Empty Man (2020) -- S: James Badge Dale -- Based on the graphic novels
#1
DVD Talk God
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The Empty Man (2020) -- S: James Badge Dale -- Based on the graphic novels
20th Century Studios’ “The Empty Man” is a supernatural horror film based on a popular series of Boom! Studios graphic novels. After a group of teens from a small Midwestern town begin to mysteriously disappear, the locals believe it is the work of an urban legend known as The Empty Man. As a retired cop investigates and struggles to make sense of the stories, he discovers a secretive group and their attempts to summon a horrific, mystical entity, and soon his life—and the lives of those close to him—are in grave danger. Directed by David Prior from a screen story and screenplay by David Prior based on the graphic novel by Cullen Bunn, “The Empty Man” stars James Badge Dale, Marin Ireland, Stephen Root, Ron Canada, Robert Aramayo, Joel Courtney and Sasha Frolova. The film is produced by Ross Richie, p.g.a. and Stephen Christy, p.g.a.
#3
DVD Talk Hero
Re: The Empty Man (2020) -- S: James Badge Dale -- Based on the graphic novels
That trailer makes it look terrible but James Badge Dale is awesome so I may end up checking it out.
The trailer though, seems to go out of its way to make this look like every POS, generic horror movie made in the last 20 years.
The trailer though, seems to go out of its way to make this look like every POS, generic horror movie made in the last 20 years.
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doblbj2k (01-28-21)
#4
DVD Talk God
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Re: The Empty Man (2020) -- S: James Badge Dale -- Based on the graphic novels
I rented this from Red Box yesterday and watched it late last night until almost 2am, I know this movie is probably not on your radars. This got dumped in late October when hardly anyone was going to the theatre even when they were open in many cities.
It's very long. 2 hours and 16 minutes. But surprisingly, I didn't think it was bad. I found it quite creepy in spots. And yea this is R rated. There are some violent kills.
It's very long. 2 hours and 16 minutes. But surprisingly, I didn't think it was bad. I found it quite creepy in spots. And yea this is R rated. There are some violent kills.
#5
Moderator
Re: The Empty Man (2020) -- S: James Badge Dale -- Based on the graphic novels
I'd avoided this because the trailer makes it look like a bad Slender Man ripoff. But I saw Emma (spookyastronauts) put it on her Top 2020 Horror Films list. So I checked it out, and it's actually pretty good. It's a slow burn, psychological horror with some cool surreal visuals. I'm glad I gave it a chance.
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DJariya (01-26-21)
#6
DVD Talk Special Edition
Re: The Empty Man (2020) -- S: James Badge Dale -- Based on the graphic novels
FWIW, it appears Redbox has plenty of copies. Enough so that I just bought the pre-owned DVD for $3.99 at a Redbox 5 minutes away.
Which is rather odd, considering this has no physical media release date. Did Disney's new "20th Century Studios" only press rental copies for Netflix & Redbox? I'm not sure Disney knows how to properly distribute Fox's R-rated titles.
Which is rather odd, considering this has no physical media release date. Did Disney's new "20th Century Studios" only press rental copies for Netflix & Redbox? I'm not sure Disney knows how to properly distribute Fox's R-rated titles.
#7
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: The Empty Man (2020) -- S: James Badge Dale -- Based on the graphic novels
The wife and I stumbled across this on HBO Mac and were quite pleasantly surprised by it. It’s certainly worlds better than the shitty generic trailer makes it look.
The director seems to have been a bit of an apprentice to David Fincher, having worked on set with him to direct making-of documentaries for a number of his films. The work here certainly isn’t on the level of Fincher, but it’s thoughtful, well done and the influence is noticeable in spots. There were also some elements that called to mind Ari Aster. I wouldn’t put this on the level of Aster’s films either, but I would guess most fans of them would enjoy this.
It’s a slow burn, not hesitating at all to let the story breathe. It opens with 20+ minutes that had us thinking we were somehow accidentally streaming the wrong movie, but it pulls it all together in the end. It’s really too bad this was Fox/Disney, as it feels a lot more like top tier A24 horror and they probably would’ve been able to help it find more of an audience.
The director seems to have been a bit of an apprentice to David Fincher, having worked on set with him to direct making-of documentaries for a number of his films. The work here certainly isn’t on the level of Fincher, but it’s thoughtful, well done and the influence is noticeable in spots. There were also some elements that called to mind Ari Aster. I wouldn’t put this on the level of Aster’s films either, but I would guess most fans of them would enjoy this.
It’s a slow burn, not hesitating at all to let the story breathe. It opens with 20+ minutes that had us thinking we were somehow accidentally streaming the wrong movie, but it pulls it all together in the end. It’s really too bad this was Fox/Disney, as it feels a lot more like top tier A24 horror and they probably would’ve been able to help it find more of an audience.
#8
Re: The Empty Man (2020) -- S: James Badge Dale -- Based on the graphic novels
I loved the beginning sequence. The idea of the movie was strong, but the execution of the main story wasn't presented very well. So many scenes weren't set up properly, that I was constantly being taken out of the movie trying to figure out basic stuff like; oh, that's the girl from earlier... Wait, so her daughter didn't die... Why does he randomly have an injured nose, is there a deleted scene where one of the cops punches him?
The look of the Empty Man, with the flowing black shroud is one of the creepiest monsters I've seen in a movie. They did well by not overshowing it at the end and dulling the effect.
#9
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Re: The Empty Man (2020) -- S: James Badge Dale -- Based on the graphic novels
I loved it. Deep and unexpected. ("You make 5-year plans; they make 500-year plans.")
Very involving if you go with it.
Very involving if you go with it.