The Empty Man (David Prior)

[Peng]

[Peng]

This is gaining quite a film cult status over the past months since its tanked premier in October last year. I can see why, as the director has David Fincher as his mentor, and the influence of Fincher's patience and style feel unique for a mainstream horror hook. I was settling down for "elevated supernatural slasher" quip after half the film though, when it finally got under my skin. Prior has impressively restraint formal chop that imo still can't sustain for the entirety of its length. I get that the world-building first half is for the sinister unknowable seeping into the mundane, but the mundane may be too stretched thin without enough lived-in details, and the Fincher-esque directorial touches aren't precise enough to sustain the atmosphere by style alone. The back half though when it goes ambitiously cosmic seems more sure of its rhythm, full of creepy, lingering imagery. The remote cabin and another discovery afterwards out in the field may be the scariest sequence of the year for me. 6.5/10