Chloe's Not Scared

Hi y’all! Long time no talk. I’m sorry I’ve been a bit absent here, but I’ve been busy seeing movies, reading books, planning a haunted bar crawl and healing my broken af arm. But I’m gearing up for the high holy season, so watch this space for new content. Thanks for your understanding and your patience.

I wanted to pop on here and mention that I was published again on Certified Forgotten’s website, this time talking about one of my favorites of recent years, The Empty Man. I’m giving you a sneak peek with a short excerpt from the article, but if you want to read the whole thing, please go to Certified Forgotten.

The Empty Man was the last film by 20th Century Fox before the studio was bought by and merged with Disney. History has shown that Disney doesn’t quite know what to do with horror movies, let alone a 137-minute-long cosmic horror. Along with a misleading name, the trailer for The Empty Man gives the appearance of a completely different film. By framing the story around teenagers and focusing only on action scenes, the trailer portrays the movie as a PG-13 Blumhouse film, replete with jump scares, twitchy editing, and violence. But that’s not what the movie is at all.

The Empty Man opens with a group of American backpackers in Bhutan. One of them, Paul (Aaron Poole), falls into a cave, accidentally unleashing an ancient evil. His confused friends attempt to help him but meet a bloody end.

Director David Prior is a longtime collaborator with director David Fincher. This is evident through the first few minutes of The Empty Man, with many gorgeous static shots and seamless cuts reminding viewers of Fincher films like Zodiac. Under the supervision of cinematographer Anastas N. Michos, each shot of Bhutan is beautiful enough to be printed and framed. This prologue is about 20 minutes long before The Empty Man title card even appears on the screen.

The story then moves to present-day Missouri, where ex-cop James Lasombra (James Badge Dale) is working at a tactical gear shop and grieving the loss of his wife and son. After he learns that his family friend Nora (Marin Ireland) can’t find her 18-year-old daughter Amanda (Sasha Frolova), James begins to investigate. Amanda’s room is nearly untouched, save for a brochure on the Pontifex Institute, a note about something called a “tulpa,” and the words “The Empty Man Made Me Do It” written on the bathroom mirror in blood…

-Anything But Empty: The Making of Cult Classic ‘The Empty Man,’ Certified Forgotten, 08/11/2023

Again, if you want to read the rest of the article, please head over to Certified Forgotten. And hey! While you’re there, read my article on The Watcher in the Woods as well.

Have you seen The Empty Man? Do you like it as much as I do?