Ex-cop James Lasombra (James Badge Dale) is looking for a friend’s missing teenage daughter when he discovers a mysterious cult obsessed with the supernatural entity of “The Empty Man”. 

The Empty Man is an ambitious and occasionally dazzling film marred by its 137 minute running time. It is brimming with ideas and whilst some might feel familiar there are some that feel fresh and new. Wrapped up in a stylish presentation and featuring an engrossing lead performance from everyman James Badge Dale it certainly merits an audience. 

The film opens with a 22 minute prologue that on its own would be an incredibly effective short horror film. Set in 1995 in the Himalayan mountains of Bhutan we follow four hikers on their way to a Buddhist temple. When one of them hears a sound none of the others can he falls into a crevasse that is dominated by a huge skeleton that he becomes fixated on. Over the course of the next three days this discovery will impact on all of their lives. This section of the story is a highly effective and suspenseful supernatural horror feel to it. 

Flash forward to 2018 and High School student Amanda Quail (Sasha Frolova) has gone missing. Her mother Nora (Marin Ireland) calls old friend James to help find her and he sets about trying to talk to her friends to find out about her last actions. It is here that he heard of The Empty Man. An entity that if called will make you hear him, then see him and then feel him. In this section we have a mix of strong police/private detective procedural crossed with the supernatural story of something like The Candyman or Slender Man. 

As James investigations continue he starts to investigate The Pontifex Institute, a cult obsessed with The Empty Man. As this element of the story progresses Lovecraftian horror seems to take over and elements of Rosemary’s Baby are present also. 

Written and directed by David Prior and based on a comic book by Cullen Bun and Vanessa R. Del Ray this is a brave and exciting film premise that is just let down by its running time. It is incredibly hard to keep up horror tension for an extended running time and whilst this is not completely a horror film and dabbles with other ideas it does derive its tension from the fear of the unknown. Something it struggles to maintain for such a long time. 

Well worth a watch for those interested in Lovecraft cosmic horror or just horror in general.