20131014: Horror Review---Absence

Absence

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. American live action feature length film, 2013, NR, 81 minutes, horror, thriller.
2. IMDB: 3.7/10.0 from 242 users.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 25% on the meter; 44% from 192 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 2.6/5.0 stars from 18,509 user ratings.
5. Directed by: Jimmy Loweree.
6. Starring: Erin Way as Liz, Eric Matheny as Rick (Liz's husband), Ryan Smale as Evan (Liz's brother), Stephanie Schmolz as Megan, Michael Angelo Covino as Randy Kessler, Tamra Meskimen as Dr. Young.


2. Setup and Plot
1. Liz was seven months pregnant.  She wakes up one morning not pregnant.  Doctors had no explanation for this other than 'you killed it.'  The police interrogate them, check their plumbing for signs of disposal of the fetus, have them watched, but found no sufficient evidence early on.


2. Evan documents Liz's recovery during a trip taken after the 'abduction.'  They stay at Rick's aunt's house, where he used to visit as a boy.  Evan is incredibly obnoxious, and his camera work is poor.  Rick and Evan are always about that close to a fist fight.  Evan even goes out of his way to tick off strangers.


3. One evening while irritating Rick and Liz, Evan's attention wanders to a light in the sky with accompanying hum.  Shortly thereafter, Liz gets another nosebleed.  Rick and Evan talk about the progress of the investigation while Liz rests.  Rick talks about how he built a crib for the baby, filled it with toys and the like.  He's deeply discouraged that anyone would think that the baby was unwanted.


4. Evan meets Meg, and the four of them spend time together.  When Meg and Evan go driving, they see an odd light in the distance; the car loses some functions.  Rick returns some of Evan's nonsense by referring to this as Sasquatch and the like.


5. The childhood story about Liz letting the younger Evan take the blame for burning the house was possibly a clue.  Their parents died about five years later when Evan was 12, and Liz helped raising him.  During the subsequent night, the odd light appears in the room where Liz and Rick were sleeping.  Evan tries to get in but could not.


6. The next morning, Meg comes by.  The funny light episode seems to be completely lost.


7. Then Liz has a moving lump in her right arm.  The symptom subsides, so they decide to go to urgent care in the morning.  Later that night, the odd light comes again.  Liz is gone in the morning.  Evan evidently has the camera on, but neither frames nor focuses it nor even points it.


8. Rick and Evan go to the nearby town.  Evan talks to Meg, who has little interest in helping find Liz.  Of course, Evan's needy, demanding approach did not help things along.  They look in the woods near the lake where they had recently spent time with Liz.  Still nothing.


9. They find her after a short car ride.  She's not in good shape, and coughs up some blood.  They try going back to Rick's aunt's house, but Liz coughs up more blood and they take her to urgent care.


10. They don't get there.  It's completely clear that this is yet another 'found film' fake out, not a directed, edited, and scripted movie.


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: Blair Witch meets alien abduction, done badly.
2. One star of five.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 2/10 Shaky camera, focus problems, bad framing.  There are stretches where the camera is just pointed at car upholstery.


2. Sound: 7/10 Better than the visuals.


3. Acting: 3/10 Ryan Smale is just terrible.  Erin Way, Eric Matheny, and Stephanie Schmolz were better.


4. Screenplay: 2/10 Lots of filler in this one.  Watching Evan drink beer or voiding his bladder or doing bad impressions?  Who cares?  Is there ever a resolution, or are we just supposed to rely on movie cliches to fill in the voids?