Review by Stephanie Scaife
Fresh off the back of the success of Oculus, Mike Flanagan’s Absentia is getting a Blu-ray release. This Kickstarter backed indie horror film did pretty well on the festival circuit a few years back and received very favourable reviews (from Ben and Kayley Viteo) here at Brutal as Hell, so I had very high expectations when it arrived despite being a little underwhelmed by Oculus.
Absentia is an admirable undertaking. A group of friends based in LA dreaming of working in the film industry decided to do something together, initially with the idea of doing some workshops, showreels and the like… but what developed was something far more interesting. Flanagan had made a few indie dramas and had intended this to be more of a calling card than anything else; after all it is well known that the easiest kind of film to get funding for is a horror film. However, with an inexperienced crew and largely non-professional actors he managed to create something fairly unique, if slightly flawed. But of course, slightly flawed is almost a compliment when it comes to straight-to-DVD horror movies, which are a dime a dozen these days and are mostly always entirely forgettable. Absentia is nothing if not memorable and that mustn’t be lost sight of, so although I had my issues with the film it’s still a remarkable achievement.
Tricia (Courtney Bell) is mourning the loss of her husband Daniel (Morgan Peter Brown) who went missing seven years earlier, but is now pregnant and moving on with her life and has decided to officially declare Daniel dead in absentia. Tricia’s sister Callie (Katie Parker), a recovered drug addict and now born again Christian, has come to town to help her get through this difficult time and perhaps mend a few bridges along the way. However, shortly after declaring her husband dead, he suddenly shows up on the doorstep, wearing exactly the same clothes he went missing in all those years ago and showing extensive signs of abuse. This of course is very perplexing for Detective Mallory (Dave Levine), who incidentally is the father of Tricia’s baby and the led the original missing person’s investigator on the case.
Daniel isn’t talking and he’s acting very strangely indeed. He claims to have been “underneath” for the last seven years, with little memory of what happened. After a bizarre run-in with another long-time missing person Walter Lambert (Doug Jones) and his son, Callie starts to believe that there is something far more supernatural at work here. An interesting premise if ever there was one, and key to the success of the film. Also, with the incredibly tight budget not a lot is given away in terms of exactly what took Daniel and the other missing persons, this again works to its credit and many big budget horror movies could really learn a lot from the less is more approach to filmmaking.
Now, what I liked about Absentia is the originality of the central idea and how it’s executed on such a limited budget. There is a making-of documentary on the Blu-ray that paints a very sympathetic picture as to how the film came about, how a group of friends worked together to make something and against the odds they succeeded. Where the film is let down however is by the acting, which at times is a little inconsistent and I found myself a little distracted by certain lines of dialogue that seemed unnatural. Also, fatally (and much like Oculus) it just isn’t very scary, despite a few well timed jump scares and the decent sound design. Absentia is an intriguing film, if a little slow at times, but ultimately its strengths outweigh its flaws and it is undeniably worth a watch.
I’m not entirely convinced that such a low-budget film benefits at all from being transferred on to Blu-ray, especially as it was shot using natural light for the main part; if anything watching a film like this in HD does it a disservice. However there are a few nice extras including informative commentaries and of course the aforementioned making-of, that shows just how much of a passion project this was for the filmmakers and actors involved. It’s fascinating to see how something that is little more than an idea and experiment becomes a full blown feature length film that not only gets a release but does surprisingly well in festivals and on DVD. It is proof that in this day and age found footage isn’t the only answer when tackling the indie horror film, and if anything it’s a master class in what can be achieved with little more than the force of will. Although I wasn’t entirely won over by Absentia, there is much to admire here and even though I’ve had issue with both this and Oculus I think that Flanagan is a talented and original filmmaker and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does next.
Absentia is released on Blu-ray from Second Sight on 7 July.