I'm sitting here in disbelief at the sub-6 score Absentia scored on this site. Don't get me wrong, this is not the best horror I've ever seen but it's the best one in years and I'm at a loss as how it's scored so low.
I knew absolutely nothing about this film when I got it, an Xmas present on a whim, all I knew was it was horror.
But here I am, having sat through the 90 minutes, enthralled, gripped, and engaged with the story and satisfied entirely by the ending.
Absentia sees Katie Parker's Callie reuniting with her sister Tricia following Callie's 'disappearance' some 5 years ago. Tricia's husband Daniel has been missing for the past 7 years and is effectively declared dead, and Callie appears to be trying to get on her own feet by staying with her sister for a while.
Truth is, given this is a horror picture, that summary is about enough plot as, naturally, things get 'darker' with time.
Absentia is an independent movie, reasonably low budget but this barely matters - as the true nature of the story, and the horror begins to emerge, the scares are in what you can't see, as opposed to what you can. Ring (1998) taught us that horror is much more effective in the mind than on the screen, and Absentia nails this perfectly.
The build up to the 'sinister' stuff is paced perfectly, and the direction is extremely well conceived. This is never remotely boring, and while I won't call it terrifying, it's far scarier than anything big-budget Hollywood has produced for a long time.
The acting is good - not Oscar material, but it's good enough to support the story, and the characters are reasonably well fleshed out.
One thing I won't deny is no one is hugely likable, with only Callie coming close, but naturally she's the one 'no one believes'.
There are few 'boo' scares here, with the fear being, as mentioned before, the stuff that's in your head thanks to the darkness as opposed to ghosts and goblins on screen.
The ending is pretty good, a smarter way to end the story than the Hollywood clichés we often expect.
Is it incredible? Not quite. But it is very very good, and given how utterly awful Hollywood has become for horror, it's a welcome break from the rubbish they feed out. Hence it does look better than maybe it truly is, if you compare it with the trash like Conjuring, Insidious etc.
But while my 10/10 is perhaps veering on the generous side, if you enjoy good horror, you should appreciate this.
I knew absolutely nothing about this film when I got it, an Xmas present on a whim, all I knew was it was horror.
But here I am, having sat through the 90 minutes, enthralled, gripped, and engaged with the story and satisfied entirely by the ending.
Absentia sees Katie Parker's Callie reuniting with her sister Tricia following Callie's 'disappearance' some 5 years ago. Tricia's husband Daniel has been missing for the past 7 years and is effectively declared dead, and Callie appears to be trying to get on her own feet by staying with her sister for a while.
Truth is, given this is a horror picture, that summary is about enough plot as, naturally, things get 'darker' with time.
Absentia is an independent movie, reasonably low budget but this barely matters - as the true nature of the story, and the horror begins to emerge, the scares are in what you can't see, as opposed to what you can. Ring (1998) taught us that horror is much more effective in the mind than on the screen, and Absentia nails this perfectly.
The build up to the 'sinister' stuff is paced perfectly, and the direction is extremely well conceived. This is never remotely boring, and while I won't call it terrifying, it's far scarier than anything big-budget Hollywood has produced for a long time.
The acting is good - not Oscar material, but it's good enough to support the story, and the characters are reasonably well fleshed out.
One thing I won't deny is no one is hugely likable, with only Callie coming close, but naturally she's the one 'no one believes'.
There are few 'boo' scares here, with the fear being, as mentioned before, the stuff that's in your head thanks to the darkness as opposed to ghosts and goblins on screen.
The ending is pretty good, a smarter way to end the story than the Hollywood clichés we often expect.
Is it incredible? Not quite. But it is very very good, and given how utterly awful Hollywood has become for horror, it's a welcome break from the rubbish they feed out. Hence it does look better than maybe it truly is, if you compare it with the trash like Conjuring, Insidious etc.
But while my 10/10 is perhaps veering on the generous side, if you enjoy good horror, you should appreciate this.