When watching no budget, or extremely low budget, genre films one should expect to see a film that's rough around the edges, that is severely limited in what it can accomplish visually, and that must rely on actors who are not as experienced or as talented as they are simply enthusiastic and willing. One must overlook these flaws - to some degree - and instead focus on what the filmmakers attempt DESPITE the limitations. Most filmmakers seemingly never even try, or don't care, or perhaps just lack the talent to achieve anything other than "getting it done". The Empty Acre falls squarely in that rare category of a film that struggles to be a serious contender. There is thought and intent and a certain level of creativity behind the choices and the decisions the writer/director made (I absolutely loved the use of simple elongated shadow effects) and I have to applaud those while at the same time acknowledging that the film stumbles and fails on many levels regardless. If you are willing to cut it some slack and give it a chance the film rewards with an interesting premise, some effective visuals, and actors who are valiantly giving their best. Sadly the premise is never developed effectively. The screenplay is structured in such a fashion that huge parts of it seem to be missing (like the entire introduction to the "empty acre"). Characters don't always communicate like believable human beings in the situations they find themselves in. Even in scenes that are meant to establish the more mundane or unexceptional nature of the characters lives, they should still be interesting and insightful; unfortunately it feels like once the writer knew he wanted such a scene (which is brave enough in a genre film) he had no idea how to add the interest or insight. The scene just exists. Too much of the film just "sits there" in the execution. And there is an over reliance on editing tricks which might have been necessitated by problems during shooting or with the quality of finished scenes, but ultimately becomes simply distracting and pushes the audience away from the film instead of bringing them in to it. Yes, it can be wonderful all the tools available to the digital editor, but that doesn't mean you have to use them all at the same time. And despite all the editing, editing, editing going on the films pace is poor from the outset and endlessly cutting to overused footage of cracked earth doesn't help in the least. Once or twice is eerie but by the three thousandth time it's simply boring and feels like visual padding.
Although it never fulfilled on it's promise, and on several occasions was a struggle to get through, I still think it's worthwhile watching the product of filmmakers who are at least trying to create something original regardless of their limitations. With a better developed script (and a less "everything-but-the-kitchen-sink" approach to editing) I wouldn't mind seeing what the filmmaker could accomplish in the future.
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seriouscritic-4256911 November 2019
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camera-shy3 December 2007You have to give these guys a break, if you want big budget horror watch one of the million dollar Hollywood movies, these are young guys trying to make it in one of the toughest industries. As a filmmaker myself i can tell you this is well edited, the acting is pretty good, he created good depth of field using a pro-sumer camera and he knew that keeping the angles tight is important when using a camera like the DVX100 as the resolution on these small cameras tends to break up when put to the big screen. I can tell you he does know how to make movies.All famous filmmakers have humble beginnings.The only thing i would say all things considered is that it is a bit too long. If you are an aspiring filmmaker i recommend watching this.
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fogfrogblog24 December 2007as an inspiring director myself, this movie was exciting to watch with criticism in mind. Shot with low end digital camera probably with 35mm adapter for DOF. The editing is good acting decent, sound effects aren't too over the top. I would have give it a 7 for an indie film, but the story aren't that interesting. It's more on the drama side, character developments than a horror flick.
It's not for those who wants to get spooked startled frightened grossed out, or sit down with popcorn to just enjoy.
honestly this movie would be good if we were still in the 50's
This movie is about a family who has a dry field, and that is just that. -
coffeeblack11 November 2007five minutes after watching this i logged on to IMDb to warn all of you out there not to bother with this movie... genre:horror? it had moments of mild suspense and throughout the whole movie i was thinking to myself "somethings gotta happen soon" it did not...when the movie ended i felt so embarrassed for the writer/director i've never been the biggest fan of patrick rea this guy just does not know how to make movies and after watching this sorry excuse of a horror flick i've gone from not been the biggest fan to will not watch another of his works..
i was taken in by the plot summary please don't make the same mistake.
i gave this movie a 2 for the actors..they were not bad and it wasn't there fault they got such bad direction... -
tmccull529 January 2020Why does virtually every atmospheric, "spooky" movie about a missing or recently deceased child HAS to have quarreling parents who don't get along? Here, we have Jacob, the perpetually belligerent, moody, surly husband, who has no likeable qualities whatsoever, married to Beth, the emotionally unstable wife. This is a staple in almost every ghostly movie ever made, and it is a tiresome plot device.
Other than atmosphere, this movie has virtually nothing to offer. There is the indefinable, mysterious "monster", the stranger returned to town who has all of the answers because he once escaped the "monster". People disappear. Cattle go missing, to turn up dead from mysterious circumstances. Ditto for dogs.
As if one tiresome trope, the quarrelsome couple, isn't enough, the "monster" feeds off of the fear and despair of it's victims. It's just dark. It has no shape, no form, no outward features. It's just living darkness that occasionally shakes a few shrubs and bellows like Godzilla.
Wait. Is there a monster, or is all of this going on in Beth's head? I honestly didn't care, and by the end of this piece of garbage, neither will you. This movie stinks on ice at virtually every possible level. Spare yourself. Watch paint dry. Watch ice melt. Watch grass grow. Watch your neighbor's dog taking a dump on the grass as it grows. Any of these would be more worthwhile, and more entertaining, than this dreary, dreadful piece of dreck. -
A film with very little positive to say for it.
Firstly it has zero pace and is positively lacking in any drama.
Besides being remarkably slow The Empty Acre seems dedicated to using the same stock footage again and again. I lost count of how many times I had seen "that" field at night or that bit of cracked earth.
It also has the fundamental flaw of thinking that if the audience don't know about things they will be gripped rather than just confused. So with no signs that there are any issues we suddenly find the marriage is not what it seems to be despite being given the impression that it's fine. We find Jacob is possibly the worst farmer in the universe as he seems to spend no time on the farm and also seems to have bought land with a wholly useless acre. Beth has a key to a warehouse of books? There are innumerable other questions some of which are resolved later in the movie, much later, in fact too late.
And on the point of the acre. Horror filmmakers note that large inanimate objects are inherently not scary and also if they're meant to be an acre big then make them so.
There is also a frightening lack of reasonability as Beth (the best performer in the piece, followed by Jefferson the cop) suddenly appears to be accused of everything under the sun just because she is on "medication".
With the full ten minutes plus of running round the fields looking for the missing child (did he crawl out of the window? He's six months old) the film descends into badly written scene after badly written scene. Bad plinky plonk "horror" music fails to add atmosphere.
Often bad films can be amusing but not The Empty Acre, which is just bad. -
vmalast12 September 2018Dark, surreal, foreboding and interesting. I liked this film. Not loved but liked. Very H. P. Lovecraft which is really difficult to transfer to the screen, because they tried to tackle Lovecraft and did a pretty decent job, I gave them a 6.
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Captain_Roberts4 November 2012This is probably one of the better riffs on H P Lovecraft's "Colour out of Space" that I've seen. It is certainly better than both "The Curse" and "Die Monster, Die!" Like any good suspense film (I'd not call this a horror movie) the Empty Acre relies on slowly suspense as the movie progresses. This isn't a movie for gore fans, or people with the attention span of a 5 year old. One really needs to commit to this film, but it is well worth it.
As the movie progresses and the relationship between the married couple grows more and more estranged, one can actually see the "Acre" responding to the emotional turmoil, feeding off of it and growing in strength.
While certainly not a direct interpretation of Lovecraft's work, the influence is there so strongly that you cannot miss it. This is a MUST for any fan of Lovecraft's work, and I admit that I look forward to seeing what Patrick Rea has done since. -
TvDemon23 November 2007Those of the "Instant Gratification" era of horror films will no doubt complain about this film's pace and lack of gratuitous effects and body count. The fact is, "The Empty Acre" is a good a example of how independent horror films should be done.
If you avoid the indie racks because you are tired of annoying teens or twenty somethings getting killed by some baddie whose back-story could have come off the back of a Count Chocula box, "The Empty Acre" is the movie for you.
Set in the decaying remnants of the rural American dream, "The Empty Acre" is the tale of a young couple struggling with the disappearance of their six-month-old baby. As the couple's weak relationship falls apart, a larger story plays out in the background. At night, a shapeless dark mass seethes from a sun baked barren acre on their farm and seemingly devours anything in its path, leaving no sign that it was ever there.
The film is loaded with enigmatic characters and visual clues as to what is happening, and ends with a well executed ending that resonates with just enough left over questions to validate the writer/director's faith in an intellectual audience.
There seems to be a sub-text concerning the death of the American dream, but I would hardly call the film an allegory. Riveting, well acted, and technically astute, "The Empty Acre" is a fantastic little indie that thinking horror fans should love. -
itchmr17 March 2008Budget limitations, time restrictions, shooting a script and then cutting it, cutting it, cutting it... This crew is a group of good, young filmmakers; thoughtful in this script - yes, allegorical - clever in zero-dollar effects when time and knowledge is all you have, relying on actors and friends and kind others for their time, devotion, locations; and getting a first feature in the can, a 1-in-1000 thing. These guys make films. Good ones. Check out their shorts collection "Heartland Horrors" and see the development. And I can vouch, working with them is about the most fun thing you'll do in the business. I'm stymied by harsh, insulting criticism for this film, wondering if one reviewer even heard one word of dialogue, pondered one thought or concept, or if all that was desired of this work was the visual gore of bashing and slashing to satisfy some mindless view of what horror should mean to an audience. Let "The Empty Acre" bring itself to you. Don't preconceive what you expect it should be just because it gets put in the horror/thriller genre due to its supernatural premise. It's a drama with depth beyond how far you can stick a blade into someone with a reverence for a message that doesn't assault your brain's visual center, but rather, draws upon one's empathetic imagination to experience other's suffering of mind and spirit. mark ridgway, Curtis, "The Empty Acre"