I think one of the biggest pitfalls facing a low budget horror flick is the temptation to do more than you should on a small budget. I've seen so many micro-budgeted flicks fail simply because the filmmakers wished they were making big budget sci-fi or monster flicks. This leads to shitty effects and dumb costumes. Don't get me wrong -- I'm not against innovation. EVIL DEAD, for instance, is the perfect balance between filmmakers doing what they could with what they had while also throwing in a little extra. But, that's a hard balance to hit.
ABSENTIA does not fall into this trap, because it is content to play almost as if it is a serious character driven drama. It just happens to end up being a horror movie.
Courtney Bell stars as a woman whose husband (Morgan Peter Brown) mysteriously disappeared years ago. As the story begins, her recovering drug addict sister (Katie Parker) is coming to visit to help her finally put the missing husband thing to rest. Parker notes that Bell is pregnant, but Bell dosn't seem to want to talk about it. There's definitely something weird going on, as Bell begins to see creepy visions. Are they real, is she crazy, what's up?
Meanwhile, there's a foreboding pedestrian tunnel built into the side of a hill right in the girls' neighborhood. The first time I saw it, as Parker's character innocently went on a morning jog, I thought -- DUDE! Don't jog in THERE! Someone's going to KILL you! And that's even without any supernatural stuff, I mean, come on, anyone could be in there! Weirdos, even. Sure enough, Parker does come across a weirdo -- but is he just homeless and sick or undead or what? What's going on?
To the movie's credit, it keeps you guessing for a long time, and eventually delivers some unexpected answers.
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