Search - The Absence of Light on DVD

THE STARS HAVE NOTHING TO DO...

Tim Janson | Michigan | 07/26/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I'm thinking that a better title to this film would have been "Absence of Talent" or "Absence of a cohesive Plot" or "Absence of something worthwhile to waste 80 minutes on"...all would have been more appropriate. I love low budget films but there's a fine line between low budget and cheap. Halloween was low budget...this film is cheap. And it's really a shame because you will recognize a number of cast members in the film including FX guru Tom Savini, Michael Berryman, 70's hottie Caroline Munro, and Tony Todd. But don't be fooled...none of these are the main stars. In fact, Todd appears for only a few brief minutes, and Munro and Berryman not much longer. And their roles are basically restricted to sitting around on a couch or behind a table talking. Berryman looked like he was ready to fall asleep during his scenes.

The two "stars" are Richard Conant and Eric Thornsberry who play government operatives named Puritan and Sultan. Sounds like a couple of nicknames from the old G.I. Joe cartoon. These guys have all the charisma of a bag of rocks. Louie Anderson would make a more believable government agent. Anyway, this government agency, led by Savini who is called the "Higher Power" cleans up the kinds of messes that no one else can. In this case, they are trying to get a Senator Criswell re-elected to office while hiding his sexual trysts from the public eye. Meanwhile there is a terrorist organization trying to bring Criswell down and to also steal the secrets of a secret experiment in which some very badly computer animated life forms are brought to life to be the new super soldiers...or something like that...

The "special effects" are just brutal...in one scene a car blows up carrying Sultan's fiancé and the fire is just superimposed over the car. I mean couldn't they have bought a cheap wreck to actually blow up? These are the kind of effects you used to see on Saturday morning live action kids shows in the 70's. There's another hilarious scene where the two agents are tracking a suspect using a hi-tech scanner that scans for a person's DNA. The little screen flashes "The suspect is near!" Man...that's gold!

Berryman probably has more speaking lines in this film than he has in all of his other films combined and that's really not such a good thing. He seemed completely bored, even during the film's introduction which is one of the DVD's special features. It's funny but of these four name stars, Todd is easily the best actor and only gets about five minutes of screen time. Ironically, right after I got done watching this film I was flipping around the channels and came upon Todd doing an episode of Stargate SG1. The guy can obviously get some decent acting gigs so I can only assume he was friends with the filmmakers. None of the stars have much to do in this movie. In fact, most of the film is nothing but the actors sitting around talking.

There really is nothing redeeming about the film but thankfully it is very short at just 77 minutes.
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A really exciting Indy Film!

Char Lydon | Ohio | 08/04/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Absence of Light is not your typical horror film. It is a tapestry of horror, sci-fi, and espionage genres. Not only is this film filled with excellent effects, it is also well written. This film contains twists and turns that really keeps one's interest. It was really awesome to see a variety of talent from the sci-fi and horror industry collaborate on this very unique work. Absence of Light has it all... action, luster, and excitement."

Great Indie Film

Shadow Walker | Seattle, WA | 08/04/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For an up-and-coming filmmaker, Patrick Desmond has definitely delivered a one of a kind movie with Absence of Light. It has a very diversified look to it with cgi incorporated effects. The plot has its twists and turns as the two political organizations go head to head. Great stunts along with some alien intervention took Absence of Light to new levels of the political sci-fi genre."