New year, new me, and same old love for horror, am I right? With science and rationality back in the saddle here in the U.S., hope on the horizon with the distribution of COVID vaccines, and the rush of the holidays behind us, it’s time to dig back into that which calms us – scary movies! So join me as we kick off 2021 right: with a summary judgment.
Like lemmings off a cliff or conspiracy theorists to 45, The Empty Man is all about the power of the hive mind – to convince, to conspire, and even to conjure. Opening with a strong start and an origin story for the ages, the graphic novel-based film then follows a former detective, played quite earnestly by James Badge Dale, as he helps his neighbor track down her missing teenage daughter. The search lands our protagonist in the heart of a cultish group that pursues the “empty man” – both a being and a state of self-pursuit that is some weird combination of Zen Buddhism, an exorcism, and home-grown terrorism. While this film suffers from some 
significant identity issues, and while its story wavers and even falters after the opening scenes, it does satisfy the craving if you’re searching for a horror flick to wash down any lingering post-holiday warm-n-fuzzies. Carefully set aside hopes for a fully gratifying story and watch The Empty Man for some solid one-off scares, unexpectedly creative shots, and even a few eerie set pieces that harken back to The Ring. While not quite good horror, this one will at least fit the off-season bill and is worth a watch. The Empty Man opened in theaters in October 2020, and is now available on demand.
With the booming popularity of streaming channels like Shudder and Netflix serving up more and more foreign films into living rooms across the U.S., Indonesian horror has increasingly broken through, and The Queen of Black Magic is no exception. Following on the heels of international hit Impetigore, brilliant writer Joko Anwar again creates a horror story steeped in family history, rife with complex characters, and sprinkled with a blend of stellar scares that range from gore to ghosts. In The Queen of Black Magic, a group of old friends return to the orphanage where they met, bringing their wives and families along for a nostalgic and relaxing trip in the countryside, and to reconnect with their old friends 
who run the place. But the families soon hear tell of a woman who was locked away in a room, some children who mysteriously went missing, and deep secrets nobody seems ready to share. As two of the wives fall bizarrely (and graphically) ill, the families soon realize that leaving for help may not be as easy as they had hoped. The film’s layers of terror are manifold, with the best and most 
effective scares being as simple as moving the position of a character between two identical shots. While a handful of campy CGI special effects spoil a few scenes, they aren’t enough to distract from the power of the rest of the film. A terrifying tale and another writing win for Anwar, The Queen of Black Magic is not to be missed. The Queen of Black Magic began streaming on Shudder on Thursday, January 28.
Sweeping English vistas, Regency-era gowns, longing glances, and – horror. Yes, it sounds like a crazy juxtaposition, but I’m in fact talking about the life of Mary Shelley, the author of the dark classic Frankenstein. The latest attempt at a Shelley biopic, A Nightmare Wakes tackles the author’s troubled personal relationship with her eventual husband, the birth and loss of her children, and her descent into obsession with writing. The film does well to weave in Shelley’s real-life words, including her own description of the waking dream that possessed her to write the book, but otherwise A Nightmare Wakes unfortunately falls short. Between the 2017 Mary Shelley and this film, I’m starting to wonder whether Shelley’s story will ever be effectively told with the nod to horror it deserves. There’s plenty to work with – family tragedies, relational rifts, and even an approach to writing that mirrors a conjuring—but still, nobody seems to get it right. This one tries a bit too 
hard to be all at once trippy, overtly sexual, heavy, and eerie, without managing to deliver on any one attempt. While part of me wonders if I’d like this film more if Shelley were my favorite author (I lean more toward the Charlotte Brontë end of the spectrum) I can’t imagine any true Shelley fan would believe this depiction gets it right. This film is over-the-top on acting, cinematography, and even script, and yet not enough on scares or substance. Skip this one and read the actual classic instead. A Nightmare Wakes begins streaming on Shudder on Thursday, February 4.
SpecialK Verdict: Drop what you’re doing and pay homage to The Queen of Black Magic, check out The Empty Man to satisfy your latest horror craving, and feel free to let A Nightmare Wakes sleep in.
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