davidfurlotte

(2012-04-30 05:15:03)

Her Dad was RIGHT

Okay, I love the premise. America (probably all of America, North andSouth) runs out of gas and people will be all over the place WHEN ithappens.BUT, that is NOT the REAL premise of the movie, the REAL premise isthat a guy and his girlfriend are having relationship issues thatmostly revolve around the fact the girl's father does NOT like theboyfriend.As almost EVERYBODY here said, can the two of them not have aconversation that does NOT end in an argument? I'm sorry but thepremise breaks down when the two of them don't bother to buy into itright from the beginning.They is NO GAS anywhere. The ONLY vehicle with gas is theirs and whatis left in their tank. POWER goes out and they treat it as some littleminor inconvenience. (Well, in fact, it was, because it seemed thepower came back on at times during the filming of the movie.) They findout from their various relatives that they are in for at least 3 monthsof this but instead of trying to do some long-term planning on how theywill survive, they act as though they're on some little "outing"somewhere.******SPOILER******* Obviously, Piper's dad was right because the ONLYreason Dell picked up the gun was to use it in some psychotic rage atthe end of the movie, instead of using it on either the knife-wieldingcar jacker or the thieves who stole their food.I'm sorry but some kind of thought should have been given to WHAT wouldyou do WHEN it happens. This whole production reminded me of what acouple of rich college kids would shoot if mommy and daddy financedtheir "brilliant" production. Give this a PASS because in reality,EMPTY is not about the gas tank, it's a reference to the quality of thescript.

andyshldn

(2012-04-29 15:38:16)

Empty is the correct title for this movie

I see close to 700 movies a year and this by far was the absolute worstpiece of garbage out there. There is no story line that makes any senseand the acting is so deplorable that even if their was a story theywould lose it.I don't think a 10k budget should be an excuse for a lack of story orhorrible direction. It had actors who must have worked for free andthey were overpaid. The constant arguing was comical in that it madeyou root for both of these central characters to meet a quick andpainful demise. Under no circumstances waste any time watching this. It was laughableat most points based on lack of reason and deplorable acting. I wouldrather spend one hour and 45 minutes dealing with an ingrown toe nail.The story is supposed to be about a shortage of gas but it never reallyhas anything to do with the lack of action. I watched till the end inthe hope that a twist or some act of a higher power could save thisdrivel. Not a chance.

jegpad

(2012-04-28 22:58:12)

Made me curious and captivated, especially the music; altogether weird, compelling and quirky

I wore a quizzical expression throughout this film, not quite sure ifit was crap or quite good. In any event, I was captivated by everyturn; curious to find out what happened next whilst reserving my thumbsup thumbs down judgment of all armchair critics.Acting was sometimes verging on losing all credibility, but thedialogue kept it afloat as did the haunting music. Considering thebudget was miniscule I rarely found myself questioning the quality ofthe production. Some of the landscape shots were beautiful, addingextra spookiness as I expected to see some bloody hand sticking out ofthe snow. But the film makers didn't descend to the schlock horrorwhich must have been so tempting for box office success. Instead theprolonged suspense and realistic creepy characters that the couple cameacross drove home the potential realities of what could happen if lawand order broke down.The personal relationship of the couple featured heavily, adding againto the curiosity. Why would these individuals focus on themselves whenthere was increasing danger surrounding them? But this is explained ifone sticks through it.All in all, a mind twister for me. I found it captivating and wastransfixed to the end. I'm still wondering if I've lost my marbles, orif this film is quite brilliant.

tbranson-2

(2012-04-28 02:07:39)

I don't have time to listen to you two arguing!

It seems like there's been a rash of these indie movies lately. Movieswhere an interesting concept becomes simply a backdrop for endlessnavel gazing.The concept in Empty was rather bold; all the black people in Americadisappear leaving the hapless whites falling into chaos because there'sno one around to their menial chores. Cool idea. We could have fun withthat. But instead the film makers choose to focus on the pettybickering of a young couple that missed the big event. They come out ofthe woods from a backpacking trip (with VERY little gear. A little6-pack cooler was all I saw) so they don't know the world is a mess.Then the two of them argue about every thing. Each scene is a differentset piece for a stupid spat. They argue about hotel rooms, over pricedsandwiches, the girls dad, killing a dude, ice fishing, getting robbed,etc etc... it goes on & on. The acting is OK once you get used to it-but the script is not so great.Finally the young couple find a black person who somehow didn'tdisappear and the entire movie replays in flashback in case you missedsomething. The couple bicker once again, this time about whether or notto let the black woman help them.But the lady dares to speak up, delivering the most poignant line ofthe film: "I don't have time to listen to you two arguing!" Talk aboutmumblecorian meta! The male lead gets so butt-hurt that he kills herand goes off to sulk in the woods. He would rather live like an animalthan be spoken to like that by a black person who couldn't possiblyunderstand his middle class angst.All in all this can't be recommended for any reason other than as acautionary lesson in self awareness for film makers.

kylere

(2012-04-17 15:50:57)

Great Concept turned into utter tripe

I watch movies, especially B movies. I admit I am a glutton forpunishment because I love zombie flicks and most of them are horrible.I find good in almost every movie I watch. This movie has nothing tomake it redeemable.But, no zombie movie I have ever seen (and that includes the Italianzombie flicks) approached the movie "Empty" for absolutely trash. Thelead female (Ashley C. Williams) might be able to act, but she neverdemonstrates it here. The lead male needs to find a line of work thathas nothing to do with show business for he never even approached beinga believable character.They had a basic idea of societal breakdown following a lack ofgasoline worldwide, which has many opportunities for great story butthey found none of them. Both "Piper" and "Dell" are utterly unlikeablecharacters who spend the entire time demonstrating zero charisma orchemistry. The female lead has lines written to show her as a vapidsilly little twit, as an example, she begs her boyfriend to stophitting the guy who just attacked them and (for a young broke couple)throws money away like a Hilton-Heiress while her boyfriend ispresented as a jobless loser with a chip on his shoulder the size ofTexas and the reasoning ability of a drunken pre-teen. Both of themtake every dangerous path, every ignorant path and every self-damagingpath they are offered.Both of them treat each other like enemies rather than lovers orfriends, and the male lead is basically a whiny child. While watchingthis movie I kept hoping they would both be tortured to deathgraphically for hours so I could enjoy their karmic reward but it neverhappens. It is reported that this movie had a budget of US$10000, and Ihave to assume they spent USD$9999 of it on getting drunk enough tomake them think it was worth doing.IMDb shows it as having a rating of 4.7/10 from 176 users, I have toassume that over 100 of those votes came from the family and friends ofthe cast and crew.

ekin-547-147217

(2012-04-17 11:56:58)

"EMPTY" is empty!

Which sucker goes a trip that is not filling the car's gas tank such asin America continent? The answer is: No need to keep track of! I watched the film butregretted. I spend my time! There is no subject, acting, editing and directing. Somebody wrote downlike this; This is worse than a B grader, terrible acting, horriblefilming, and what was the director doing? Stay away from it, it isrubbish.It would be great if the fantastic IMDb to let us vote less than 1, aseven a 0 is being kind. I think that IMDb votes came from the familyand friends of the cast and crew. Ekin

dtempleton-1

(2012-04-07 21:29:46)

Wasted story potential

I was attracted to this movie because as a 'horror' with an unusualvillain (a global gas crisis) it had potential to be different. In thefirst few minutes I was thinking that we might see townsfolkinteracting to deal with crisis, creative approaches, some evildoersand some that rise above, but no. What we get is a young couple whiningat each other and dealing with only the most superficial problems thatmight result from an energy crisis.The script and production is tremendously lame. How is she camping for6 days in white style boots? How is the gas station closed for days ina snow storm clean plowed, and where on earth did all of the tiretracks come from? Why is there no evidence of power failure until dayslater? I can imagine how Google could survive the crisis but all thecell towers working? IMDb estimates that this cost $10,000 to make. Maybe, since the actorswere probably not paid and the sets consist of a walk through thewoods, a small town early Sunday morning, and a couple of rentalcabins. Where they should have spent the money is on a script thatdoesn't feel fake, and that contains some dialog that doesn't make youwonder why the two characters didn't kill each other long ago.

douginvegas

(2012-04-07 05:04:07)

Not too horrible if you take it for what it is...

This is a tiny film with a tiny budget. I've read that the acting wasterrible, but I don't agree. Sadly, I believe this is exactly how 2spoiled kids in their early 20s would react to a situation like this.Foolish boy who puts on the macho act because he's scared as hellinside. Scared daddy's girl who has no real world experience behavingjust as you would expect a scared little daddy's girl to behave.Constant and unending bickering.The plot itself is interesting if unbelievable. Lots of mistakes in thefilming, and I must admit I fast forwarded through much of the arguing.I did finish the movie. It's a pretty forgettable film, but I don'tfeel too bad about it.

blue141

(2012-03-31 05:16:56)

OK Film For The Most Part

I actually liked this film. Most people I know really do argue likethese two people did. They also showed how little any of us know aboutsurvival. Turning on and off flashlights, not using the wood on thefire to cook with. Ignoring the leach at the hotel was very stupid. Theonly problem I have with this film, is just after the half way point,that shot of the summer cabin at night showed electric porch lights onafter the power was off. Wasting food, not taking into account thingsmight disappear for a while, is something most of us do every day, soit's not unreasonable to see they might do the same. Flashing cash whenthe hotel desk clerk said he took credit, is just plain dumb.The guycarjacking and wanting some sex in the process is very believable. It'sjust those lights that get me, that made me laugh, and after that Itook the movie with a pinch of salt.

lensta71

(2012-03-30 15:28:17)

Original

The movie Empty is far too flawed to be considered great, considering awell financed production could have made it great, and thus one must atleast warrant this attempt at B-movie Scifi as an original success. Thelead couple were attractive enough to please the eye, and the plot hadquite a few 'I know what's going to happen next' moments that usuallyturned out different somehow. The filming was amateur, yet the actingwas decent. The two main characters spent a lot of time talking on thephone to family that you will never see. The bad people weren't scaryenough. Despite all the flaws I could continue with, the movie wasengaging, it gradually lifted the uncertainty of the plot as the movieprogressed, and the ending was profoundly believable. I give Empty afive out of ten only because it could have been a seven had they soldthe script to a better production company.

leif-weston-andersen

(2012-03-21 22:23:50)

A brave try.

All stories, ultimately, are love stories. The vehicle used to tellthis one is a catastrophic gas crisis that catches two lovers unawareas they exit the woods following a week-long camping trip in the throwsof their own inter-emotional crisis. Empty overtly focuses its energyon the latter, personal crisis, and the title aptly reflects a romanceat its terminal point. As an emotional race through the chaotic anddamaging emotions attending the dissolution of a deeply feltrelationship, the film works, and at times it works very well. Iwatched it through to its rather abrupt ending, and that sayssomething. For a feature film made on 10 grand, this actually says awhole lot.However, great as the premise may be, and as sound as the fracturedromance plays, this film's overall execution is touch and go.The gas crisis as plot vehicle is something of a jalopy riddled withholes (see others' reviews on this). Still, if one backs away from itsrusty details, the conundrum does actually run and functions perfectlywell as a foil for the drama to unfold.The script is hot and cold - on again, off again - yet it was on justenough to keep me engaged in the unfolding drama between Piper andDell.Likewise for the acting. Williams' portrayal as Piper was strong andconvincing. Carlo as Dell was less so, but I felt this had more to dowith weaker scripting for his character. I actually found the leads'chemistry to be quite endearing. And McBrien did a great job as thespooked, neurotic hotelier.The essentials of the direction were solid, and I appreciated thechoice of camera angles used throughout. Highlights take place in thehotel, and shots of Piper were always at their best. Yes, the fightscene was a little underwhelming, and there were a few further minordowners. However, Fangoria reports this film was made in just 10 daysin the dead of winter, and when I consider this, I give it plenty ofprops.Editing: given the extreme constraints the editor had to work with, I'dsay he did an admirable job. Overall production values were low, butthis doesn't necessarily hurt the film. I loved the folksy guitartrack; it provided an air of humility and compassion throughout, twoqualities the story required to move forward.Could a better feature film have been made using this premise of gascrisis, but with only 10 days, and $10,000? Maybe. But I haven't seenit, and in the meantime, this film had the courage to try. The resultis ultimately watchable and often satisfying. I'm impressed andimmensely encouraged to know that this kind of project found wings.

sandowl

(2012-03-21 11:25:28)

Shocking

I started watching this film and thought, 'Okay, it's not the slickestproduction, or attention grabbing production in the world, yet it'sworth a shot'. Needless to say I was really annoyed that I had wasted1.5 hours of my life that I will not get back, waiting for an endingwhich was extremely disappointing. After watching what seemed anexcessively long 1.5 hours of b**ching, moaning, fighting and needlessmelodrama from the characters the ending was absolutely terrible. Sobad in fact, that it inspired me to sign up to IMDb to let other peopleknow not to waste their time. Each to their own, it may be okay foryou, it wasn't to my liking. It would've been more interesting had'Guy' the hotel clerk been a serial killer. Cheers.

pontificator

(2012-03-18 14:47:08)

Surprisingly Liked it

Surprisingly I liked this movie, despite all the contrived situationsand somewhat amateurish production values (obviously if done on 10Kquite remarkable).But nearly all movies are contrived to some extent more or less.Perhaps it was the simple guitar soundtrack that kept me watching. Idon't quite know, obviously the premise had some resonance.However the thing that irked me most was the antagonism that developedbetween the the two lead protagonists? but I guess its central to thetheme of the movie.Of course the other great hole in it was the essential collapse of theUSA within 6 days. Quite impossible under almost any scenario, but ifyou can ignore that, if you just want to watch a simple movie then itsO.K.I especially liked the ending.

neil-upto11

(2012-03-17 19:32:18)

Oh man, this is bad

The basic notion is actually a decent-enough premise for a story: a gascrisis leads to a rapid breakdown of society. Fair enough.However, the acting is so amateurish and the sets so poor that itreally does have all the production values of a mid-range porn flick.To be fair, the female lead seems to have sufficient credibility butliterally everyone else is awful.The music consists of some 'Deer Hunter'-inspired acoustic guitarplucking and is often accompanied by extended scenes of thecountryside. It feels like an advert for a 10-cd, easy-listening pack.I thoroughly recommend not bothering with this; it is utterlyunrewarding as a film experience.

Perry Bee

(2012-03-12 10:10:24)

I am sure it will get an Oscar! not!

What is up with the movie world the last few years? rubbish afterrubbish, and it only seems to get worse. This film sounded good, butdamn with a budget of 10K I should have know better.This is worse than a B grader, terrible acting, horrible filming, andwhat was the director doing? sleeping on the set? stay away from it, itis rubbish.It would be great if the fantastic IMDb to let us vote less than 1, aseven a 0 is being kind.1 out of 10 be warned it is bad! And here is some more text to insuremy take on this really bad film gets excepted on the oh so great IMDb.

taxfreeknight

(2012-03-11 15:54:10)

a couple back from a six day camping finds that the world as they knew it had changed for ever due to a gas crises .

My daily dose comprises of at least 3 movies of any kind.So u can besure that I am a movie buff n a kind one at that.I like to keepcriticism to myself, as a gesture of encouragement to the smalltimers.Even though I know ,I got a better chance of meeting Santa thenof any movie maker ever reading my take on their movie. But this once,Ijust cant bear to let it ride.This movie is something you would show ina Nazi concentration camp ,for the sheer purpose of torture.I just wishI could put all the people involved in this movie in a torture chambern the Geneva convention can take a hike. Like most of the reviewershere I too believe that they had a good concept if not a great one forthe movie,,but instead they decided to postmortem it beyond recovery.The couple comes back from a camping trip after an odd six days only tofind the world as they knew it has changed for ever due to the gascrises, and put a full stop to any kind of vehicular or other kind ofmovement and in the process bringing the world to a stand still. Itmakes u wonder if thats the only way to move around.And also how onearth did the people leave n to where when clearly they didn't have thegas for their wheels to do so.And which place would they go to becausethe crises has hit the whole of the USA(unless they all decided to trekall the way to Europe). But hello, six days!!. come on they very wellhad access to d net n radio through their cell phones because theyhadn't gone to a no signal zone ,as you can make out that they werehardly a few miles away from the town n civilization.Surely some one,the guys brother or the females dad or just friends would have informedthem about something as grave as this. But what really got to me wasthe constant bickering the two leads go through right from the word goand all the way to the merciful last scene.They argue over everynonsense thing under the sun n then some, which really gets under yourskin.And a mannequin would have shown much more passion n better actingthen the actors here.All the while I so badly wanted some one to chopthem off, piece by piece n in slow mo n in details,whit me laughing allthe time in glee through their pain n eventual death. Watch it only ifyou need motivation for anger.I could go on and on but my frustrationis running off. Trash it.

rodluke

(2012-03-06 05:26:49)

Hmmm...

Never heard of this film before but the cover looked interesting anddescription on the back of the DVD box sounded mildly intriguing.A couple have been camping for the last 6 days and upon return to thenearest town, find out there has been a Worldwide Gas (Petrol for UKreaders :P ) shortage, which leads to many inconvenient events(looting, no Police presence, food shortages etc).The first 10 minutes sort of set me up for wanting to enjoy the film asthe storyline certainly had potential.The next hour and 12 minutes I can never get back and to sum it up thisfilm is Awful!

jason-guest

(2012-03-05 16:27:17)

Poor poor poor

What a waste of my time. I enjoy low budget movies, when done well,this was not!! Bad acting, horrible script and the story......It lookedlike it could have potential but within the opening 2 mins I knew thiswas going to be horrible. At the beginning the dialogue tries tosuggest character background but in such an unsubtle way as to insultthe viewer. The movie contains lines which my 8 year old daughter couldhave written better. The lead characters are unlikeable and as such younever feel part of the movie. The directing is poor and feels like afirst year film students attempt at movie making. I can only suggestthat you do NOT watch this as it wasted my time and hopefully I can gosomeway to stopping you from wasting yours, be warned I have told you.Its not often a movie hits my worst 20 films of all time but I thinkthis may have just made it onto the list!

dasreich1943

(2012-03-04 07:16:15)

No budget but made great by two very good actors and a good story!

Very well made, considering the microscopic budget. The premise isgreat, both leads (Ashley & Jon) turn in excellent performances as thecouple caught up in an increasingly lawless situation, as America runsout of petrol. Their bickering and arguing comes across as veryauthentic, and often very funny as well. The tension at times betweenthe couple is palpable. There is one slight problem I had, the factthat the two of them don't watch the television as soon as they reachthe house, but I can live with that! There are some quite grippingmoments when things get out of hand. All in all, a great drama/thrillerfilm made by an independent company on a shoestring. Well done.

RLuciano-OneClickFilms

(2012-03-03 18:33:40)

I thought it was very well done!

OK, let's get right down to it. Was it a low budget film? Yes. Werethere technical issues throughout the film? Yes. The audio at times wasindistinguishable, the lighting was off and on, technically in manyways it was a disaster.However, the script I felt was brilliant! It was so well written andacted, it compensated for the technical challenges. And there were aLOT of technical challenges. There was a few scenes where you couldhear this low rumble. It had my wife extremely confused what thosesounds were, until I told her it was the microphone. Either the wind,or someone bumping the camera or mic. Very "video 101" issues thatanyone would realize taking on the challenge of filming.But again, it was so well written and acted, I found that 5 mins intothe movie I was hooked! I actually HAD to watch it to see what wouldhappen. I see a lot of independent films/videos, and barely 20% areworth actually sitting through. This was in that 20%! The characterswere so well defined and acted, I found myself hating and loving eithercharacters. I was not thrilled at all with the ending, because I justfelt it contradicted that characters actions and morals. So for me Iwould have ended the story much different. I won't comment here as Idon't want to write any spoilers to the film. You really should seethis film and make your own judgement. But when you do watch the film,understand that there are technical challenges and you just have toaccept that.If you can accept the technical challenges, you are definitely in for agreat ride. I rarely, RARELY find a movie that has two lead charactersthat play off each other so well, that their relationship alone carriesthrough the movie, very rare. Which is why I have to say, in many waysI absolutely LOVE this film! Specifically for the acting, writing, anddirection I should say.I especially felt that there was a fantastic build from the beginningof the story, to the end. Wonderful character development. If it wasn'tfor the ending, I honestly can say I feel this movie would be damn nearperfect from a story standpoint. I can't imagine if thedirector/producer had more funds to have a better camera, better audiooption, better sound effects and supporting soundtrack, what this filmwould have been like.With all due respect to the people that have reviewed this feature, Ithink you have to just accept the fact that there are technicalchallenges that are apparent in the film. As far as I'm concerned, Igive this an 8 specifically because of the story, acting, and even thedirection wasn't bad with the challenges at hand. I think the shotchoice could have been better, but we don't know what challenges thedirector had with time, etc.Personally for me and my wife, we think this story was very well done.I have watched it twice now, and will see it again definitely! I am anactor, writer, and director, and will be filming my first short nextyear. I understand the challenges with the filming process and can saythis. For this director, producer, and actors, to dedicate themselvesto a project with a shoe string budget and still come out making amovie that grabs your attention, gets you talking, and communicateslike it does with so many variety of topics, I say "BRAVO!" to the castand crew! Well done!