Absence of Light (2006) Review
A respected researcher is on the verge of engineering the perfect soldier, a synthetic humanoid with superhuman strength. There are forces at work that would use his scientific breakthrough for the powers of darkness.
Agents Puritan and Sultan are dispatched to protect a corrupt U.S. Senator named Criswell, who is seeking re-election and wants his sordid past protected at all costs. Should they fail to restore the balance between good and evil, a new era of darkness will soon be ushered in.
Two sinister corporations are at war with each other for control of North American politics. The first corporation, titled ‘Plague’ is run by the sinister ex-government operative known only as Whiplash and he’s are up for creating chaos and discord in the world to consolidate their power in world affairs. The other corporation, and the ‘lesser’ of the two evils, is ‘Section 8’ run by an operative known only as the Higher Power whose job is blackmail, assassination and infiltration for it’s high-paying clients.
Absence of Light begins with an introduction from Michael Berryman. For those not in the know, Michael Berryman starred in what is potentially one of the greatest horror movies of all time – The Hills Have Eyes. Surely having Michael introduce your movie means that it’s going to be one of the greatest masterpieces in horror history right?
4 minutes into the film and already I feel like I’ve been transported back to 1995. The whole styling of this movie seems to be 90s retro based and I’m not sure if this is intentional or is due to budget constraints.
Tom Savini, Caroline Munro and David Hess’ names appear in the opening credits. Wow, this film is going to be awesome! Or is it?! Even the effects being used in the credits are very ’95. Are you sure this film was released in 2006? Please prove me wrong!
77 minutes later….
The most obvious thing about this film is it’s not a horror film at all!.
Yes, we have possibly some of the greatest and best known horror actors starring in the film, but sadly this doesn’t warrant a status as a horror film. It is also most apparent that sticking high calibre horror actors in such a movie does not disguise the fact that it’s no good and how this even managed to secure a budget to be made is beyond me.
Michael Berryman is brought in to add a supernatural character to the proceedings, but this still doesn’t help.
As for the effects, which appear to have been made using early video effects from the Windows 95 era – I was not impressed. And the synthetic humanoid? Please, my zombie dog is scarier taking when a crap! Absence of Light? more like Absence of Plot!
I thought I would never find a ‘horror’ film which could be worse than Lake Placid 3, but I have – in the form of Absence of Light.
At just under 80 minutes, I felt like I had watched the extended edition of Dances With Wolves (Ask your Dad).
If you need a sleeping sedative at night before you go to sleep, pop in Absence of Light and you will find yourself having a good night’s sleep.
Best thing about Absence of Light? The credits!
Enjoy!
Movie Rating:
Trailer: