June 4, 2022
by Carla Hay
Directed by Jo Shaffer
Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed U.S. city, the horror flick “Hell Is Empty” has a predominantly white cast (with one African American and one person of Middle Eastern heritage) representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: A teenage runaway ends up joining the small harem cult of a deranged and controlling man who thinks he’s a messiah.
Culture Audience: “Hell Is Empty” will appeal primarily to people who like don’t mind watching dull and badly made films about cults.
“Hell Is Empty” is an apt title for this terrible horror movie: It’s a type of cinematic hell to watch this empty, soulless and incompetent filmmaking. This relentlessly stupid movie about a brainwashed harem cult is an assault on viewers’ brain cells. The only viewers who might be spared the full idiocy of “Hell Is Empty” are those who can’t bear to finish watching this time-wasting garbage, or those who fall asleep because “Hell Is Empty” is so boring.
Directed by Jo Shaffer (who co-wrote the abominable “Hell Is Empty” screenplay with Adam Desantes), “Hell Is Empty” has nothing new, clever or interesting to say about a not-very-original concept for a horror movie: A tyrannical man keeps a group of women captive and abusively controls their lives. In the case of “Hell Is Empty” (which takes place in an unnamed U.S. city), the women have been brainwashed to believe that that he is a messianic, human incarnation of God.
The movie’s protagonist is a teenage runaway named Lydia (played by Spencer Peppet), who finds herself quickly joining this cult after she leaves home. “Hell Is Empty” opens with a title card saying: “On Sunday, she was declared a runaway. Her mother declined to post a reward.” This information implies that Lydia is under the age of 18, although Peppet looks a lot older than someone who’s supposed to be 16 or 17 years old.
The first time Lydia is seen on screen, she has facial injuries and appears to be barely conscious or unconscious when she’s kidnapped and brought to an isolated area that’s surrounded by water. Even if you’re a runaway who doesn’t want to go home, being abducted and dragged to a strange area is a terrifying experience. But when Lydia’s regains consciousness and finds out that she was kidnapped by a cult, she ludicrously never even asks where she is during the entire story. That’s how absurd “Hell Is Empty” is. Get ready for more stupidity, because this movie is full of it.
The cult leader’s name is Ed (played by played by Travis Mitchell), but he insists on being called Artist by the small harem of women who are under his control. These women are the only people who are the members of Ed’s cult. They all live in (horror movie cliché alert) a remote wooded area. Ed has the persona of a religious messiah, who tells his followers that he is a human incarnation of God and that they have to do whatever he says. They live in a crudely built house with no electricity and no modern technology.
Because Lydia never asks where she is and doesn’t make any attempt to find out, viewers can immediately see that she’s less than smart. It’s supposed to be the movie’s not-very-believable way of showing that Lydia has such little regard for her life that she doesn’t care where she lives. But “Hell Is Empty” is so poorly written, an early scene in the movie directly contradicts this notion, because Lydia tells Ed that she wants to leave. Ed says that “tomorrow” he will take her back to where he found her. But he never does, and Lydia never asks to leave again.
An example of how bad the screenwriting is in “Hell Is Empty” is in the scene showing Lydia and Ed’s first conversation with each other. Ed asks her, “Who made you?” Lydia says, “Nobody.” Ed scolds her: “Liar! When you were struck down on the side of the road, I found you and raised you up, gave you glory.” (Exactly where is the glory in being kidnapped? Lydia never bothers to ask.)
Ed continues, “The world has mistreated you. I can see that. You’ve been abandoned.” Lydia replies, “I left.” Ed then says, “You could be home. I’ve seen your salvation in the water.” The only thing to come out of this nonsensical conversation is that it implies that Ed found Lydia not fully conscious on the road. The movie never bothers to explain why Lydia was found barely conscious, and Lydia never talks about it. It isn’t long before Lydia becomes a member of this cult, which now consists of five female members:
- Lydia, the mysterious and abducted runaway, who won’t reveal hardly anything about her past except that her father died and her mother didn’t want her. Later in the movie, Ed calls Lydia a “dumb Kentucky slut,” which implies that somehow he knows she’s from Kentucky.
- Saratoga (played by Nia Farrell), who is about seventh months pregnant with Ed’s child. Saratoga, who sometimes is called Sara, has a welcoming and friendly personality. She hugs Lydia a lot, as if she’s desperate to have a real friend in this oppressive atmosphere. Saratoga is certain that her unborn child is a boy. “He has to be,” she tells Lydia.” He’s the son of God.”
- Vivian (played by Laura Resinger), the oldest woman in the group. Vivian, who rarely smiles, is very bossy toward the other women in the group when Ed isn’t around. Viewers later find out that Vivian (who met Ed when he worked at a carnival in Champaign, Illinois) has been with Ed the longest and had a monogamous relationship with him until he decided to have a harem. It’s why Vivian is jealous of the other “sister wives” that Ed has brought into the cult.
- Millie (played by Meredith Antoian), the most restless and rebellious woman in the group. Millie is desperately unhappy and acts like she wants to leave this cult. And you know what that means in a horror movie.
- Murphy (played by Aya), the quietest and meekest woman in the group. Murphy, who sometimes goes by the name Murph, is the most likely to blindly follow orders from Ed and Vivian.
All of the women sleep in the same bed together. Vivian complains to Ed that because Lydia is now living with them, the bed has gotten too crowded. Ed ignores her complaint and replies, “The Lord has sent us a new lamb.” Vivian is the only one in this group who really dares to show that she has a mind of her own, but she’s still very much under Ed’s control.
How controlling is Ed? During Lydia’s first meal with the group, a miserable-looking Millie, who is menstruating, asks Ed to be excused from the table because she needs to change whatever she’s using as a sanitary pad. At first, Ed won’t let her leave the table, and he only changes his mind reluctantly after he berates Millie for interrupting the meal with this request.
Later, when the women are in their bedroom, Millie sobs that Ed/Artist doesn’t love her anymore. Vivian says that all that matters is that Millie loves Ed/Artist, and that this love is “better than the needle.” This comment implies that Millie was a needle-using drug addict until Ed “saved” her.
And who exactly is Ed? In a private conversation that Ed has with Lydia, he tells her that he used to be an airplane pilot, but he quit because “I’m not meant for their machines.” And in a cringeworthy pickup line, Ed tells new cult member Lydia: “Having you here has been a little breeze on my soul.” Millie later tells Lydia about Ed’s seeming affection for Lydia: “He’s no good. He only likes you because you’re new.”
“Hell Is Empty” becomes a monotonous chore of watching repetitive scenes with the women doing whatever Ed says and listening to his religious rants. There are multiple useless scenes showing some of the women chopping wood, or Ed showing off his telescope. Ed also likes to smoke cigarettes and curse, so he isn’t so “pure” and “godly” after all. These cigarettes become part of a subplot about betrayal in the group.
Lydia and Saratoga predictably become friends. And the more Lydia spends time with this cult, the more uncomfortable she becomes. Her discomfort increases when Lydia sees that Ed does not show the compassion that he preaches. One day, Lydia and Saratoga are walking together on a nearby beach and find a barely conscious wounded stranger named Christian (played by Liam Ouweleen), a good-looking guy in his 20s.
Lydia immediately wants to bring Christian back to the house to give him medical treatment. Saratoga disagrees because she says that Ed wouldn’t approve. (And it’s obvious because Ed wants to be the only man in the house.) Lydia and Saratoga somewhat argue over this matter, until Saratoga relents and helps Lydia carry Christian back to the house, where Ed and the rest of the women are outside when Lydia and Saratoga arrive with Christian.
Ed has a very angry reaction when he hears what happened, and he refuses to let Lydia and Saratoga bring Christian into the house. Lydia begs Ed to have mercy on this bleeding stranger who needs help. Ed then huffs that this man can be brought into the house: “Fine! Don’t put him in the living room. It’ll ruin the goddamn carpet!” It’s a very campy moment that might bring one of the few laughs that this dreary film can muster.
It turns out that Christian is a lecherous creep. When he regains consciousness, he makes lewd and derogatory remarks about the women to Ed and the women. “It’s an interesting group you’ve got here,” Christian tells Ed. “You must be drowning in it.” Christian also makes it known that he’s sexually interested in some of the women. Because Ed is the type who wants to be the “alpha male,” Christian’s fate is a foregone conclusion.
One of the biggest problems with “Hell Is Empty” is that it’s a horror movie that’s not very scary at all. Because very little is told about the women in the cult and their backgrounds, viewers never really find out what the stakes are if these women leave this cult. Do they have loved ones who are looking for them? What do they want to do with their lives if they leave the cult? The filmmakers don’t seem to care much about these characters, and neither will viewers.
The last third of “Hell Is Empty” is nothing but predictable and badly staged scenes with very little suspense. The acting in the movie ranges from unremarkable to unwatchable. “Hell Is Empty,” just like the title suggests, ultimately adds up to nothing but an appalling void that’s a drain on the time and energy of anyone who has the misfortune of experiencing it.
1091 Pictures released “Hell Is Empty” on digital and VOD on March 1, 2022.