What kind of movie would you get when you mix the works of John Carpenter and H.P. Lovecraft together? Well the answer to that is the 2016 Mystery/Science fiction/Horror film, ‘The Void’.
‘The Void’ follows police officer Carter (Aaron Poole) when he brings a bloodied patient to an understaffed hospital, in what seems to be the middle of nowhere. Shortly after, the hospital is surrounded by cloaked cult-like figures who won’t let the people in the hospital leave. As he tries to protect the patients and staff, he begins to realize that something evil lies within the depths of the hospital.
Directors Steven Kostanski and Jeremy Gillespie have managed to make one of the most intriguing 80s style horror movies that has managed to surpass my expectations for it. What they have managed to make is a mixture of John Carpenter and H. P. Lovecraft with a hint of David Cronenberg. Basically what I mean by this is that you have a film shot like Carpenter had been directing it, a Lovecraft inspired plot, and the marvelous gore effects of a Cronenberg film.
One of the main positives I have is the use of practical effects. Kostanski and Gillespie have used little CGI (the only real use of it is a green screen towards the end) and this made the film so much better than what it could have been. The use of practical effects makes it more real and it’s just wonderful to see a horror movie go out of its way to produce some of the best gore effects I have seen to date. If I were to go more in-depth about these great practical effects, I would be spoiling most of the movie.
Another positive to talk about is the pace of the movie. The first two acts are basically a slow-burn, yet gruesome build-up to the more action oriented third act which leads me to one of the biggest negatives of the film, the ambiguous ending. Don’t get me wrong, I love ambiguous endings if they are done right. The ending of ‘The Void’ could have been done a lot better since when you get to the end credits, you feel slightly disappointed, and that leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
The acting was both a positive and negative aspect of the film. Some of the main cast had done a solid job throughout, but the rest of the cast seemed to act like they were in a pornographic film. The best thing I can say about that though, is that you don’t really see much of the bad actors, so it won’t really take you out of the film.
Overall, ‘The Void’ is a solid independent horror movie that knows what kind of movie it is and embraces it with a passion. If you are looking for a modern-day 80s movie that is both a fun and terrifying ride to be on, you’ll love it.
Rating: 4/5
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