Halloween Week: The Void movie review

Here's what you need to know; strange things are going down in a small American town, as police deputy Daniel Carter stumbles across an injured man in the woods and takes him to the soon to be abandoned local hospital, it isn't long however before he realises that something sinister is happening, as robed cultists surround the building. But the cultists quickly become the least of their worries, as the dead in the hospital begin to rise again, mutated into horrific creatures, and a Lovecraftian evil begins to awaken in the bowels of the hospital, one promising the power of resurrection, but at immeasurable cost.
Ever since I watched Chris Stuckmann's review of this film on YouTube, I've had an interest in watching it, being a bit of a fan of classic horror gore fests like The Thing. One day I picked it up on DVD, but because I'm lazy, I never watched it, then I picked it up on Blu Ray, and Halloween rolled around, so I figured now was the time. So continuing the spookiness of the season, let's open our eyes to the abyss, and look at The Void. On a side note, when I watched this film, the sun was red, something about Saharan dust or Spanish forest fires, but it really helped the mood.

The Void's opening is brilliantly intriguing, giving us a creepy farm house, and the two mystery men shooting and torching a woman, it's a great sequence that sets up the ambiguity of the film quite effectively. What else sets the tone fantastically is the way the title appears on the screen, I know it sounds minor, but it's ripped straight off of The Thing, and I loved it. Here's where we're introduced to our hero, so let's talk about characters. Daniel gets the job done as our main hero, very much like the audience, he's a man of common sense, but has no idea what's going, as monsters start showing up and reality starts to fracture around the hospital. The film doesn't go all out on backstory for any of its characters, but in a way, that's a good thing, it means no wasting time with character establishment, making the film very in the moment; we meet Daniel dozing off in his patrol car, we meet his wife Allison, a nurse, as she tends to the druggy, and we meet the two mystery men while they murder and burn another druggy, this is some very straight forward, but efficient character establishment. Throughout the film we learn more about these people, like the cause of Daniel and Allison's relationship breakdown, that Kim struggles under pressure, and eventually we learn of the villain's motivations, again this is all done in a very straight forward fashion, and rather than being there for the sake of it, is only there when it adds to the horror or the tension of a scene, and it works. The two mystery men don't get much of that, apart from one scene that is a brilliant example of subtle storytelling, but this does feed into the film's ambiguity, which we'll get to. But ultimately, these characters are all serviceable in this film's machine, they're not particularly mind blowing characters, but they get the job done. What else gets the job done is the film's story and pace; it's a short film at only 90 minutes, but on the plus side, the film wastes very little time getting to the horror, opening with a murder, and getting to the gory monsters and freaky cultists before the 30 minute mark, and from that point the film is pretty much none stop, as these people who all hate each other have to try and get along and figure out how to survive. The film's plot is simple, on the surface, a group of people trapped in a building where creepy shit's happening, there's a demonic cult doing funky shit with dead bodies, and there are monsters to run away from along the way. Something I like about the film is its ambiguity, things you'd think would be explained usually aren't, like what the monsters actually are, what the Cult's beliefs really are, and what all the black triangles are about. The film gives you enough to put some of it together if you're paying attention, but a lot still isn't explained by the end, like how the two mystery men came into this Cult thing, what the triangles are, and what the final scene is all about. Throughout the film Daniel is shown trippy visions, but they're never given an explanation, nor is it explained how the world physically shifts and changes around the characters. I don't mind ambiguity in films, I mean, I liked Blade Runner 2049, and I actually like that this film doesn't give you all the answers, but it's something to bear in mind if you watch The Void, by the end there will be things that you don't know. The good thing about ambiguity is that it stays on your mind, it keeps you thinking, and that definitely works in The Void's favour, it leaves you not knowing, but it also leaves you wanting to know, though again, if you like your films to be clear and simple, maybe not The Void, it's neither of those things.

Something that makes The Void unique in this modern climate of horror is the style of horror this film offers, The Void is devoid of jumpscares, instead the film relies on psychological horror, and the bit the gore hounds are going to love; body horror. From the 12 minute mark, this film is an absolute gore fest, with members of the cult getting up to some crazy shit, and weird spider things growing out of someone's eyes at one point, beautiful might not be the right word, but this film is entirely dependent on makeup and practical effects, and they are superb. The monsters look great, and while their movement isn't as fluid or natural as something that could be put together with CG, that unnaturalness is part of the charm, and the physicality of them is fantastically realised, as they lumber around, bellowing distorted human screams. The practical effects may not be as impressive or timeless as Rob Bottin's abomination from '82, but the amount of love and skill involved in these freak shows is undeniable, and it makes for a very different experience, when compared to the likes of Alien: Covenant and Annabelle Creation. However that body horror, while making the film very unpleasant in the most pleasant way, makes the film more fun than it is scary, which is obviously not a bad thing. Even better is that this film isn't doesn't rely entirely on the gore and the monsters, it's in its second half that this film takes a significant shift towards a much more interesting flavour of horror; Cosmic horror. The film's final scene is one of the most intriguing and chilling images I've seen in a horror film for a long time, aided by the film's ambiguity, all hinting at a larger presence that the film hints at several times, not like a god or devil, but something for more interesting, a presence that defies comprehension, which is a fancier way of saying the film portrays humans as fleshy, insignificant little weaklings, it's all wonderfully Lovecraftian. The title itself is wonderfully Lovecraftian; The Void, defined as a vast, empty space, what the title refers to in the film itself is one of those ambiguous things, but it adds massively to the intrigue as Daniel comes face to face with 'The Void' in the film's finale, and again, that final scene is brilliant, it's fantastic cosmic horror. But if that's all very complicated, don't forget the film's gore, which is plentiful, with a particular scene towards the end of the film that is like something out of Dead Space, in fact I'd go so far as to say that if the film had more scenes like it, it'd be even more fun, I can't go into detail, but it's a scene that's fucked right up on a conceptual level, and a lot of gory fun to watch. My only real flaw with film's horror and action is minor, and ultimately inconsequential, but it's something I feel is worth addressing, unlike The Thing, where the monster was usually in a lit room or being blasted by several torches, this film's monsters are usually encountered in dark rooms; in the particular Dead Space scene it's fine, as it adds to the horror, but the first 2 times you see a monster are just weirdly lit scenes, and I wish there was more light, so we could see these creatures better.

The Void is great it's pretty straight forward to say, and a very easy recommendation. The film is entirely serviceable as a quick horror gore fest, with functional characters, amazing creature effects, and some freaky body horror, it's also a short, very well paced watch. But like a lot of great films, start looking and you'll see that the film is more interesting than that, those functional characters are developed in a wonderfully subtle way, the ambiguity and cosmic horror leaves the door open for endless intrigue, and it's difficult to not appreciate the amount of passion for the genre on display here. The Void is a fantastic little horror, and it's definitely worth watching.