Directors: Jeremy Gillespie, Steven Kostanski
Writers: Jeremy Gillespie, Steven Kostanski
Stars: Aaron Poole, Kenneth Welsh, Daniel Fathers
Plot: Shortly after delivering a patient to an understaffed hospital, a police officer experiences strange and violent occurrences seemingly linked to a group of mysterious hooded figures.
Running Time: 90 minutes
IMDB Score: 5.8
Why I watched it: Heard some good buzz on some genre sights and the trailer looked different.
Random Thoughts: Have to say The Void is a throwback film, reminds me of the 80′s were not all horror films were about teenagers and directors didn’t rely on CGI, they used what we call practical effects, yes I miss the old days.
What I liked: This is a very different film, in both good and bad ways so let’s start with the good since this is what this section is for. The Void is full of atmosphere, tension and dread it starts off in a disturbing way and for the most part it doesn’t let up. I wouldn’t call it a slow burn film but more of a film that unravels and ramps up at the same time.
Now we have to say this was done on a cheap budget and it works for this film for the most part, the one location is good and the lighting and technology stuff is good for what it is. The effects are pretty good, it reminded me of The Thing, very alien and strange looking the film also has a huge HP Lovecraft vibe to it, it’s a mixed genre here were it’s a cult film and you do have the scary hooded dudes but we also have this strange alien/body horror going on as well.
The acting is good across the board it was cool seeing veteran Canadian character actors Art Hindle and Kenneth Welsh show up. Aaron Poole is good as the lead he has a role that is a bit tricky cause of course he was this tragic backstory but also he has to deal with this strange crap going on.
The other thing I would like to comment on is that I lot of the times I complain that horror movies just do lazy cliched stories, they don’t try well here The Void might have tried too much but by God they went for it, they blew their woad big time. This was filmmakers going big and it was very cool to see, they didn’t play it safe.
What I Didn’t like: They did go for too much and as a result the plot got muddled and at times downright confusing I mean they trow everything into this, like I said HP Lovecraft, The Thing, even a little Hellraiser, cults and other dimensions. I do think it hurt the narrative. The film gets really bogged down in the end of the second act and the start of the third, the film almost grinds to a halt as we were dealing with some much exposition.
The film also turns into something else and I’m not sure it really worked, the main bad guy’s plan is iffy at best, this film does deal with some big ideas, life after death, our true selves and I give them credit some of it just falls flat. The ending as well didn’t work that well, I see what they were doing and we really didn’t need the last shot either.
Final Thoughts: Even though it was a bit of a mixed bag I enjoyed it, it challenged me and did a lot with very little.
Rating: 6/10
Movie Burner Entertainment 