Hi there folks, it’s MovieManDan here again with another review for you all. For those who are unaware, this one has been getting some pretty solid buzz from across a variety of the more popular indie horror magazines and websites out there and being a big horror fan myself, I was extremely excited to get my chance to see this one so I did so as soon as I could. Let’s dive in.
Plot: When small-town police officer Daniel Carter (Aaron Poole) discovers a blood-soaked and seemingly-intoxicated man crawling onto a deserted road, he quickly jumps into action – helping this young man into his cruiser and heading to the nearby hospital for help. Upon arrival, everything seems to be moving along as normal, until things – take a quick turn for the worse. The hospital staff and patients inside begin to turn ravenously insane and nobody seems to know exactly what’s going on. They have lost all connections and signals to the outside world inside and to make matters worse , they have been trapped inside by a group of cloaked, cult-like figures who have surrounded the building with knives in hand.
Review: As mentioned above, “The Void” has been making headlines on various Horror Movie sites for weeks now. Many horror fanatics have been drawing comparisons to the much beloved classic horror flicks of the 80’s and more specifically so to John Carpenter’s horror Masterpiece, “The Thingâ€. With “The Voidâ€, directors Steven Kostanski and Jeremy Gillespie show that they were clearly film fans growing up and that they loved the movies that defined their youth. This film features many of the same ingredients that made those beloved classics so great and it’s clear these directors have a great love for the art of film from the very opening shot of “The Voidâ€.
What separates this film from similar 80’s horror throwback titles though , is that the film had a more serious tone. Most of these films try to be fun and light without going into parody territory but “The Void”takes itself very seriously. Normally this would be perfectly fine but here the movie gets ridiculous at times and it could have used some humor to break things up. This movie was practically laugh free and sadly it wasn’t all that fun either. Sure, this was an enjoyable enough flick with a solid 80’s throwback feel to it but it seemed as though “The Void”missed some of its potential along the way. It was hard to discern the story’s twists, turns and plot points coming but it should have been much more fun to watch especially with all of the ridiculous kills and gore mixed in. The third act especially needed something as it did go rather overboard with its big reveal.
As mentioned though – the tone and feel of the film were the highlights. The filmmakers nailed the look they were going for, featuring some impressive shots and sequences. Likewise, the visual effects were great as the filmmakers were wise enough to stick to practical creature effects instead of CGI and the cinematography from Samy Inayeh was impressive as well. There were some creepy shots scattered throughout the film, including in act three when things escalated. The technical aspects were impressive although it would have been nice if the retro-sounding score had more of a presence from scene to scene.
The performances here were all good given that this was more of a B movie. Everyone did a good job in their respectable roles, however, the characters lacked development to the point that it was difficult to fully invest in them. This was a briskly paced 90-minute film that didn’t take much time to rest which did not allow for time for us to learn about the characters. We got some of their motivations but it wasn’t enough for us to care.
My Score/Verdict: 3.0 out of 5.0 Stars , Some great practical effects and impressive cinematography made “The Void”stand out as an impressive 80’s throwback but it’s far from great. The movie was crowdfunded and the money was definitely not wasted here but the film could have used some more work. I’m nowhere near as big on it as some people are right now but I’ll admit that it’s entertaining enough for what it is. In the end though, this is merely a forgettable movie which has just enough going for it to warrant a recommendation.
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