The Void

"The Void" has been compared, quite a bit, to John Carpenter's 1980's remake of "The Thing", and understandably so. The use of practical effects in this movie are really its highest selling point. Like "The Thing", this film does not shy away from showing you some extremely well crafted and effective monsters. However, to compare this film with "The Thing" for reasons outside of practical effects, does not make a lot of sense.

In short, "The Void", is well worth a watch. If the trailer interested you, the movie will absolutely deliver. In a recent rash of indie horror films, "The Void" stands out for several reasons. In many of the recent indie horror films, there is usually something glaring that needs to be overlooked in order to make the film enjoyable. Whether it be poor acting, loose plot lines, or an over abundance of things that attempt to shock, many recent indie horror titles have been held back by mediocrity. "The Void" as a sum of its individual parts its a well crafted and enjoyable ride that I would feel comfortable recommending to most horror fans. The special effects are easily its highest selling point, but the film is held together by a decent story line and fair acting. The characters are believable for the most part, and the story does a good job explaining the necessity of the effects.

Where the film falters the most however, is in its lack of atmosphere. The film feels as if it should be claustrophobic and isolating, but for some reason, I was unable to connect with these themes. I am usually an advocate for a movie telling less to the audience, in order for the viewer to create some of the more frightening aspects in their mind, bu with this particular film, I was left wanting more exposition. Unlike the original "Hellraiser" film, "The Void" did not leave the origins of the monsters creation completely unexplained, but the origin story was a little to vague, and it made it difficult to connect as deeply to the conclusion of the film as I may have liked.

Overall, "The Void" is a good movie to throw on for a horror movie night with some friends who enjoy some good over the top gore and monster effects.

"The Void" is one of those horror movies with a big (capital "M") Mystery at its center, but let's just see if you give a damn about it by the time the film finally gets around to (badly) explaining it. This film is all build up, dropped hints, and dangled carrots. The problem is that it never gets around to just being a damn movie.

The premise, which I don't think I could explain if I tried, is clearly overly ambitious for the filmmakers to pull off. It's part "Hellraiser," part "Re-Animator," part "Event Horizon," part, I don't know, "Halloween II?" There are people trapped in a hospital, Klu Klux Klan members lurking outside, a devil worshiping doctor, mutant zombie corpses, a woman giving birth, a useless nurse, a Libertarian. Everyone shouts a lot and for a long time the hostages are their own worst problem. Then they go exploring the murky depths of the hospital and boy, does the exposition begin. But the exposition never makes any sense, and to this day I'm still totally in the dark about who all the hooded figures walking around were.

I like my horror cerebral if it's done well, but if it's not, then I'd prefer something dumber but actually scary.

Grade: C-

A local sheriff brings the victim of a mysterious attack to a rundown hospital, where sinister events ensue during a night of blood and gore ...

Ambitious siege horror with all sorts of influences. After a disturbing opening scene, we have one moment of normality followed by a constantly twisting nightmare that never lets up. At one point it seems there's a triple threat coming from different angles, and the story is at risk of collapsing from overload, but then the endgame comes into play through well produced set pieces and the climax brings some clarity.

The weakness is in the writing, which gives us two heroes, three pregnancies, over elaborate back stories, and plenty of shouty dialogue. The strength is in the effects and the photography and sound that create the hellish otherworld. The performances are OK, but the pace ebbs and flows instead of building steadily.

Overall: impressive vision delivered through a hectic concept.

I am shocked, seen too many "80s feel" horror, or so called, which are either poorly filmed or the acting is painful.

Just heard about this and thought "oh not another" but happy to say this is very good, its not going to win any Oscars for acting, the script is not Shakespeare, but what it try's to do it does well.

The practical effects for the most part are great, The Thing/Hellraiser type, on a very low budget.

Story is in realm of Hellraiser/Phantasm/Event Horizon, seen those? you will get my drift.

Its ending does leave questions, but also left me wanting to know more, and I would happily watch a second film if they stick to this way of making them, maybe a bit more money spent but keep away from CGI.

Overall I am impressed, they should be applauded for going old school and doing it well.

I attended a screening of The Void at the Nevermore film festival in Durham, NC. It was a remarkable throwback to classic John Carpenter-style films. I hesitate to list too many details about it, since the feel of the film is very much like a nightmare that might be spoiled if you go in knowing how it turns out. I can say that the creature designs were some of the best I've seen on film in recent years. The feel of the film reminded me a great deal of Silent Hill, perhaps because it shares a lot of the same influences.

My few criticisms have to do with the screenplay. The filmmakers do a good job of leaving some mystery, but there's a bit of exposition I felt like I missed that would explain why some of the people take the actions they do. Even so, that didn't detract from the film enough for me to stop enjoying it. It's a minor miracle how nice the film looks given its low budget. The production design was just outstanding. Considering how ambitious the feature is, I think missing the mark by a bit in certain areas is forgivable.