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[tab title="Movie Review"]
Do I dare say it? Do I dare suggest such blasphemy? I do. In my opinion, we’ve just witnessed the next evolution of horror with the release of The Void. It is a film that matches, frame for frame, the otherworldly bizarreness and esoteric terror of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser. With white hooded occultists and a hospital full of mutated monsters, there’s no way this film goes dark without scaring the living shit out of you.
The Void is, at once, everything I’ve ever wanted from horror titles in the 1980’s and, finally, I get it. The funny thing is that what I wanted then, I still want today. Of course, it’s some 20 years later, but when the results are this damn good who cares? I am just pleased as punch to confess to you all that the cosmic creep unhinged in this independent film freaks me the fuck out. Completely.
It’s a relative hall of horrors when one rural hospital opens its doors to Deputy Daniel Carter (Aaron Poole) and the victim he’s just found crawling in the road. A larger story is at play, but it begins right here with the skeleton crew of Dr. Powell (Kenneth Walsh), Allison (Kathleen Munroe) who is the wife Deputy Dan has been estranged from since the death of their daughter, a stressed-out intern named Kim (Ellen Wong), and very few patients, including a very pregnant woman (Grace Munro).
One night. Several terrors. No comedy. And it all begins when one of the nurse’s murders a patient and then proceeds to remove her own face. “This is not me,” she calmly says while pulling pieces from her chin and cheek. What the fuck? Suddenly, the hospital is on a tight lockdown. White hooded occultists, with black triangles over the cowls, which encircle the hospital. A tentacle creature is now loose in the building and, with no possible escape outside, surviving members of the group must go down in the depths to get the truth of the matter.
And it’s about to get amazingly trippy with a surreal journey into the dark parts of the balance between life and death. Hell itself has been opened up as several reanimated corpses spring forward, dripping with goo, and start their deadly march down some demented corridors. The finale, involving several Lovecraftian monsters and one hell of a nightmarish sequence suggesting that the end of days has always been tugging at the seams, is a kickass revelation of practical effects, gore, and maximum mood.
Written and directed by Steven Kostanski and Jeremy Gillespie (Father’s Day), The Void is a horror film that opens just as mysteriously as it does in closing. There are depths to be plundered in this far-out script that are only just hinted at and, should these guys dare to return to its vastness, begs for more. I can only hope that what follows next will be just as ridiculously entertaining and on point. While it does have its fair share of CGI, the practical effects in the make-up on the creatures unleashed are beyond terrifying and intense.
Defying God is hard work. Thankfully, the team responsible for The Void is earnest in their endeavors to do evil. Canadian horror continues to bring forth the good word in cinematic terror with the release of this horror film on blu-ray.
The Void has arrived. You have been warned.
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[tab title="Details"]
MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 98 mins
Director: Jeremy Gillespie, Steven Kostanski
Writer: Jeremy Gillespie, Steven Kostanski
Cast: Aaron Poole, Kenneth Welsh, Daniel Fathers
Genre: Horror | Sci-fi
Tagline: Horror at its very Best!
Memorable Movie Quote: "Statistically you're more likely to die in a hospital than anywhere else."
Theatrical Distributor: Screen Media Films
Official Site: http://screenmediafilms.net/productions/details/2025/The-Void
Release Date: April 7, 2017
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: May 23, 2017
Synopsis: Drawing inspiration from a number of horror influences including Hellraiser, The Beyond, H.P. Lovecraft and Lucio Fulci, TheVoid is “both stunning and disturbing”! Officer Carter stumbles upon a crawling man in the forest in need of help. A trip to the desolate and nearly closed hospital kicks off the beginning of the end for several hospital patrons. Carter’s estranged wife and head nurse Allison is the head nurse (Munroe) along with Dr. Powell (Welsh) are the two in charge when Carter brings in the drifter. The father and son tracking the drifter burst onto the scene to demand that the man be handed over. But there’s a dangerous cult in white robes following the pair and everyone barricades themselves inside the hospital. The trick is to survive the night and the monsters.
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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]
Blu-ray Details:
Home Video Distributor: Diabolik
Available on Blu-ray - May 23, 2017
Screen Formats: 2.40:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; Single disc
Region Encoding: Region A
The Void is released on blu-ray courtesy of Screen Media Films. With an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and a solid 5.1 Surround track for its audio, the 90-minute flick is an amazing slice of cinematic terror. The monsters are detailed and rippling with goo and blood. Colors are warmly saturated and blacks are beyond solid; even the lines have altering shades. There are textures throughout the transfer; textures in the clothing fabric; and textures in the school-turned-hospital where the movie was shot. Skin tones are warm and, as this film takes place over one night, the darkness is never overwhelming. Lines hold their edges.
Supplements:
Commentary:
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Writers and directors Steven Kostanski and Jeremy Gillespie provide a full-throttled commentary. Also included is a commentary recorded by the visual effects team. Both tracks are informative and rewarding for fans.
Special Features:
Other than the two commentaries, also included on the release is a 25-minute entertaining look at the making of the film. Started and stalled more times than I’m sure they’d care to recall, the featurette is both fun and, as it includes multiple looks at the making of the monsters, highly entertaining.
- Nightmare Logic: The Making of The Void (25 min)
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