The Void is...err...something beautifully insane...also tentacles.
So….The Void huh? That was a fucking wild ride.
Let’s talk about it!
The Void was originally released in 2016, written and directed by Steven Kostanski and Jeremy Gillespie. It’s described as supernatural horror but let me tell you something – this is fucked up, tentacles waving, gory, strange horror. AND IT WAS SO AMAZING.
It was crowdfunded on Indiegogo and I am so glad this happened. If I’d been paying more attention at the time, I would’ve thrown so much money at this.
Okay so what exactly is The Void? Let me try and walk you through this. A young man named James runs away from a farmhouse where a young woman is shot and then set on fire. THAT’S HOW IT STARTS. Like The Void just comes at you 100% and does not stop. After this guy crawls his ass out of the woods, he’s picked up by Deputy Daniel Carter and he takes him to the small local hospital.
His wife, Allison, works there as a nurse and quickly takes the patient, James, and gets him set up in a room. As Daniel wanders through the nearly empty hospital he encounters a patient who has just been murdered by one of the nurses. He pulls out his gun as the nurse turns around, slowing peeling her face off. Daniel shoots her and is completely shook.
Again, this is like 20 minutes in. This movie is bonkers from the get go. And as the nurse just slowly turns around peeling at her skin…I mean….holy fuck.
Anyway, Daniel collapses and has a brief strange vision before coming back to reality as State Trooper Mitchell enters talking about a bloody farmhouse scene he’s just encountered. Daniel steps outside to call in all of this craziness and is instead faced with a person wearing a head to toe white robe with a strange black triangle covering the face. Who then promptly stabs Daniel.
Poor Daniel. Honestly this movie just doesn’t give him a break.
When he escapes back into the hospital he’s faced with the nurse’s corpse which has now turned into some sort of strange creature covered in tentacles. And if that wasn’t enough, two men enter the hospital and hold everyone at gun point.
Anyway, I don’t want to give all of it away. But trust and believe that what I just explained isn’t even a quarter of what this movie is giving you.
Here’s what I loved the best:
The practical effects – I mean wow. Gillespie and Kostanski worked on the design and special effects themselves which is insane. These effects are absolutely breathtakingly incredible. And they really know how to show them off on screen without ever showing you too much. Gillespie said he was slightly inspired by HP Lovecraft for all the imagery and creatures and I totally get that vibe. It also feels like a Goosebumps creature that’s come to life and is completely R rated. Oooo and total The Thing vibe too.
The cult was spooky as hell. I loved the all white robes with the black triangle. And anytime they cut to outside the hospital and there was just more and more of them standing still, holding knives, I just lost it. Such perfect imagery! Straight up nightmare fuel. Give me a t-shirt with that imagery please.
The acting all around. My favorites being Aaron Poole as Daniel. He spent the whole film just wondering what the fuck was going on and it was perfect. Kenneth Welsh as Dr. Richard Powell. A perfect, terrifying villain. And Kathleen Munroe as the tough as nails and incredible Allison.
The birthing scene right at the end. I mean….JESUS. How did someone’s brain come up with this story? It’s absolutely nuts in the best way. And this absolutely terrifying birthing scene just took me right to the edge, covered me in blood, and shoved me over.
The Void is an absolute delight to watch for any creature feature fans, for any HP Lovecraft fans, and genuinely for any horror fans. As the viewer you feel like you’ve just woken up in some sort of insane situation and you’re trying to figure out where you are, what’s going on, and where’s the closest weapon.
Highly recommend this flick if you haven’t had a chance to watch it yet. I can’t wait to watch it again!
Also total side note – but the “V” key on this computer doesn’t work very well so this article was a bitch to write. Get on my level of dedication ~~
