Monday, April 10, 2017

The Void

The Void

Sometimes the niche is incredibly small. A sliver of an audience or a grain, but the niche still exists and it still wants to be served. There are only so many jump scares a film can have before you go numb, only so many CGI effects before you stop feeling the impact, and sometimes the brain is starved for something “different” and also a little familiar. The Void is a perfect thirst quencher for the classic horror of the 80’s, with practical effects and intense atmosphere in place of far too loud bells and whistles of today’s modern horror.

A small town Sheriff picks up an injured man on the side of the road and delivers him to a nearby hospital with a skeleton crew staff, including the Sheriff’s wife as one of two nurses. And the ball quickly starts to roll- one of the staff transforms into “something” and starts to attack. The hospital is surrounded by mysterious hooded figures. A strange horn calls the cult out. Secrets are brought to light and a mysterious pair of hunters arrive with bad intentions for the Sheriff’s new prisoner. The remaining survivors must find a way to band together in order to survive.

Make no mistake, this isn’t a film that’s really breaking new ground. It has elements of familiar films delivered in a loving tribute to those elements of horror and remains its own thing in the process. The familiar siege narrative as the cultists surround the building, the body transformation and gore reminiscent of John Carpenter, the eerie setting and pacing of a Fulci masterpiece, and the film never resorts to a series of cheap scares as it wraps you in a slimy film of Lovecraftian madness. Reality warps and twists and perceptions are played with before the film builds toa  satisfying climax.

9 out of 10 and a definite must see for horror fans.