The Void (2017) - Jeremy Gillespie & Steven Kostanski

Jeremy Gillespie & Steven Kostanski's The Void is a horror throwback, a film which gleefully goes off the rails, conjuring up an old fashioned horror film full of practical make-up, non-digital gore, and enough hellbent energy to make the likes of John Carpenter and Stuart Gordon proud.  Taking little time establishing itself as a horror film where atmosphere, mood, and ingenuity trump the necessity for a fully-defined story, The Void finds a group of individuals fighting for their lives in a local hospital, when immense evil bares down on their small town.  With cloaked, cult-like figures surrounding their location,  the patients and staff, which also includes police officer Daniel Carter, experience unimaginable horrors, as they fight to stay alive and get to the bottom of these strange, supernatural happenings.  Atmospheric, extremely violent, and creative in its use practical makeup and creature design, The Void is a fitting homage to Reagan Era horror, where stomach-inducing gore, extreme violence, and ingenious makeup design reigned supreme.  The plot of The Void is minimalist, and quite frankly a bit hard to grasp, but lets be honest here, it hardly matters as the filmmakers have created a film thats unpredictability is one of its greatest assets, keeping the viewer on the edge of their seat and wanting more from start to finish.  The escalation of the film, becoming more and more subversive as it moves forward is what really keeps the film engaging from start to finish, with the main struggle of the film being its actors and characterizations, all of which struggle to maintain the same sense of energy as the filmmakers exhibit in delivering this horror throwback effort.  A strange blend of John Carpenter film's such as The Thing and Prince of Darkness, as well as Stuart Gordon's From Beyond, The Void introduces the viewer to a Lovecraftian cosmic horror opus where escalation and 80's FX overshadow the film's weaker elements, mainly its razor-thin narrative and characterizations that leave something to be desired.  Simply put, horror fans of the 80's should seek out The Void, which has a bit of everything: body horror, psychological horror, demonic possession, and lots and lots of blood; it's a film that knows what it's is, and with its thumping synthesized soundtrack, ingenious sfx makeup, and subversive gore it certainly should satisfy fans of the genre.

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