So many movies come to mind when watching 'The Void' a 2016 horror film released just last week on VOD. It's 'Call of Cthulhu', meets 'Prince of Darkness', meets 'The Thing' meets about fifty other 80's sci-fi and horror films. Yet despite it's obvious cherry picking from the best in horror, 'The Void' manages to stand out as a very entertaining horror flick that hopefully will get some more attention in the coming years. The movie instantly immerses you into the first of many horrific images and keeps a pretty quick pace until you sit there wondering what you just sat through.
H.P. Lovecraft is what most horror fans will think of first when viewing 'The Void'. 'From Beyond' came to me first, but all of Lovecraft's Great Ones work apply here and were clear inspirations. Which is why I love that they chose to go the practical effects route with this one. The multi-tentacled beasts that inhabit the film are some of the most grotesque I have seen in a horror film for a long time. I miss these types of creature effects that only the 'Alien' franchise seems to continue. We also are treated to some 'Hellraiser' type gore and effects, which are also well done.
The characters unfortunately suffer from a typical 80's trope rolodex of stereotypes and overall blandness. They build up a sort of backstory for the two protagonists and some of the secondary characters, but ultimately they don't resolve them or make them impact the audience in a way that would make them actually care. I get that I was supposed to care about a subplot involving the main couple, but I just really didn't feel what I think they wanted me to feel and overall I feel that they could have made the film last a little longer (it's barely an hour and a half perhaps less) in order to smooth these story issues out but it doesn't really hurt the overall film too much.
'The Void' is simply an entertaining horror film that I recommend. It's not high art and it's not really unique but it does everything right for the most part and for any fans of gore and Lovecraft you'll have a good time.
THE VOID: B+
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