10/8: The Void

Yeah, it's finally reached that time in the Binge: I'm behind. Not grossly, like when I have a four day back up, but still: A little behind. Bear with me; this review is for yesterday's horror film, The Void.

The Void, a crowdfunded horror film about tentacled monsters, KKK-esque cults, a skinless doctor, and triangles, wears it's influences on it's sleeve... and seems to forget to have much of a discernible plot beyond that. I'll try my best: a doctor who lost his child is destroyed by the loss and goes to any means necessary to get her back. He touches base with another realm called the Void (although he only ever calls it the Abyss in the movie) and is able to resurrect people into horrible monsters if they die under his control. A small town cop and unfortunate few residents of a hospital are left to combat his evil plot. EEEEVVVVVIIIIILLLL!!!!!! And that's about as discernible as I can get.

The Void follows what seems to be a current trend in filmmaking: having a giant hard-on for the 80s. Yeah, South Park pretty much nailed it. 

Essentially The Void is a mashup of The Thing, Hellraiser, and probably some other 80s horror thrown in there. In a world of Stranger Things, IT, and Ready Player One, the 80s are so hot right now. Where I beg to differ from Matt Stone and Trey Parker though is that I'm pretty ok with 80s nostalgia because hey the 80s were pretty damn awesome. The practical effects found in The Thing and the original Star Wars making a return? I'm game. An 80s concept as cool as the Upside Down and the Demogorgon? Count me in. I'm in for nostalgia when it's done right. The Void? Yeah, they don't get it right.

The Void nails it with the practical monsters, the dread, the faceless horror of the cult... but the plot, or lack thereof, drags it down into the muck. The influences and nostalgia seem to almost hold the film back as it tries to check them off the checklist rather than create something original. I love Lovecraftian horror as much as the next guy (even probably moreso), but The Void is yet another example of filmmakers not being able to get the seminal horror writer right (please, someone get it right). The kitchen sink is on full display here and nothing seems to make sense together. Even Bill Cipher, fiction's largest triangle lover, would find it hard to give The Void his full demon-hearted stamp of approval.

Bill Cipher: a triangle done right.

In summary: The Void has a ton of horror potential with monsters and cults and Lovecraft. The sad part is it's squandered on a plot that's a mess and nearly impossible to decipher without the help of a 15 minute YouTube video explaining the ending but still failing to explain the ending. Yeah, there's definitely no truth behind that scenario.

6/10 (mostly for the practical effects)