The Void (2017)

I would be lying if I said I was looking forward to “The Void.” Not only have I not been a fan of what Astron 6 has put out there for audiences, but “The Void” seemed generally like a vain attempt at Lovecraft. I’m glad to admit, though, that “The Void” is so far the best film Astron 6 has ever put out there. While the fan boy winks and nods are still there, it’s considerably toned down and doesn’t bog “The Void” down too much. Directors Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski are damn good at taking a miniscule budget and building with that, as “The Void” is an incredibly creepy survival horror film that feels like a nightmare from beginning to end. Even when the film has seemingly closed, “The Void” is never done choking you with its mesmerizing imagery of another world, and assures you that it will indeed return to haunt the audience once more.

“The Void” is just a downright remarkable horror film, oozing with terror, suspense, and imagery that will keep viewers in awe time and time again. After a very cryptic prologue involving a pair of man hunting down a woman and young James, we meet Deputy Daniel Carter, an off duty officer who finds James wounded on the road. He decides to take him to the local hospital where only a few staff members are on duty. After one of the nurses begins acting strange Daniel witnesses her mutilate a patient and cut off her own face, shooting her when she attempts to attack him. Daniel then collapses from a seizure conjuring up weird visions of a black pyramid. As tensions and confusion rises among the staff and various patients, Daniel is attacked outside of the hospital by a group of hooded cultists with black triangles over their hoods.

With the cultists surrounding the hospital, Daniel and the innocent bystanders are stuck inside; the situation spirals out of control when the murdered or psychotic bystanders begin transforming in to tentacled monsters that begin consuming others. What do the visions mean? What makes Daniel special? And what does the triangle ultimately represent. “The Void” is quick to drop us in to the fire, working heavily toward immersing us in to this hellish situation, and directors Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski build on the mystique of this force of evil without ever giving away too much. What we do know about the evil working at the behest of the black triangle is mind blowing. The directors implement some amazing special effects along with some truly disgusting and memorable monsters that are both wildly creative and absolutely grotesque. Gillespie and Kostanski invoke waves of various influences from John Carpenter, “Phantasm,” Clive Barker, HP Lovecraft, all of which amount to such a tightly wound and slyly written horror gem.

Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski deal with very limited imagery but have a chance to use that limited imagery as a means of unfolding a narrative that’s stuffed with claustrophobia and isolation. Despite the larger setting of the hospital, every single character in the film are at the mercy of these extraordinary circumstances, and despite the gruesome menace that introduces itself, we want to know more about this villainous amorphous entity. Gillespie and Kostanski manage to grab some top notch performances from the entire cast, including Ellen Wong, Aaron Poole, and Art Hindle, respectively. Kenneth Welsh also steals the show in a very pivotal role. Overall, I can safely say I would have loved a more definitive answer as to what the triangle meant and what it indicated for Earth and humanity. Thankfully, though most times the mystery works in the favor of “The Void” rather than against it. “The Void” is a surefire horror gem bathed in terror, dread, and a unique vision and I foresee this becoming a Halloween and midnight movie mainstay.