Horror Movie Review: The Void (2017)

The Void opens with a very mysterious scene. A man bursts out of an isolated farmhouse & runs off into the woods. Unfortunately the woman following doesn’t quite make it & she is shot in the back. Two men then walk up to her & set her on fire. As introductions go it’s vague but very exciting. Just who are these men & why would they set a woman on fire?

Well, stay with us because the answers are coming. Well, sort of. The Void does leaves a fair few loose ends flapping in the wind.

The man who did manage to escape the farmhouse is drug-addict James. He stumbles across the town’s deputy, Daniel who brings him to the local hospital. The hospital is being shutdown & moved elsewhere after having suffered a serious fire. Unfortunately with loss of life including Dr. Richard Powell’s daughter.

When Daniel arrives at the hospital he finds it is being staffed by a skeleton crew. A staff that includes his estranged wife, Alison. The only other patients in the hospital are Cliff & heavily pregnant Maggie with her grandfather, Ben. Everything seems to be going smoothly until Daniel walks in on nurse Bev calmly murdering Cliff with a scalpel to the eye.

Daniel orders her to not move but when she turns to him she has cut the skin off her face exposing the flesh & muscle underneath. It’s very gruesome looking but oh so good & Daniel is forced to shoot her dead. Shocked by what has happened, Daniel collapses in the bathroom & has a strange vision.

When he wakes up there is now a state trooper in the hospital having come to take James into custody (the farmhouse was a bloodbath). Before that can happen Daniel is attacked by a number of robbed cultists as he tries to call in the deaths from his patrol car. He manages to escape back inside & the cultists surround the hospital.

Just when things couldn’t get any more strange the two men from the beginning of the film arrive having hunted down James. Then the body of Bev transforms into a tentacled creature & kills the state trooper. Just what is happening inside this hospital? Who are the two men? Why are they so desperate to kill James & just what do the cultists outside want?

The Void is a movie that you don’t want spoiled. What occurs over its 90-minute run can be best described as a non-stop thrill ride. It combines the monster effects of The Thing, with the madness that comes from Clive Barker’s mind with a little 80’s horror style sprinkled over it.

Extremely graphic & violent, what might seem like an over the top, tongue in cheek horror ends up being a harrowing & realistic watch. Visually it’s very hard to fault The Void. It transforms mundane scenes into memorable & tense filled moments. The use of the lighting & the sound of horns that surround the cultists actions are standout moments of the movie.

However even that pales in comparison to the monsters. The Void has a hell of a lot of imagination when it comes to creating memorable monsters. These creatures are disgusting visually but exude such a threat that they could only have come from the deepest & darkest bowels of hell.

The small cast are compelling to watch even if some relationships aren’t expanded on quite enough. There are a few too many questions regarding several characters by the end unfortunately.

The story is steeped in mystery & while it’s not the easiest to follow leaving a few loose ends, it is a well told one. Some plot points are only really hinted at forcing you to try & fill in the blanks but it’s nothing a sequel or prequel couldn’t fix.

From the great acting to the stylistic visuals to the stunning practical effects, The Void will leave you with the biggest smile on your face. A rare gem.