The Void

Every now and then, you come across something strange and beautiful. An unexpected gem found amidst the never-ending fields of coal. It either shines brighter than the sun, or it catches your eye with its dim, mysterious glow. Regardless, it is still a gem

The horror genre is seeing a real return to some rather simple storytelling. Simple in the sense that there are very few mentions or attempts at finding the origin of a mysterious curse or circumstance. These tales, when done correctly, exude a Lovecraftian sense of doom, confusion, and disbelief. They don’t have to apologize for taking a well-used trope and turning it into something more bizarre than expected.

The Void fits into this mold. I can understand why it gets great critical reviews and why many folks are going to think it’s a shit movie. And guess what? It’ll be for the same reasons.

The film opens with a two men burning a woman to death and then chasing down the only survivor and witness. That witness, it seems, took something when he fled, and now an entire group of people is going to be exposed to it. And what is it?

Man, I’m still fucking trying to figure that out!

Lovecraft’s tales of the Cthulu mythos as well as the dream cycle are classic horror in how they alienate you from what is normal, what is sensible, and logical. In a way, I consider them psychological horror because Lovecraft rarely delves into the gore of a murder. He’d much rather draw strange words on the walls in the victim’s blood than even show you the victim. And those words creep you out. And that’s why those tales are so beloved. And why also many folks don’t understand them.

Personally, I’m not a huge Lovecraft fan. I guess when I read biographical exposes, I was somewhat turned off to “liking” him. Regardless. I very much respect the tapestry he creates and how vibrant, strange, and horrible it is. If a piece of art affects you in that manner, it succeeded. Lovecraft succeeds. So does The Void.

This is one of the movies where I can’t explain much about it because it will absolutely ruin it. I think it’s best seen with no idea of what it’s about, although I did include a few snippets from the film.

The Void doesn’t apologize for its bizarre, low-budget practical effects. Hell, it revels in them. And I think to a certain degree, it benefits from them. As with It Follows, the movie has an 80s feel to it in the colors, the sets, and the atmosphere. The music, however, is like John Carpenter and Yen Pox had a baby. It’s disturbing, spine-crawling, and adds to the strange, low-lit, barely discernible things you see in the shadows. The gore, of course, is over the top. And I think for this film, like many of its 80s progenitors, it had to be.

The film In the Mouth of Madness, which is another film I should review sometime soon, was about an investigator who gets lost in the world of a madman. The Void, on the other hand, picks up the characters and simply drops them into an ever growing escher reality.

Every time I thought I understood what was going on, the story took another turn into twistedness. While I always spend time looking for cause and effect in plots, after all it is my job, there are times when you just have to stop looking, sit back, and experience. You can always watch it again to pick up those details.

However, my second viewing provided no additional clarity. Meaning I’ll have to watch it again. And I’ll do so gladly.

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