(Movie Review) The Void - Practical Effects Are Cool

The Void (2017)

Horror

Directed By: Steve Kostanski & Jeremy Gillespie

I think it's safe to say that the days of overusing CGI in horror films is gone, practical effects work is back and in a big way. This is in large part due to the people who create these amazing effects taking the plunge and stepping behind the camera to direct. We've seen it recently with films like Deathgasm and Stung and now the latest from Steve Kostanski and Jeremy Gillespie, who come from a background in art and makeup, The Void. The film lives and dies by its effects work with the creepy crawly's taking center stage over plot and character. 

What looks like another dull night on patrol takes a turn for the worst when police officer Daniel Carter stumbles upon a severely injured man running out of the woods. He immediately takes him to the nearest hospital, which just so happens to be on the verge of closing down with just a bare-bones staff in place. He, along with the rest of the staff, quickly learn that whatever this guy was running from has followed them here and they aren't going to let them leave. All the while something evil is changing the people holed up in this hospital. 

Let's get the obvious out of the way, the effects work on display here is absolutely stunning. Drawing inspiration from all of your favorite eighties horrors like The Thing and The Fly they are doing some seriously incredible practical stunts. These guys know how and when to deliver an effects gag and for the most part, that's what this movie is. They set aside memorable characters and a coherent plot for the sake of gorgeous visuals. 

Though it ultimately holds this back from being an all-around great movie it also makes it immensely entertaining to watch. It's easy to get over undeveloped characters and plot when every few minutes we get another effect that blows our mind. Each different creature holds a wonderful design and they are easily the most memorable "characters" in the film. I'd seriously kill for a book of art on this, there is so much gorgeous imagery to take in here. 

While the gorgeous effects work kept me thoroughly entertained throughout I unfortunately never found a character or plot point to latch on to and allow myself to fully get sucked into this movie. It wasn't due to a lack of trying either, There just isn't any character that gets developed enough to the point where you legitimately care about them, and the same goes for the plot. Every time I thought I had a handle on what was going on they would introduce another half-cooked idea that spirals it back out of control. 

The Void also has a lackluster ending unfortunately that, at least for me, didn't leave any feeling of satisfaction. They brought together a bucket full of good ideas and threw a couple handfuls of them into the movie but they never found a way to truly bring them together as a whole. It's wearing its influences on its sleeve but it isn't bringing us anything new on top of it all. It's cool that you wanted to make a movie in tribute to the Carpenter classics and eighties effects work, but you have to bring something fresh to the table if you want to be remembered.

That's not to say this film won't have a shelf life. I may not remember any of the characters names or any of the major storylines down the road but I can surely say that plenty of the effects work and imagery in this film will stick with me for a long time to come. I love seeing more effects people stepping behind the camera, hell it's where Ridley Scott came from and he gave us Alien so I hope these guys get to make lots more stuff. This may not be a great horror film but it nails it where you want it to most and the effects work alone is worth the price of a rental.  

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!