Director: "So guys, I have this idea for a horror movie involving an evil cult. I need them to do evil cult stuff, but... I am not sure what. Any ideas?"
- Make them wear KKK Robes!
- Evil triangles!
- Human sacrifices!
- Sex orgies!
Director:"Great! I am all done, here's the trailer!"
The Review: (Note. I am going to assume everyone here has either seen the movie, or read other reviews/summaries)
What do you get when you take; "Hellraiser", "The Thing", "The Strangers", "Assault on Precinct 13", and toss it in a blender along with HP Lovecraft's "The Complete Fiction"? You get the independently made, 2017 move; "The Void".
I am a huge fan of the cosmic horror genre. When I first heard about this movie I was really excited. It had high ratings, generally positive reviews, and was recommended to me by numerous horror fans (some of which are on this site). Suffice to say, the movie really didn't live up to the hype...
That's not to say that it wasn't enjoyable. In fact, it's probably one of the better horror movies in recent memory. The problem is... for all it's strengths; the movie falls flat in some key areas.
Before I get started... The majority of reviews I have read, regarding the movie, has been extremely positive. I do not understand the hype. However, there are also few reviews I have seen that took it the polar opposite direction. I find those reviews to be equally baffling.
Lets start with what the movie gets right:
The Acting: One of the biggest complaints I have seen from the negative reviews regarding this movie, is that the acting is "complete trash", breaks immersion, etc. I didn't understand this at all. The acting was completely satisfactory. There was no point in the movie in which I thought "oh my god, these actors are suck, I can't watch this!".
Were there a few cheesy moments that took me out of the story? Yes. There were. One example off the top of my head, is the scene where Protagonist was in his police car trying to contact the station on his radio, and he yells "f***" and starts smacking the radio with his fist. I just didn't feel like that kind of reaction was very believable, and I don't think the actor thought it was very believable either.
Atmosphere: The pacing was well done. The tone was consistent, and the entire movie makes you feel on the edge of your seat. The jumpscares were few and far between. The ones that were there were done properly. No dramatic scare cords, false alarms, or attempts at forcing a reaction. If you jumped in your seat, that's all on you.
Visuals: The movie was visually well done. The lighting kept things ominous, but it wasn't so dark that you couldn't tell what was going on. (I swear, the negative reviewers either had broken TVs or watched an entirely different movie). Everything was done with practical effects. No poorly done CGI monsters, everything looked right out of Hellraiser. There was little animation at the end, when showing "the void", but that was all.
The gore was a bit over the top and kinda cheesy for my taste, but that's my only complaint there.
Characters: For a movie length plot, the characters were well developed. Especially by horror movie standards. They all had their problems, they each fulfilled specific roles to balance each other out. There were very few moments where you felt "OMG this guy is an idiot". I wouldn't say that they "grew" or "changed" as people, but the movie took place within a single night; so that's understandable.
What it does wrong:
The plot... The plot was just a mishmash of ideas that barely held itself together. There were no attempts at explaining any of what's happening in the movie. There was enough there that you can kinda understand the story and what's going on, but that was it.
Now I understand that cosmic horror is all about fear of the unknown, but that is NOT an excuse for tossing in a kitchen sink of ideas without bothering to explain any of it. The more you stuff into a story, the further you stretch suspension of disbelief, and the harder you have to work to explain everything in a meaningful and believable manner. I am sorry, but anyone who says otherwise is just a hipster who thinks being a Cosmic horror makes them seem "sophisticated".
The movie is told from the point of view of normal people who get pulled into the conflict surrounding this movie. The only things we know/learn are what the characters know/learn.The characters are normal people. They aren't supernatural investigators or action heroes. They aren't there to learn the secrets of some grand conspiracy. They have one priority, and one priority only. Survival...
I think that's great!
I don't need to know anything about the void, what the entity is, where it comes from, or what it's goals are. It's beyond the understanding of the human characters, and thus beyond our understanding as well. It's not even the main antagonist of this story.
The real antagonists of the story, are the creepy cult members who have barricaded our protagonists in the hospital. These are the guys that I expect to learn more about. Not everything, but just enough to make their existence within this setting actually believable.
Which brings me to the next thing that this movie does wrong.
The Cult: These guys are not in the least bit believable. I do not believe that a large cult with 50+ members can exist inside a small town (where everyone seems to know everyone), with none of the other residents knowing about it. I don't. I especially do not believe that they are going to be able to kidnap and murder people in secret. Nor do I believe that they would grab a bunch of kitchen knives, throw on some KKK hoodies, and instantly become silent/stoic slasher villains.
The leader of said cult was even less believable. I get it. He's a doctor, his daughter died, and he became obsessed with the occult, immortality, and bringing the dead back to life. That's believable. I am sure there are number of people in real life who are like that.
The question is, how did this doctor become the leader of a cult and why did he succeed where so many others have failed? This isn't some rich billionaire with resources that span world-wide. Nor is he some archaeologist, historian, occult professor, or adventurer. He is literally a small town doctor, who somehow became the leader of a cult and discovered how to bring the dead back to life as monsters.
If he had connections to the government or left the town to search the world for the necronomicon, I would be able to understand that. But that's not the case. He's a normal small town doctor that everyone knows and has seemingly spent his entire career working at that one hospital.
Pointless Symbolism: This movie had tons of occult symbolism stuffed in to it for no reason other than it being "occult". Take the triangles for example. Why is this cult so obsessed with triangles? What do the triangles mean to them? In the context of an illuminati/shadow-government type group; it symbolizes the cast system and how the people at the top (the all seeing eye) hold all the knowledge and power.
This group is NOT the illuminati though. They are a bunch of random small town nutters. They aren't trying to control the world. In fact, they don't seem to have any lofty ambitions at all. The only thing we ever learn about them, is that they think they are helping people by murdering them and bringing them back as monsters.
There Was No Theme: Alright. There technically was a theme. The story just didn't go anywhere with it.
The theme is loss. More specifically, the loss of a child or other family member. Almost every character in the story has experienced it, is close to someone who has experienced it, or is in danger of experiencing it. But what is the movie actually trying to say about it? Is it just a character study exploring the different ways people cope with loss? If so, then it really fell short in that aspect. Does the movie have any philosophical answers on how to deal with the loss of a loved one? No. It doesn't.
Now, I am not one of those people who expect every movie to be an artistic masterpiece. This movie however, not only tried to be one, but also had the potential to be one. It just fell short. Though I suppose it could be worse. It could have ended up as bunch of overly pretentious drivel. Instead, we got a fun horror movie that keeps you entertained all the way through. It just tried to stuff to much into it.
I rate it C+. By horror movie standards, that may as well be an A-
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