‘The Void’ fills with plenty of horror from the ’80s
“The Void” is a horror film that goes off the rails — not by accident, but on purpose.
And not just a little. It’s gloriously off the rails, unhinged, absolutely bonkers. If you’re a fan of a certain type of horror film, that’s a good thing. If you’re not, there’s certainly nothing in Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski’s film that’s going to change your mind. It’s reminiscent of old-school 1980s horror, right down to the gore, the gross-out monsters and iffy acting. What’s not to like? Well, some third-act lunacy, maybe, but other than that. …
The film starts with a bizarre crime that leaves a man scrambling through the woods in the dark. Danny (Aaron Poole), a sleepy cop in a sleepy town, sees him and thinks he is drunk. When Danny sees blood, he realizes something else is going on. He takes the man to a hospital, conveniently in the middle of nowhere and all but deserted; a recent fire has forced a relocation.
Danny’s estranged wife, Allison (Kathleen Munroe), is on duty, along with Dr. Powell (Kenneth Walsh). The only other patient is a pregnant teenager accompanied by her grandfather. The barebones staff has a hard time settling the man down — and then people begin acting strangely. Violently so.
Things aren’t getting weird just in the hospital. Outside a crowd of people wearing white hooded capes with black triangles is gathering. They don’t speak and, once they’re in place, they don’t really move. It dawns on someone: They’re not trying to get inside. They’re trying to keep everyone inside from getting out.
So far, so good. The addition of a trigger-happy psycho and his friend or son (character development is not a point of emphasis) adds to the creepy build-up. Just what is going on here, and how will it play out?
I wish I could tell you more, but I can’t. Not because I don’t want to spoil what happens; more because things get so crazy I’m not sure I exactly know. Demons and other realms and a basement to hell play a part, along with a critical misinterpretation of the Hippocratic Oath. It all leads to a truly spaced-out finale.
Movies like this don’t stand up to particularly rigorous inspection. They exist to make you feel a certain way — creeped out and scared, and if they throw in a little mumbo-jumbo about moving beyond death or whatever between the slime, goo and gore, so be it. You’ll swear it’s the ’80s again. Your enjoyment of “The Void” depends almost entirely on whether that’s a return trip you want to make.