The struggle of filmmaking is trying to find your audience. Who exactly is your movie for? Astron-6 makes no apologies for their dark and somber The Void, which is strictly for the hardcore horror fanbase.
Directed by Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski of Astron-6 (which also include Adam Brooks, Matt Kennedy, and Conor Sweeney), The Void begins when an officer happens upon a blood-soaked figure limping down a deserted stretch of road, which leads him to a rural hospital that is a facade for something sinister.
Having previously helmed Father’s Day, Manborg and The Editor, The Void is the troupe’s first foray into serious filmmaking, channeling John Carpenter’s The Thing and Clive Barker’s Hellraiser. It’s a self-contained horror film where people are trapped in a hospital with horrifying creatures – and a crazy doctor pulled straight from Hellbound: Hellraiser II‘s Dr. Channard. And while many have tried before, Astron-6 is one of the few independent filmmakers who actually pull off the body horror insanity we’ve seen in The Thing, delivering some of the most bizarre and grotesque creatures to have ever graced the screen.
[Related] FULL Fantastic Fest Coverage on Bloody Disgusting
While the creature effects will be what wins the hearts of horror fans, the most striking aspect of The Void is the visual effects work (by Intelligent Creatures) that take Barker and Tony Randel’s interpretation of Hell to another level. The CGI is stunning, if not disturbing, and mixed with the gorgeous cinematography it most definitely will leave some viewers with an intense feeling of dread in the pit in their stomach.
The Void is more of a work of art than a great horror film, however, since it’s sprinkled with questionable acting, a weak screenplay, and is so incredibly dense that it will be hard to warrant multiple viewings. Thankfully, the The Void‘s craft is so spectacular that it carries the film on its back.
In the end, there’s something moderately annoying about filmmakers copying great films/filmmakers of the past, but The Void manages to get away with it (probably because Astron-6 take many things from Carpenter, Barker, and even Fulci, and make it their own). Astron-6 have announced themselves with The Void, a dark, demented, and disgusting horror film that’s going to live among the greatest body horror films of all time.
