The Void (2016) Dir: Jeremy Gillespie & Steven Kostanski
Instagram post:
My main motivation for watching this 2016 sci-fi horror was honestly the poster. It looked weird and creepy; right up my alleyway. The film, co-directed by Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski, was even more bizarre than I expected.
The story was quite frankly surreal, and didn't make all that much sense, but it was certainly interesting. I wouldn't say it was a good story, but I think the film was more about getting the weird in than any real depth. The pacing was also truly woeful, which took me out of the film at times.
It felt extremely indie at times, which is not entirely a bad thing, but I will say it was extremely noticeable at points, which definitely took away a little bit from the viewing experience. For example, the camerawork was a frustrating combination of good and amateur. I almost wanted it to be one or the other.
Some of the physical effects looked excellent, whereas others were downright laughable. It felt like the whole budget was used on one particular element of production, and the rest was kind of made up of whatever was left over.
Aaron Poole had the starring role, and while he was able to give a fairly decent performance, he had a tendancy to overact, which proved to be very annoying.
The standouts from the supporting cast are the trio of Kenneth Welsh, Kathleen Munroe and Ellen Wong, who some will recognise from 'Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World' of all films. These three were easily the class of the film honestly, including Poole. I was especially impressed with Welsh in the third act.
I'll also give quick mentions to Art Hindle, Daniel Fathers and Grace Munro for the small but notable displays. Fathers, unfortunately, was notable for how poor his performance was.
Overall, while this will never rank among the better films I've watched, I'm still kind of glad I watched it. The vision of the piece was fascinating, but, if I'm totally honest, it was basically like a John Carpenter student film. It had its moments, though.
Comments