The Void: Hell Needs Better Lighting!

"The Void" is pretty darn good.  It's a really, really tight movie with a solid plot, strong actors, and an interesting take on Lovecraftian horror. I liked it, a lot. But, for as fun as it is, it is by far not a perfect movie. There are some action sequences that are difficult to follow, mainly due to poor lighting and shitty camera handling. (They call those guys camera wranglers, right?)

Before I go into the technicalities, let's stop for a brief moment to cover the plot, shall we?

A cop comes across a hurt junkie and takes him to a run down hospital where his estranged wife works as a nurse. Supplies are low; the hospital is about to shut down for good. A very pregnant girl and her grandfather are waiting to see the doctor. And then...all hell breaks loose as one of the nurses loses her shit and stabs a patient in the eye, then proceeds to cut off her face. Yep. It's one of THOSE movies. SPLATTERPUNK BITCHES!

The hospital soon that becomes a supernatural death maze of doom as it is surrounded by cultists without, and hideous deformed monsters within.

The characters don't get along, and they are forced to worked together and try to stop the eldritch horrors from being summoned into our reality.

I for one, appreciated that. It made them feel more real. 

Some of their actions are surprising, but in a good way. Their intent is not telegraphed from the moment they are on-screen, and yet their actions are believable. That is hard to pull off (well, for some directors at least...).

In good Lovecraft form, anything and everything that can go wrong, does. Spectacularly.

"The Void" wastes no time whipping out the bad guys, the cultists and the monsters from Beyond Space and Time.

Too bad they didn't bother to film them longer while on-set...

The camera lingers long enough of these dudes to effectively pull off the male gaze shot...
Not that they do that. They're not sexy cultists. This isn't that type of movie. 

"The Void" has some technical issues...which really frustrated me because they didn't pause the camera longer on the monsters before it started shaking and moving around like a spazz as the characters ran.

 I couldn't make out their features, and I'm a huge practical effects monster fiend, so that kinda sucked.

TOO DARK! TOO DARK! Get them some more maglights! Stat! 

Honestly, my only complaint about this film is that it was too dark- it was hard to make out what the monsters were supposed to be. I kept asking myself, "Wait... what the fuck am I looking at? What is that supposed to be? Could they just wait five fucking seconds so that we can get a decent glimpse at it before everyone runs around screaming?"

I still have no fucking clue what this is... 

Seriously,  rarely did we get a glimpse of any of them for more than a few seconds. As a monster lover, that disappointed me. Too much shaky cam, not enough lighting.

OK sure, this is well lit, but the camera doesn't stay on it long enough for your brain to register what you are even looking at...which is tentacle face. Yep. That nurse has a bad case of tentacle face. It's fatal. Poor thing. 

In some respects, it was like watching "Feast." Good idea, neat monsters, but too damn dark and the camera was too fucking twitchy to follow what was happening at times.

You spend that much time making monsters with practical effects? I want to see them damn it! I want to see your hard work. Show it off like the movie whores you are! You know you want to. 😘

What are we all staring at? Anyone have a fucking clue? Because I got nothing.

My personal complaints aside, "The Void" was well executed and a fun romp through Lovecraft territory, tentacles and cold uncaring universe and all. 

Go check it out, you won't regret it. Trust me on this one. 

What is Extreme Horror?

The term Extreme Horror is a bit ambiguous and it means different things to different people. Merriam Webster Dictionary defines extreme as "A. Existing in a very high degree B. Going to great or exaggerated lengths, or C. Exceeding the ordinary, usual, or expected."

After looking at a bunch of different lists online put together by movie buffs, I have found that many movies that are listed as extreme horror are actually fit in the Splatterpunk or torture porn category. To help define extreme horror I have come up with five elements that most, if not all extreme horror movies have in common.

5 Things that Extreme Horror Movies have in Common:

1. More Gore!

Extreme horror movies often contain literal buckets of blood on their sets. In fact, the more blood and guts, the better. Most extreme horror movies actually fall under the splatterpunk category. According to the New York Times, splatterpunk is a horror term that was created by David J. Schow and refers to horror fiction or movies that are graphic and contain gory depictions of violence. Splatterpunk is not the art of subtly creating an atmosphere of dread and suspense, but of bringing everything out into the open and showing in as much detail as possible (whether it is factual or not) how a person is dismembered, or the amount of blood that can actually spray out of a jugular vein when it is cut wide open. Nothing is off limits as far as the gore factor is concerned. "Evil Dead" is an example of extreme horror that is Splatterpunk.


2. What Taboo Do You Do?

Some extreme horror movies tackle social or cultural taboos and sexual taboos, such as incest, sexual molestation or fetishes. The underlying theme of sadomasochism in "Hellraiser" (which is considered by some people to be a sexual taboo) is represented by Julia and Frank's relationship and the fact that the Cenobites worship pain and pleasure. Even the Cenobites costumes are based on leather fetish gear used in bondage play.

3. Controversies Abound

Controversial topics that make most people uncomfortable to discuss, are played out in graphic detail and often serve as a sort of catharsis for the audience. For instance, "The Last House on the Left" provides an unflinching view of the kidnapping and rape of two young college girls, and the brutal retaliation and murder of the rapists by on of the girl's parents. "Teeth" is about chaste girl living with her sexually aggressive step-brother who has the one thing men fear most: vagina dentata.

4. Eww! Gross!

What would you do if you found your flesh rotting while shaving your legs?
Me? I'd scream like a little girl and run to the hospital.

Many extreme horror movies contain gross-out scenes. Gross-out scenes often involve body mutilation, insect or animal infestations and eating exotic foods or items that are not meant to be eaten-- the latter is usually forced on the victim by the sadistic killer. Gross-out scenes can also include graphic depictions of horrific diseases, such those found in "Cabin Fever."

5. Torture for the Sake of Torture

So, anyone else up for a trip to the hostel?

In extreme horror movies, there usually isn't a motive for the sadist that is torturing the victim, which more often than not is a woman. If there is a motive or a reason why the killer is slowly cutting off the victim's limbs, it's often trite or shallow and typically unbelievable, and not something that impacts that actual story in any way. This is also why extreme horror movies are often called torture porn, because porn movies tend not to have a real plot other than pizza guy "delivers" to frisky house wife.

The original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" for instance, has no real motive for why those crazy rednecks love choppin' up them crazy college kids other than the fact that they are cannibals. The extreme horror movie "Saw" on the other hand, does have a motive for the Jigsaw killer, he wishes to make suicidal people and others want to live by throwing them into elaborate death traps.