Practical Effects in The Void and Why They’re Scarier Than CGI (original) (raw)

Published Nov 4, 2021, 1:15 PM EDT

Bad CGI is no stranger to the horror genre. Just look at literally every shark film ever made apart from Jaws. Who could forget the tragedy that was The Thing (2011), as it shamed the original - a gamechanger in practical effects? Effects like these in horror do little to cement the dynamism of what it truly means to evoke terror. Popular movie creatures such as The Rock’sScorpion Kingin The Mummy Returns, and The Werewolf in An American Werewolf in Paris both received criticism for their heavy reliance on CGI, resulting in unscary and unbelievable creatures that do not stand the test of time. On the other hand, the 2016 Canadian psychological sci-fi horror, The Void, takes a step back and references some of the body horrors and prop creation techniques of underground and sub-popular horror films of the 1970s and 1980s. Comparing The Void with horrors that poorly use CGI, it's a no-brainer that the use of practical effects results in a more terrifying, enthralling horror experience.

Directors Steven Kostanski and Jeremy Gillespie spent an extensive amount of care in crafting one of the best underground Lovecraftian horrors of this century. In The Void, there is an array of unlike characters, ranging from an anxious nursing intern, Kim(Ellen Wong), to a fragile, seemingly young, pregnant Maggie(Grace Munro). Because of these varying figures, the audience has no idea where the film can turn. From the jump, the slasher film vibes are on full display, with intricate framing and long shots. This puts the viewers right inside the quickly-paced movement of a woman’s mysterious rundown countryside murder at the hands of the father-son duo, Vincent and Simon. Deputy Sheriff Daniel (Aaron Poole), state trooper Mitchell (Art Hindle), and graveyard shift hospital workers Dr. Powell (Kenneth Welsh) and nurse Allison(Kathleen Munroe) ban together alongside Simonand Vincent once a mutated monstrous form of fellow crew nurse, Beverly, is shot dead after killing local patient, Cliff.

Image Via D Films

The film unravels into a grotesque, interdimensional nightmare for the group. A booming horn-like sound summons menacing triangle-headed cult ghouls appearing in the forest adjacent to the hospital at a heightened moment of panic and hysteria. At the same time, the surviving members realize the insane level of unimaginable danger they’re in and are thrown into more confusion as it’s revealed that Dr. Powell heads these sinister events as the mastermind to the appearances of the cult members and the growing creatures. In a delusional plot to resurrect his dead daughter, Sarah, Dr.Powell claims to have conquered life and death. Although the plot itself does little to further explain the circumstances of his complex multidimensional abilities, the prosthetics, and overall world-building speak volumes, scene to scene.

From the moment Beverly confronts Daniel, explaining that she's no longer human, the disturbing images start pouring in. The Void beautifully portrays the evolution of the slimy absorbent creature, showcasing a homage to the early 70s and 80s horror movies. The Sarah and Beverly creatures embody a cross between The Thing (the original one, of course) and the strange demonic nurses from Silent Hill. The spider-like tentacles, slimy exterior, and putrid stench all work hard to make viewers as uncomfortable as humanly possibly. Combined with the confusion of what Daniel and Dr.Powell’s individual motivations and conflicts are, the creatures of The Void are just short of witnessing a demonic psychedelic trip! 2016 offered some serious competition in the horror game like A24's creature-infested The Monster or the South-Korean zombie flick Train to Busan. However, The Void separated itself by daring to evoke steady nostalgia with skin peeling, grisly corpse creatures possessed by dimensional entities, and cryptid geometric shapes that posed god-like energy towards the end of the film.

Image Via D Films

The film stands out with authenticity, particularly in the evolution of the Beverly and Sarah creatures. The fan-crowdfunded prosthetics included dedicated days of sculpting, painting, and rendering, aiming to create stunning frames that wouldn't entirely need to rely on computerized horror in post-production. When Beverly's body begins mutation, automatically the hairy legs forcefully abounding her mouth, with a dead Cliff in the background, strikes as a highly disturbing image. The film stacks each action point with an even bigger, grosser, more outlandish form of the Beverly creature and the other goons that appear later on. Creatures like the deformed morgue corpses drenched in blood, ashes, and intestines, and an even darker mutated Sarah creature with a grey baby's skull, protruding brains, and innards, work fabulously to illustrate genuine creature effects.

Kostanski and Gillespie had high hopes to masterfully craft a monster that would reference other monsters and to have their creature commit elevated acts of violence that would scar their audience. With H.P. Lovecraft's _The Call of Cthulhu_used as a central theme for the Beverly creature that later evolves into the Sarah creature as Dr. Powell's sick intention to raise his daughter from the dead is revealed, audiences get the full experience of painfully watching this monster of the void tear its way through flesh while consuming more flesh. The Sarah creature is illustrated in such gruesome detail in certain moments, it's difficult to even watch her murderous spree and consumptions. In these sublime instances of stomach-churning horror, directors, Kostanski and Gillespie, do justice to cinematic horror nostalgia and to the craft of sitting down, designing, rendering, and building monsters and props by hand. It is this art form technique and tradition that deserves to be revived in Hollywood.

Modern horror flicks needed some rivalry and some shaking up, and The Void commands this craft of practical effects for monster building!

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