The Void

A hospital is besieged by cultists, tentacle creatures and untamed cosmic horror. 'The Void' (2016) is a bloody love letter to the practical effects horror of the 1980s and not least to H.P. Lovecraft's universe of monsters, parallel dimensions and a cosmic madness in which man never wins.

Although Lovecraft's writing thrust in many directions, it is the so-called cosmic horror in particular that has secured him a place as one of the horror genre's most influential figures. In Lovecraft's universe, man is not the center of existence, but an insignificant parenthesis in a vast and inconsequential cosmos populated by ancient forces beyond our comprehension. It is a form of horror in which the very realization of the truth can be more devastating than any monster.

Filming Lovecraft's tales directly has proved difficult. For example, Guillermo del Toro has spent decades trying in vain to realize his dream project 'At the Mountains of Madness'. That's why the most successful Lovecraftian films are often those that capture the mood rather than the action. Films such as John Carpenter's 'The Thing' and 'In the Mouth of Madness' or more recent works such as 'The Endless' all draw on Lovecraft's ideas of cosmic horror, without necessarily adapting his stories directly.

'The Void' is among the best modern examples of this very tradition. Directors Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski combine claustrophobic hospital thrills with cultic rituals, grotesque practical effects and an increasingly strong sense that reality is disintegrating. The result is a film that feels like a nightmare written by Lovecraft himself, though it tells its own story.

With its tentacular horrors, its growing madness and its uncompromising pictorial side, 'The Void' has become a modern cult favorite among fans of cosmic horror.

Directed by: Steven Kosanski, Jeremy Gillespie
Starring: Ellen Wong, Kathleen Monroe, Kenneth Welsh, Stephanie Belding
Country/year: United States, 2016
Running time: 90 min.
Formato: DCP
Language: Danish subtitles
Age limit: Allowed for children over 15

Part of the series: The Monsters Who Changed Us
The monsters always come back. Maybe because they've never really left us. In collaboration with Golden Days, Cinemateket invites you to an idea-historical journey through the most fascinating creatures and nightmares in film history.