For the past few years, there’s been one horror movie each year that’s seemingly come out of nowhere to ride on a wave of positive word of mouth to commercial success.
Starting from the indie film circuit before being found lauded in wider circles at domestic box offices, these movies have done things differently to the tired norms of the genre. Whereas the biggest studios are obsessed with remaking classics or producing the same cliched tripe to appeal to the lowest common denominators, these indie horrors rise above.
The Babadook, an Australian effort that depended as much on the shock horror of being a single mum as it did ghouls, came in 2014 and made its budget back by almost four times. It Follows soon followed and made everyone scared to have sex; the buzz from David Robert Mitchell’s movie helped it recoup more than ten times its budget. Robert Eggers’ The Witch, however, was the most successful yet, going on to make $40 million in 2016 and earn critical adulation, plenty of which was directed at its patient unspooling of terror.
A couple of months into 2017, it’s arguable that we won’t have such a movie this year. Judging from a trailer released yesterday for The Void, however, expect to hear plenty of excited whispers about Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski’s dark horror before it opens on April 7.
Be warned, small children or nervous dogs should probably be excused from the room:
Now that you’ve popped a Xanax, here’s what it’s about:
“Encountering a blood-soaked man on a dark deserted road, a police officer rushes the victim to the local hospital. Soon the staff and patients are trapped by a terrifying, otherworldly threat and forced on a hellish voyage into the depths of the building to escape the nightmare. Shocking, haunting and boasting mind-blowing practical special effects, The Void is a new must-see horror event, starring Ellen Wong (Scott Pilgrim vs the World), Kathleen Munroe (Alphas), Aaron Poole (Forsaken) and Kenneth Welsh (The Aviator) and Daniel Fathers. Written and directed by Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski and from the Executive Producer of The Witch.”
Early reviews suggest that The Void will be a twisty, unapologetically movie in its latter stages. Judging from some of the harrowing imagery glimpsed in that trailer, it’s hard not to believe. The Void may not have the same commercial appeal as something like The Witch or It Follows thanks to just how unrelentingly gruesome it could turn out to be, but indications suggest that it could be 2017’s most buzzworthy horror movie.
One thing’s for certain, it sure as shit won’t be The Bye Bye Man.
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