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BEYONDFEST 2016 REVIEW: THE VOID

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It seems like just another quiet night on patrol for Police Officer Carter. Until a man covered in blood lurches out of the woods and collapses in front of his cruiser. Carter transports the wounded man to a local hospital on the eve of being shut down, manned by a skeleton crew of staff and patients. Only to find himself and the rest trapped as they become surrounded by a mob of strange robed cultists! But the true terror might be hiding in plain sight… in THE VOID.

THE VOID is a fantastic phantasmagorical movie with FX as astounding as the horror it creates. But before going into the actual raw, bloody meat of the film, let’s take a look back into the history of the production. The brainchild of veteran Astron-6 (Father’s DayManborg) collective members Steven Kostanski and Jeremy Gillespie. Veteran filmmakers, designers, and FX artists wanted to bring back some of the good old fashioned practical creature FX horror that they, and so many like us, grew up with. Making a proof of concept trailer, they set about running a successful Indiegogo campaign, raising well over their base goal. And with good reason!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAcknEyohpE

 

If that was just the proof of concept, I was on pins and needles waiting to see the final product and simply had to contribute. Citing influences like The Blob ’88Hellbound: Hellraiser 2The Keep, and From Beyond, among others including the more modern Beyond The Black Rainbow. They were invoking that golden age when monsters and visual FX were a thing of beauty as much as fear inducing. While the inspirations are easy to see in some places, THE VOID is completely its own beast. Never outright shouting out to influences, but featuring the right aesthetics. The mood lighting. The grit and gore. All blend together to create a tangible horror along with the spiritual terror. While not exactly striking new ground in terms of plot, the fear itself is unique enough to keep audiences compelled.

grahamhumphreys

While I’ll be keeping this review spoiler free, I will say they delivered what they promised. A cornucopia of creature carnage and a veritable ocean of blood and gore to back it up are let loose. All with a classical Lovecraft-bent along with the above cited 80’s era of bloody horror monster movies. Unlike previous works with Astron-6, this story is all but bone dry in terms of humor. There’s also a focus oncharacter development amongst the endangered cast, especially in a few unexpected sources. Carter himself has several skeletons in his closet that come out to get at him throughout. There’s a claustrophobic sense of fear in the derelict hospital as it is surrounded by deranged cultists that evolves into one of nihilistic and existential dread as the true depravity pushing the monsters made flesh escalates on Carter and his allies. The poster’s memorable tagline “There is a Hell. This is worse.” sets up the bizarre terrors to come as nightmarish abominations come into play.

 

I had the good fortune of seeing THE VOID  at BeyondFest (Along with other great movies) and while it is currently on the festival circuit, I cannot wait to hear when it will be fully unleashed on the unsuspecting populace. There have been a number of movies that have promised to “bring back” practical FX and creature FX, and THE VOID truly is a sinister slice of horror that can.

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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