THE VOID
MOVIE REVIEW

My Books and Movies!

E.C. McMullen Jr.
RUMOR

RUMOR: People are dying to know the truth

PERPETUAL
BULLET

"'Some People' ... may be the standout story in the book."
- John Grant, Infinityplus

E.C. McMullen Jr.
WILLOW BLUE

"'Willow Blue' will burrow under your skin and stay there long after you've put the book down."
- Jeffrey Reddick, Creator of
FINAL DESTINATION

IN OTHER BOOKS
E.C. McMullen Jr.'s
short story
CEDO LOOKED LIKE PEOPLE
in the anthology
FEAR THE REAPER

"This Ray Bradbury-esque is one of the most memorable and one of the more original stories I've read in a long time."
- Steve Isaak,
Goodreads

HORROR 201:
The Silver Scream

Filmmaker's Guidebook
featuring
RAY BRADBURY,
JOHN CARPENTER,
WES CRAVEN,
TOM HOLLAND,
E.C. McMULLEN Jr.,
GEORGE A. ROMERO,
and many more.

Extensively quoted in

PHANTASM
EXHUMED
The Unauthorized Companion

SATAN'S 3-RING
CIRCUS OF HELL

Forward by
GAHAN WILSON &
FEO AMANTE.
With Comic Art by
ALEX PARDEE,
WILLIAM STOUT,
STEVE BISSETTE,
FRANK DIETZ,
JIM SMITH,
FRANK FORTE,
ERIC PIGORS,
MIKE SOSNOWSKI,
OMAHA PEREZ,
DAVID HARTMAN,
STEVEN MANNION,
JACOB HAIR,
and more!

And In
CINEMA
E.C. McMullen Jr.
Head Production Designer

MINE GAMES
(Starring:
JOSEPH CROSS,
BRIANA EVIGAN,
ALEX MERAZ,
ETHAN PECK)

Dept. head
Special Effects Make-Up
(SFX MUA)

A SIERRA NEVADA
GUNFIGHT
(MICHAEL MADSEN & JOHN SAVAGE).

Production Designer

UNIVERSAL DEAD
(DOUG JONES,
D.B. SWEENEY,
GARY GRAHAM)

Art Director

THE CRUSADER
(COLIN CUNNINGHAM,
GARY GRAHAM)

Review by
E.C.McMullen Jr.

THE VOID

- 2016
USA Release: April 7, 2017
Cave Painting Pictures, JoBro Productions & Film Finance, 120dB Films, Northern Ontario Heritage Fund
Argentina, Germany, Netherlands: 16 / Australia: R18+ / Canada: 18A / Greece: K-17 / Singapore: M18 / Taiwan: R-18 / UK: 18 / USA: Not Rated

A bloody body on the floor and a black triangle on the door. Screaming from somewhere.

A frightened man runs out of the door. Then a woman, who is shot and set on fire by two men.

The older of the two, who we will come to know as, The Father (Daniel Fathers: PONTY POOL, TIME OF DEATH, DARK MATTER [TV]) looks at the runaway man fleeing across a field and says, "He won't get far.

Of the two killers, the young man, who we will know as The Son (Mik Byskov: THE RETURNED [TV], THE 100 [TV]) clearly doesn't want to kill. The Father wants to but he does so without sadism. His heart doesn't seem to be in it. He acts as if he is obligated somehow.

What the hell is going on?

No clue but it's a great way to start a story!

Somewhere else, Sheriff's Deputy Daniel Carter (THE CIRCLE, THE CONSPIRACY, THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF ROSALIND LEIGH), relaxing in his car, speaks to dispatch. Just another dull rural night. When the runaway man, who we will know as James (Evan Stern: ROBOCOP [2014], DEAD RIVALRY, TRANSYLVANIA), crawls exhausted out of the woods in the headlight beams of Deputy Carter's car, Daniel mistakes him for a local drunk.

Then he sees the blood and the man's terror and knows this is something worse.

Deputy Carter takes the man to the nearest emergency room and hospital. He rarely patrols this area of the county and the hospital and its staff is known but unfamiliar for Carter, but its still in his jurisdiction.

It's here we meet the late night skeleton crew of the hospital.

There's scrub nurse in training, Kim (Ellen Wong: SILENT NIGHT, THE CIRCLE, DARK MATTER [TV]).

There's front desk Nurse Allison Fraser (Kathleen Munroe: FAMILY CURSE, ETERNAL, THE WHITE DOG SACRIFICE, SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD, HAVEN [TV], ALPHAS [TV], RESURRECTION [TV]), Daniel's estranged wife - which subtly explains why he avoids this area.

Kindly head doctor Richard Powell (Kenneth Welsh: DOUBLE NEGATIVE, PHOBIA!, OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN, A STRANGER WAITS, THE HOUSE ON CARROLL STREET, TWIN PEAKS [TV], HABITAT, MIND PREY, WITCHBLADE, THE HOUND OF BASKERVILLES [2000], MATTHEW BLACKHEART: MONSTER SMASHER, THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE, THE FOG [2005], THE COVENANT, ONE WAY, FANTASTIC 4: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER, SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD), who has been around so long that everyone knows and practically loves him.

The Void Motion Underage and pregnant Maggie (Grace Munroe) and her grandfather Ben (James Millington: DROP DEAD DEAREST, ROBOCOP [TV], DARKMAN II), who are there because the girl is due soon.

After the arrival of Sheriff Mitchell (Art Hindle: THE CLONE MASTER, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS [1978], THE BROOD, THE SURROGATE, KEPT, STRANDED [2002], ENCRYPT, OFFSPRING, SICILIAN VAMPIRE), who is searching for the mass murderers who set a house of people on fire this night, all hell breaks loose and worse. In unexpected ways, the weird soon begins and once it does, it doesn't stop.

THE VOID, while being a simply told scary story at first blush, is filled with complexity that produces twists, turns, and twists upon the twists and turns until I wasn't sure who was going to be a hero here, if anyone.

There is also gore galore, more over the top that any SAW movie, and yet THE VOID never loses its heart - not even among the villains. Believe me when I say that the villain label changes characters as the story progresses, yet under the guidance of Writer Directors Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski, THE VOID also never gets lost in too much switch back cleverness. They created the story's internal logic and stay with it to its whacked-out resolution.

Scary, mysterious, suspenseful, intriguing, perplexing, and monster smash gratifying, THE VOID is a Horror movie fan's blood-soaked treasure.

Five Shriek Girls!