Gazing Into ‘The Void’: Lovecraftian Horror Executed Proper

Welcome to The Queue — your every day distraction of curated video content material sourced from throughout the net. At this time, we’re watching a video essay that appears on the 2016 horror movie ‘The Void.’

Opposite to fashionable perception, there are many wonderful cosmic horror movies. What’s rarer are devoted diversifications of the work of HP Lovecraft, the American author finest identified for his tales of Eldrich Gods too huge and horrible for the human consciousness to explain (however they positively had tentacles, we all know that a lot).

Whereas associated, Lovecraftian horror and cosmic horror are usually not at all times the identical factor. Not like the latter, the previous is extra within the flesh than the celebrities. Different specifics outline Lovecraft’s explicit model of terror: partial, epistolary accounts of half-glimpsed monstrosities, noneuclidean geometry, forbidden information, and inhuman influences on humanity’s trajectory.

Lovecraftian horror is particular, and in that specificity, it completely isn’t for everybody. Even after you recover from the tentacles. One of many major boundaries to entry is that Lovecraftian horror has little interest in explaining its insanity to you. Being confused is a part of the expertise. Each you and the characters would possibly clamor for solutions, however you’re not going to get any. And that may (rightly so!) be a little bit of a dealbreaker for folk.

This is only one very sick girl’s opinion, however the 2016 Canadian, crowd-sourced horror movie The Void is without doubt one of the best Lovecraftian movies ever made. Created by Astron-6 (the madmen behind Manborg, The Editor, and Psycho Goreman), The Void drops us in-media res into the endgame of a mysterious cult. They’ve arrange store within the basement of a rural hospital. And no matter they’re doing down there may be turning individuals into screaming lumps of pained flesh. The criticism that The Void‘s horrors really feel incidental and lack context is each (1) legitimate; (2) sort of the entire level. It’s a Lovecraftian horror present instructed from the sufferer’s incomplete and sometimes complicated perspective, and that’s exactly what makes it one of many closest movies to ever choose up what outdated HP sauce was placing down.

Is {that a} cop-out? Yeah, sort of. Leaving issues incomplete and half-glimpsed was sort of Lovecraft’s complete deal. However why don’t you make up your personal thoughts with at the moment’s video essay:

Watch “Why is THE VOID So Bizarre & Messed Up?!”:

Who made this?

This video on the 80s nostalgia of The Void is by Ryan Hollinger, a Northern Irish video essayist who makes a speciality of horror movies. Hollinger’s evaluation often takes the form of a private retrospective. Indulging in a wholesome dose of nostalgia, Hollinger’s movies are contagiously endearing, entertaining, and informative. You can even try Hollinger’s podcast, The Carryout, on SoundCloud right here. And you’ll subscribe to Hollinger’s YouTube account right here.

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Meg Shields is the common-or-garden farm boy of your desires and a senior contributor at Movie College Rejects. She at present runs three columns at FSR: The Queue, How’d They Do That?, and Horrorscope. She can also be a curator for One Excellent Shot and a contract author for rent. Meg could be discovered screaming about John Boorman’s ‘Excalibur’ on Twitter right here: @TheWorstNun. (She/Her).