I liked it more than you guys did lol. I can't really argue that the characters weren't underdeveloped but the creature effects made up for it. It wasn't the best horror film but it was the first one to use decent practical special effects in a long time and I really appreciated that.

Yeah, 3/5. The production design was really good, the body horror and the practical effects were done masterfully. But the movie was just empty, truly about nothing.

@D-magic said:

...the practical effects were done masterfully. But the movie was just empty, truly about nothing.

I couldn't agree more but I took an extra 1/2 point off because the most annoying character made it to the end ;)

It had some great parts to it, just didn't come together for me. Kind of turned into Hellraiser at the end?

I gave it a 3/5. The story was good enough that I was kind of hooked and intrigued. It was nice, dark and twisted without having to resort to jump scares or anything like that (that automatically puts a horror film over in my eyes, jump scares just ruin films for me). It seemed to turn into a mishmash of Hellraiser/Event Horizon at the end. SPOILERS The only thing that really bugged me was the last 30 seconds or so. Didn't need that.

god i thought this film was dire. too many plot streams that were never developed to their conclusion resulting in an incoherent mess. what is the void? how did richard reanimate people? why were they reborn as tentacled monsters? was daniel's father part of the cult? on a practical level, how the hell was daniel able to run around and fight after he was stabbed and almost bled out?

terrible film.

I thought this was a fine film. All of the criticisms above have merit and I agree in part with them. Though, I'll say that some of the confusion and "underdeveloped" story lines seemed to enhance the scares for me. Just enough information/ingredients to have an idea of what might be going on; to let me imagination get carried away.

The creature FX were great! some great practical magic and physical acting to really flesh out some divine creepiness. This seems to be done so seldom, that when it is done like in this film, I really appreciate it.

The actors did well, for what they had to work with. This is where the story line could have been fleshed out more for me. Specifically with Vincent and Simon's role in the whole thing. Definitely the weakest part of the film and they had a considerable part to play. Daniel Carter's injuries, while seeming significant, were treated realistically - and yet (as mentioned above) the post "knife" wound actions did have a "C'MON MAN!!" vibe!

More time and money could have helped (that's most likely the case with everything!!!) but I liked it. As you can tell, I am optimistic about these films because they're not done enough so I'm pretty forgiving.

Cheers!

Watched this last night, and I enjoyed it well enough. I thought some of the acting, dialogue, and pacing was questionable, but largely the film was enjoyable. It has clear references to some of my favorite horror films - Carpenter's 'The Thing' and 'Prince of Darkness', as well as Lovecraft's cosmic horror. Parts of the soundtrack were nice, as well.

I liked it. It's the kind of gory, practical effect driven film they made when I was wee. It had a mixture of influences I like. John Carpenter, Clive Barker, definitely some Lovecraft in there. It wasn't perfect but very impressive for it's budget. I imagine the directors will get even better with subsequent features.

Event Horizon meets John Carperter's The Thing, but not as good as either. I did however like the meat-based ED-109 that waddled down the corridor after the mute guy at the end.

the short film on which this movie is based is much better imo.