WAX MASK – At the end of the nineties there wasn't much blood left in the Italian genre scene at all, but 'Wax Mask' is a pleasing coda to the final days of classically lurid schlock. It's set in the late nineteenth century and involves a mysterious wax works and some giallo type murders, done with a metallic claw as opposed to a black glove. It's by fx guy Sergio Stivaletti, so there's a sprinkling of gore and some prosthetic wackiness, although I'd have liked to have seen more of that stuff and perhaps even a bit more of the shitty first wave CGI that crops up in places. Latter aside, it's visually very nice, kind of over-crowded and opulent like an orgy in a drawing room (which sort-of happens at one point). The best thing about it is still the 'Terminator' reference, though.
THE VOID – Latter day horror flick which seems keen to wear its eighties influences on its sleeve, although perhaps needs to be viewed on its own terms rather than as a homage to Carpenter et al. It's about a hospital siege type situation with some very Lovecraftian rumblings going on in the background, or maybe in the foreground, as the over-the -top outbursts of practical effects proudly display an inter-dimensional gloopiness. I was entertained, and found myself wanting to be blown away in places, but in the end wasn't. 'The Void's 'Thing'-fancying ambitions only stretch so far, and, whilst it occasionally delivers some effective gore and distressed latex, it stumbles with its pacing and overly clunky genre devices. Could've been a whole lot more mysterious, but, for what it is, it's satisfying and I recommend people check it out.
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