GHOSTS OF THE VOID Wins Scariest Film at Popcorn Frights
Filmmaker Jason Miller brings Popcorn Frights 2023 audiences GHOSTS OF THE VOID, the story of a newly homeless couple spending the night in their car, navigating paralyzing anxiety, relationship tension, and masked strangers. This character-driven heart-pounder carefully weaves real-world horrors into a narrative that keeps viewers off-kilter. It earns your attention.
Michael Reagan plays Tyler Wilson. Reagan balances a toxic masculinity that hides behind a starving artist’s desire. His dismissive intolerance is loathsome, fueled by Tyler’s not-so-secret problem with alcohol. Tedra Millan gives Jen relatability with her compounding worrying. Jen has a lot on her plate, and like most women, her need to solve all the world’s problems consumes her. Written on her face and the pace of her breathing, it’s a visceral feeling.
The film intercuts brief flashbacks to highlight Jen’s mounting stress, making her the primary focus of our energy. Our emotional investment is essential to the success of the film. It’s a slow burn in which we constantly anticipate the other shoe dropping. Roughly halfway through the film, I audibly exclaimed, “Aw, F*ck.” Profanity is always a sign that the film took me by surprise. Cinematographer Nathan Salter takes advantage of the natural surroundings and produces slickly timed shots. The impactful juxtaposition of light and dark hits hardest in the final scene. Devin Delaney‘s score elicits chills. Do not for a moment think you know what happens next.
This film is an extraordinary story of a power struggle that takes aim at capitalism and cleverly pits mental health against self-preservation. GHOSTS OF THE VOID leaves us with questions of morality and equal parts relief and dread.
Popcorn Frights announced today that GHOSTS OF THE VOID won the jury award for Scariest Feature Film Prize at the Ninth Annual Popcorn Frights Film Festival. The festival organizers stated: “Jason Miller’s chilling saga is a timely tale that reminds us that true terror often lies beyond the supernatural by capturing the essence of our collective fear.”
Ghosts of the Void was picked up by The Horror Collective, which will release the film later this year.
Ghosts of the Void marks the directorial debut of writer/director Jason Miller, who previously wrote and produced the action film “Echo Boomers,” starring Michael Shannon. Starring Michael Reagan (Lovecraft Country), Tedra Millan (Daddy’s Girl) and is produced by Tony Kamin, Mike Ware, and Speakeasy Pictures’ Seth Savoy. The deal was negotiated on behalf of the producers by Jay Burnley and Chandler Freelander of Slated.
Popcorn Frights will be closing the film’s long festival run including the Midwest Film Festival, Kansas City Underground, Toronto City Horror Fest, LA Shockfest, Macabre Faire Film Festival, Sin Film Festival, Royal Starr Film Festival, and won several awards including Best Thriller at the Crown Point International Film Festival, Best Picture at the Los Angeles Cinematography Awards and Best Sound Editing at the Festival of Cinema NYC.
Speakeasy Pictures is an American independent media company founded by Seth Savoy (Echo Boomers) back in 2019 and based in Chicago Illinois. It actively develops, produces, and finances film and television projects with a social or political through-line. Speakeasy has four projects slated for production in 2024 and Ghost of the Void marks the company’s second acquisition.
The Horror Collective is the genre label of Entertainment Squad — a production and distribution company founded by veteran producer Shaked Berenson (TURBO KID, TALES OF HALLOWEEN). The labels’ latest releases include critic favorite LGTBQ+ horror-comedy SUMMONING SYLVIA and Sonja O’Hara’s Daytime Emmy Nominated Limited Series, DOOMSDAY.
Slated is a film finance marketplace that uses advanced data analytics and a proprietary scoring system to identify outstanding films and connect them with their active investor and distributor community. Upcoming Slated films include The Kill Room, starring Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson; Hazard, starring Alex Roe and Sosie Bacon; The Inventor, starring Marion Cotillard and Daisy Ridley; and Our Son, starring Billy Porter and Luke Evans, all of which were co-financed through Slated’s Executive Producer program that supports high-scoring projects.
The cast’s chemistry is spectacular. Michael Urie is Jamie, Larry’s fiance. He’s the most down-to-earth of the bunch, with the better part of his screen time in sequences over the phone. Urie can do no wrong in my book. Veanne Cox is Sylvia. Her performance is frightening and downright brilliant. I would watch a stand-alone film on her character. 
Nicholas Logan plays Harrison. His overtly masculine energy, physical discomfort, and aggressive nature are a perfect foil for our four friends. His aura forces the audience to take stock of microaggressions and outright bigotry. Logan handles the distasteful behavior like a champ, and Harrison’s arch is a nuanced breath of fresh air.
SUMMONING SYLVIA is one of the funniest queer films of the year. As a theatre girl, I was in my element. I knew these characters. The film’s climax has a dual purpose that beautifully mirrors life and the afterlife. The finale is celebratory. Do not miss this hell of a good time.
Performances across the board are phenomenal. 
Performances are badass. Nathan Phillips gives a really grounded portrayal of Sinclair. As much as one can be discovering that a family of vamps are trying to kill you. Alyssa Sutherland, as a nurse who lost her daughter and husband in the war, is the sensible, even-keeled figure and voice of reason. She is fearless and kind and a nice foil for the boat’s majority of overly masculine residents. Ruby Isobel Hall is phenomenal in her timing and perceived innocence. It’s some truly nuanced work. For me, the star of this film is Alex Cooke. Frankly, I could have watched an entirely separate film of the history of his character (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, writer-director Justin Dix and writer Jordan Prosser!) His totally nonchalant epicness deserves more screen time. Cooke kills it in this role.
The most unusual aspect of Dix‘s and Prosser‘s screenplay is that I found myself questioning who the real villains are? A family is kidnapped for profit. Then said family is punished for defending itself. Our crew is merely intervening after a tragedy and gets caught in the middle. I found myself relating to the vampires as a mother, which is both weird and wonderful. While there are definitely a few telegraphed plot points, the majority of the script is super original and wild as hell. Blood Vessel could easily become a franchise based on a very satisfying ending. You’ll undoubtedly hunger for more.
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