It is always a pleasure to see that writer/director/actor (as well as many other things) Dakota Ray (Dante's Shadow of Sin, Sebastian's Unholy Flesh) is continuing to make films in his own unique style. Prince of the Crimson Void is the latest of these and remains as nihilistically bleak and dark as always. Known for infusing each of his films with a different coloured filter, this time around there is a red/pink one, as always this adds to the otherworldly vibe.
Ray stars as Fabian, a drug and alcohol addicted serial killer. In the past he had teamed up with another serial killer, a man named Kimball (Darien Fawkes - The Rise and Fall of an American Scumbag), and he has began to feel hostility to this man due to him showing signs of having a conscience. With the two sharing a burial ground for their many victims, Fabian heads there, with the intention to kill his former partner, hoping that doing so will add the killer's souls to his own, transforming him into a God.
At just under an hour long, Prince of the Crimson Void doesn't waste too much time. On occasion these films have slightly dragged in places due to protracted camera shots of the various (cool) items around the set, here, there are still plenty of these scenes, but they seemed a lot snappier and edited down. The movie is split into various chapters, something that is often the case for these movies. Even more stripped down than previously, the movie only features the two actors, with no supporting cast (unless you count the various corpses the two play with). Ray plays as always a deeply nihilistic killer, someone devoid of any remains of humanity. I found Kimball's character to be a great addition. I did wish he had more screen time to explore some of the more wild aspects of his character, in particular I liked the idea put forward that an alter-ego he created while killing people has weirded him out enough that he doesn't like to become it anymore. This is shown in a great scene where the alter-ego (a clown type mask with a huge nose) appears in his room and talks to him. Fawkes, who came out of acting retirement for this movie, was a great part of the movie.
Ray's films have always had an evil feel to them, and increasingly they have morphed from feeling like they took place in an alternate reality where life is very cheap, to feeling they take place in a literal Hell realm. With the red/pink filter over everything, and the constant shots of a full moon, often with lightning striking off in the distance, that feel was more pronounced than ever. From the near constant demonic growling and muttering noises, to Ray's voice which somehow manages to sound more guttural and deeper with each subsequent movie, this felt like it took place in Hell, creating some great feeling atmosphere.
In terms of the story, the vibe was going more for atmosphere, the plot, revolving around Fabian's plan to kill his former partner, felt similar to last year's Dante's Shadow of Sin, in which the serial killer Dante plotted to kill his former serial killer acquaintance Mahoganny. As a whole I found Prince of the Crimson Void to be more enjoyable, while the plot was simple, it was well paced.
It is a good thing that Ray is making films like this. There are so many elements he uses which makes these movies feel so unique to him, I don't know of many others doing what he does, and so it is always a joy to see what demented and dark paths he will travel down. With the Gothically bleak Absinthe soaked world of Prince of the Crimson Void you have one that is full to the brim with sinister atmosphere.
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