Cthulhu

[MournelitheCalix]

http://www.cthulhu-themovie.com/video.html


I am not sure if this was posted here.

[Samwise]

S. T. Joshi gave it a thumbs up? 

wat

[schild]

Tori Spelling.

[stray]

For something with Tori Spelling in it, it looks pretty well shot. Nice cinematography, at the very least.

[Samwise]

The only way Tori Spelling makes sense in a Lovecraft movie is if she's the monster.

[Zetleft]

Been posted to one of the cthulhu threads we have before.  Looks decent enough to watch at least once.

[Goreschach]

Just judging by the trailer, but shouldn't this move be named Dagon?

[schild]

Just judging by the trailer, but shouldn't this move be named Dagon?

Dagon came out a year or so ago. :)

And there's no doubt this will not help the Lovecraft In Film movement.

[Samwise]

It looks like this movie is based more on Shadow Over Innsmouth than anything.  Which is also what the movie Dagon was based on.  (Dagon is an awesome movie, btw.)

[HaemishM]

Dagon was definitely worth a watch for Lovecraft fans.

[Yegolev]

Can we get something other than Innsmouth?  Two movies and one game already.

[schild]

There's a 12 minute short stop-motion animation for the Music of Erich Zann that's great.

Daddy wants a great mountains movie though.

[Soln]

this was badly panned by some paper in Seattle, and it was filmed nearby.  Or maybe 2 papers.   

[Samwise]

Can we get something other than Innsmouth?  Two movies and one game already.

I think it's because it lends itself better to dramatic adaptation than most.  Most Lovecraft stories are more about setting a mood in a relatively static location and then finishing with a big reveal, with the scary thing sometimes being something that's only conceived of rather than actually seen by the narrator.  Try making a movie out of that.

Innsmouth works well because "guy discovers village full of evil fishmen" isn't hard to put onto the screen.

Masters of Horror did have an episode that was a pretty decent adaptation of "Dreams in the Witch House."  Directed by the Dagon guy.  (Who also did Re-Animator, but the movie, although good gory fun, didn't resemble a Lovecraft tale in any stylistic sense.)

[stray]

I actually haven't read a lot of Lovecraft. I've read a lot of Howard though.. and I believe he got his creepy elements from Lovecraft, if I'm not mistaken. Never was much of a big "reveal" in his stories though... just a general foreboding.. and some kind of bloodthirsty monkeyheaded mindfuck.. and Conan splitting it's skull in half in the end. As much as like the film Conan the Barbarian (not gonna even mention Destroyer), none of that was accomplished in the films either. I think that sort of creepiness can happen in films though.. Jacob's Ladder and Silent Hill come to mind. Maybe Hellraiser too?

[Johny Cee]

Can we get something other than Innsmouth?  Two movies and one game already.

I think it's because it lends itself better to dramatic adaptation than most.  Most Lovecraft stories are more about setting a mood in a relatively static location and then finishing with a big reveal, with the scary thing sometimes being something that's only conceived of rather than actually seen by the narrator.  Try making a movie out of that.

Innsmouth works well because "guy discovers village full of evil fishmen" isn't hard to put onto the screen.

Masters of Horror did have an episode that was a pretty decent adaptation of "Dreams in the Witch House."  Directed by the Dagon guy.  (Who also did Re-Animator, but the movie, although good gory fun, didn't resemble a Lovecraft tale in any stylistic sense.)

Nice points.

The Night Gallery (Rod Serling show after Twilight Zone) did a bunch of Lovecraft inspired episodes,  including adaptions of "Cool Air" and "Pickman's Model" and "inspired by" stories, mostly to mixed effect.

ST Joshi has a book about the cinematic and TV adaptions of Lovecrafts work that's actually a decent read, if you can find it.  He's pretty forgiving on the shitty quality of Lovecraft in cinema.

In my opinion, The Thing is still the best spiritual adaption of Lovecraftian ideas....  Mostly because of how it emphasizes the paranoia and mental breakdown of the cast.  (I realize it's based on another author's short story).

[Johny Cee]

I actually haven't read a lot of Lovecraft. I've read a lot of Howard though.. and I believe he got his creepy elements from Lovecraft, if I'm not mistaken. Never was much of a big "reveal" in his stories though... just a general foreboding.. and some kind of bloodthirsty monkeyheaded mindfuck.. and Conan splitting it's skull in half in the end. As much as like the film Conan the Barbarian (not gonna even mention Destroyer), none of that was accomplished in the films either. I think that sort of creepiness can happen in films though.. Jacob's Ladder and Silent Hill come to mind. Maybe Hellraiser too?

This post is so stereotypically Stray.    You just generalized about an author based on your small experiences with a different author who you heard he might be like.


Many times,  there is the big reveal in Lovecraft stories.  The horror, though, comes from three factors:
1. Inevitability
2. Insignifcance
3. Imagination

Most times,  the narrator realizes that Man is a tiny, insignifcant insect in a greater universe where alien horrors are the norm.  These horrors are so alien,  and so powerful, that they surpass concepts such as death and time.  They will inevitably win,  when it is their time.  All you can do is enjoy the time you have left and try very hard not to think about it.

The Hero can't win.  The Hero's best hope is to survive,  with some portion of his sanity intact.  (Well... some of the early works did have some more positive endings).


It's more like horror as a subversion of the scientific method:  the protagonists can do very little to actually change or avert what happens,  and are stuck in the role of observing and trying to come to terms with what they see.

[DraconianOne]

This film has definitely been discussed on these boards at least twice before.

Dagon is definitely worth watching. It's amusing and gory. (Also Schild is getting old because "a couple of years ago" is actually 8)

Apart from Dagon and Re-animator, Stuart Gordon has also directed From Beyond which was based on the Lovecraft story.  He's also slated to direct an adaptation of "The Thing On The Doorstep" in a couple of years.

Other Lovecraft adaptations

The Colour Out of Space - adapted as Die Monster Die (1965) and The Curse (with Wil Wheaton, 1987)
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward - adapted as The Haunted Palace (by Roger Corman, 1963) and The Resurrected (by Dan O'Bannon, 1992)
The Dunwich Horror (1970) - starring Ed Begley Sr and Dean Stockwell
The Unnamable - god-awful low budget film (and it's sequel)
The Call of Cthulhu - very faithful adaptation by the HP Lovecraft Historical Society  - made as a contemporary silent movie.  Very well done for what it is (i.e. a group of fans making a film) It was far better than I expected it was going to be.  The same group of people are making a version of "The Whisperer in the Darkness" too.
The Lurking Fear - probably the worst Lovecraft adaptation and starring Jeffrey "Herbert West" Combs (who is also in a new version of The Dunwich Horror as Wilbur Whateley that's just finished filming but don't expect much as it's an Asylum films production and they're better known for low budget straight-to-video rip-offs of major titles)
Necronomicon - portmanteau film with versions of The Rats In The Walls, The Cold and The Whisperer In The Darkness. Jeffrey Combs (again) as H.P.Lovecraft with David Warner and Bruce Payne starring. Also has Christophe Gans as one the directors before he went on to do Brotherhood of the Wolf and Silent Hill

Best Lovecraft films that aren't explicitly Lovecraft but are really:
John Carpenter's The Thing
In The Mouth Of Madness
John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness.

(It's possible John Carpenter is heavily inspired by Lovecraft...)

There's also a 2005 Italian film called "Road to Lovecraft" which seems to have been remade in 2008 as "In Search for Lovecraft" and is basically a Blair Witch-a-like but about the Cthulhu mythos.

[HaemishM]

I actually haven't read a lot of Lovecraft. I've read a lot of Howard though.. and I believe he got his creepy elements from Lovecraft, if I'm not mistaken.

The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard

There's likely some of Howard's Cthulu stories in there. Yes, he did a number of Cthulu stories. I've got an earlier smaller collection of just the Cthulu stories that's pretty good.

[stray]

"Pigeons from Hell"


For some reason, that manages to be one of the most frightening story titles ever.

[schild]

Watching this now. It's really not very good.

[justdave]

The trailer strikes me as the Nicholas Cage version of The Wicker Man, only without an Edward Woodward version having ever been made. Is it "Meh" not very good', or 'Fuck it" not very good?

[schild]

I don't even know if it was a Cthulhu movie.

It was basically crap.

[justdave]

Well, shit.   

I guess the reason to join a Cthulhu cult is 'to actually see a good version of it', and no Tori Spelling.

[DraconianOne]

I guess the reason to join a Cthulhu cult is 'to actually see a good version of it', and no Tori Spelling.

A good version of "Call of Cthulhu" or a good "Cthulhu mythos" film?

[UnSub]

"Mouth of Madness" for the second category, yes?

Not that I've seen them all, but my understanding is that any direct film adaption of Lovecraft's work pretty much automatically sucks.

[justdave]

I guess the reason to join a Cthulhu cult is 'to actually see a good version of it', and no Tori Spelling.

A good version of "Call of Cthulhu" or a good "Cthulhu mythos" film?

The former...Although I've yet to find something that's 'legitimate' mythos that I really liked. I actually wasn't that happy with Mouth of Madness, if I recall. I need to see it again, though, it's been a while.

[Johny Cee]

I guess the reason to join a Cthulhu cult is 'to actually see a good version of it', and no Tori Spelling.

A good version of "Call of Cthulhu" or a good "Cthulhu mythos" film?

The former...Although I've yet to find something that's 'legitimate' mythos that I really liked. I actually wasn't that happy with Mouth of Madness, if I recall. I need to see it again, though, it's been a while.

"Dagon" is alright.  Basically it's Shadow over Innsmouth set in modern Spain with some American tourists.

"The Thing" is probably closest to a true in spirit Cthulhu mythos movie. 

[HaemishM]

Finally got to watch the move this thread was originally about.

Fuck me. They turned Shadows over Innsmouth into a gay pr0n love story about a guy who gets raped by Tori Spelling. Oh yeah, and they pretty much hid every supernatural bit of the story completely. It's a fucking mess. It wavered between being shot beautifully to barely being at Sci-Fi Channel level quality.

DO NOT WATCH. It's not even bad enough to be good.