j d worthington
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- May 9, 2006
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I don't know whether anyone has begun anything on this yet, moderators. If so, please move accordingly.
Beyond the Wall of Sleep, the new film "based" on H. P. Lovecraft's story. I've been wondering about this one for a while, since I'd heard about it; but was rather afraid they'd botch it up. Well, now I've seen it and, yes, they botched it up. Oh, my, did they botch it!
"Beyond the Wall of Sleep" is by no means among Lovecraft's best stories -- it shows his social snobbery in a particularly abrasive manner, for one thing -- but it does have some things going for it: the general idea of an alien consciousness hidden within a barely functioning human being; the blending of dream and reality (one of HPL's specialties); some of the descriptions; the cosmic imagery. But it remains one of his minor works. The film version can't even claim that small honor.
I wanted to like this film, I really did. There's room for some fascinating exploration and a true sense of awe and wonder in expanding a very short story to 90-minute film format; I like William Sanderson in other things he's done; I like and respect Tom Savini's work and find the man himself more than a little interesting. But here they are completely wasted. For one thing, the acting here is atrocious. There's the old saying about chewing the scenery -- well, here they devour the stage! I've seldom seen such ham-fisted acting in even the worst of direct-to films by any professional companies. Sanderson's is the most understated performance of the lot, and even he has scenes where he's about 20 points past where he should be to remain effective. Whether this was the choice of the actors or the director, what goes on here makes the worst "mugging" of the silent era look cool as Greek statuary.
Then there's the direction itself, which is choppy, sloppy, full of holes, and just plain silly. The editing and camera work vacillates between annoying and terrifically pretentious -- use of flash-cuts such as caught on with Seven are fine when done in moderation, but when an entire film is done this way, it loses impact and becomes simply bad, period. And the script(?) -- I've seen amateur theatricals putting on original work that surpassed this tenfold.
It's a pity, really. There are some nice visuals here, and some good ideas; but the complete lack of restraint, the desire for a nice bloody effect at the cost of any sort of sense, verisimilitude or even internal logic rob even the film's best moments (which are pitifully few) of any ability to rise above mediocrity. Just as one example: one of the patients in the asylum, a "vegetable" patient -- I assume they mean "vegetative" -- named Ardelia, is being used by the protagonist for experiments to perfect his mind-controlling machine -- based extremely loosely on the "cosmic radio" of HPL's story. He has sawn through the top of her head and left it attached by a small bit of flesh at the back, so that it can be lifted like a lid, in order to insert electrodes -- which are about the size of a meat thermometer, without regard to the fact that this would completely prevent any precision in reaching specific areas of the brain -- in order to elicit various reactions. But when called away, he leaves the poor girl's head open, with the probes inserted. When he returns, the "lid" is closed. And, as far as we are led to believe, she's kept in this restraining chair, without bandages, with such an open wound, for days, without any ill effects -- or even serious bleeding. Even a 5-year-old could point out that, if someone's head is left open like this for any length of time, they will shortly be very, very dead -- not to mention extremely messy. This is only one example of the sort of logical flaw in the film.
Once again, those who enjoy and respect Lovecraft's work and hope to see worthwhile adaptation of his stories to film, will have to look elsewhere. For that matter, anyone who loves and respects film as a means of telling a story had best look elsewhere, for this is one of those times when not a few scenes, but the entire bulk of the film, really should have been left on the cutting room floor. Better yet, it should have never been made.
Well, that's my honest, unadulterated view of the film -- one for which I had not high, but at least some, hopes. I'd be interested in hearing if anyone else has seen this, and if they disagree. Perhaps they can come up with some convincing arguments to make me reexamine my own views. I'm doubtful, but if they can, I'd be grateful.
Beyond the Wall of Sleep, the new film "based" on H. P. Lovecraft's story. I've been wondering about this one for a while, since I'd heard about it; but was rather afraid they'd botch it up. Well, now I've seen it and, yes, they botched it up. Oh, my, did they botch it!
"Beyond the Wall of Sleep" is by no means among Lovecraft's best stories -- it shows his social snobbery in a particularly abrasive manner, for one thing -- but it does have some things going for it: the general idea of an alien consciousness hidden within a barely functioning human being; the blending of dream and reality (one of HPL's specialties); some of the descriptions; the cosmic imagery. But it remains one of his minor works. The film version can't even claim that small honor.
I wanted to like this film, I really did. There's room for some fascinating exploration and a true sense of awe and wonder in expanding a very short story to 90-minute film format; I like William Sanderson in other things he's done; I like and respect Tom Savini's work and find the man himself more than a little interesting. But here they are completely wasted. For one thing, the acting here is atrocious. There's the old saying about chewing the scenery -- well, here they devour the stage! I've seldom seen such ham-fisted acting in even the worst of direct-to films by any professional companies. Sanderson's is the most understated performance of the lot, and even he has scenes where he's about 20 points past where he should be to remain effective. Whether this was the choice of the actors or the director, what goes on here makes the worst "mugging" of the silent era look cool as Greek statuary.
Then there's the direction itself, which is choppy, sloppy, full of holes, and just plain silly. The editing and camera work vacillates between annoying and terrifically pretentious -- use of flash-cuts such as caught on with Seven are fine when done in moderation, but when an entire film is done this way, it loses impact and becomes simply bad, period. And the script(?) -- I've seen amateur theatricals putting on original work that surpassed this tenfold.
It's a pity, really. There are some nice visuals here, and some good ideas; but the complete lack of restraint, the desire for a nice bloody effect at the cost of any sort of sense, verisimilitude or even internal logic rob even the film's best moments (which are pitifully few) of any ability to rise above mediocrity. Just as one example: one of the patients in the asylum, a "vegetable" patient -- I assume they mean "vegetative" -- named Ardelia, is being used by the protagonist for experiments to perfect his mind-controlling machine -- based extremely loosely on the "cosmic radio" of HPL's story. He has sawn through the top of her head and left it attached by a small bit of flesh at the back, so that it can be lifted like a lid, in order to insert electrodes -- which are about the size of a meat thermometer, without regard to the fact that this would completely prevent any precision in reaching specific areas of the brain -- in order to elicit various reactions. But when called away, he leaves the poor girl's head open, with the probes inserted. When he returns, the "lid" is closed. And, as far as we are led to believe, she's kept in this restraining chair, without bandages, with such an open wound, for days, without any ill effects -- or even serious bleeding. Even a 5-year-old could point out that, if someone's head is left open like this for any length of time, they will shortly be very, very dead -- not to mention extremely messy. This is only one example of the sort of logical flaw in the film.
Once again, those who enjoy and respect Lovecraft's work and hope to see worthwhile adaptation of his stories to film, will have to look elsewhere. For that matter, anyone who loves and respects film as a means of telling a story had best look elsewhere, for this is one of those times when not a few scenes, but the entire bulk of the film, really should have been left on the cutting room floor. Better yet, it should have never been made.
Well, that's my honest, unadulterated view of the film -- one for which I had not high, but at least some, hopes. I'd be interested in hearing if anyone else has seen this, and if they disagree. Perhaps they can come up with some convincing arguments to make me reexamine my own views. I'm doubtful, but if they can, I'd be grateful.
