Lovecraftian Cinema

[Foxbat]

P.S. I'm fine , Foxbat, thanks. Have you seen Messiah Of Evil?

Not seen this but have just ordered a copy so, hopefully, I'll have a good gander at it sometime soon

 

[Foxbat]

Watched Messiah Of Evil yesterday. Yes, I can see certain Lovecraftian themes but I was more inclined towards the fact that I could see more of Dario Argento in this movie. I'm thinking particularly of some photography like the silhouetted figures on the ornate roof canopy of the house. Granted, the lighting and colour palette was not as extreme as some of Argento's but similar (I think) nonetheless. The set decor with the murals of brooding figures gave the house a truly claustrophobic and menacing atmosphere.

Despite the facts that there were serious consistency errors in a somewhat confusing plot and that the ending felt rushed, I quite enjoyed this.

 

[j d worthington]

Yes, there are definitely similarities to some of Argento's work. Then again, Argento himself has named one HPL as one of his influences....

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Definitely Argento-esque. I must line up an Argento retrospective for myself one of these weekends...

 

[thepaladin]

I just sat through The Dunwich Horror, 2009. Possibly the only movie I ever saw with acting worse than Plan 9 From Outer Space.Dean Stockwell is a better actor than this.

 

[j d worthington]

I just sat through The Dunwich Horror, 2009. Possibly the only movie I ever saw with acting worse than Plan 9 From Outer Space.Dean Stockwell is a better actor than this.

So is Jeff Combs. So was the lamppost (generally speaking).....

Yes, this is an atrocious piece of dreck, and how they got any of the talent they got to appear in this, I have no idea. You have a nice idea or two buried in there (I think) somewhere, but if so they are buried deeeeeep....

Now... if someone would actually do a fairly faithful adaptation of the story on film (with some good talent and decent special effects), you could really have something....

 

[j d worthington]

Well, though they haven't been putting out any new material for a while (which is a pity), Lurker Films does now have a special offer on their Lovecraft Collection plus the Weird Tales Collection and a set of short films adapted from Poe's works:

Lurker Films Complete Collection DVD Set [LFDS2] : Arkham Bazaar, The Bazaar of the Bizarre ... Lovecraft, Cthulhu, Poe, Movies, DVDs, Gifts

Darned good price, especially considering that even the current discounted price individually would still be $70.... And, having watched them all (some several times over) I can recommend them to the Lovecraft enthusiast with little reservation. Yes, these are, by and large, "small" films, done on a limited budget, and seldom with "name" cast (though the first three feature films differ in that respect), but all of the films -- even the most amateurish of the shorts -- has something to offer, and all are very faithful to the spirit of Lovecraft's work. Several of them are quite ingenious films on their own, intriguing and well-made, and can (like HPL's work) be experienced many times over, with new layers being discovered on each viewing.

While none of these is likely to start a filmmaking revolution, they all do manage to do credit to Lovecraft's vision, and also often provide some interesting readings of the material as well.

The Weird Tales Collection adaptation of Chambers' "The Yellow Sign" is a very odd, peculiar, yet striking film, as well, with a great deal of quite mysterious atmosphere to it; while the documentary about Chambers adds some interesting information on a writer few readers these days seem to know anything about; and the short film "Tupilak" is an eerie, enigmatic and disturbing little piece as well. "Annabel Lee", an animated short of Poe's verse, is one of the more disturbing and intriguing animations I've seen in a good while; and the other adaptations of Poe are well worth a viewing as well....

 

[Starbeast]

H.P. Lovecraft's FROM BEYOND (1986)​

Loosely based off of the original short story, this movie goes all out into the void of the fiendishly grotesque with it's special effects and enters the realm of the disturbing with the main characters. The story is about a couple scientific reseachers who tap into a dimension of horrific creatures and allowing them to enter our world by using a device called the Resonator. Filmed by Stuart (The Re-animater) Gordon and stars Jeffery Combs, Barbara Crampton, Ted Sorel, Ken Force and Carolyn Purdy-Gordon​

A really dark and weird flick, but it's still one of my favorites for a sci-fi horror movie.​

 

[j d worthington]

Um... that should be "Ken Foree"... (who was also in Romero's Dawn of the Dead).

It's an odd one. This, like Dagon, had to grow on me a bit over time, but has become one of my favorites. And yes, quite disturbing on various levels....

 

[Starbeast]

Um... that should be "Ken Foree"... (who was also in Romero's Dawn of the Dead).

It's an odd one. This, like Dagon, had to grow on me a bit over time, but has become one of my favorites. And yes, quite disturbing on various levels....

You're right it is Ken Foree (I like him, cool actor), there was a typo in my 2001 Movie & Video Guide pocketbook. I should have checked the spelling on the back of my dvd copy, because all I needed were the names.

I liked DAGON too, pretty good, and definately DAWN of the DEAD (1978), I still remember people around me screaming.

 

[Fried Egg]

I've just watched "Call of Cthulhu". I gave up waiting for it to be shown on tv, I just don't think they'll ever get around to it so I ordered it on DVD. It had to be imported but I must say that it was very good. I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to enjoy a silent film but it was really effective. Although I would say that it's one for the fans more than for general consumption.

 

[ravenus]

Yes, Call of Cthulhu was an awesome movie. I just love the recreation of the silent film era, it encourages the viewer to imagine even as he sees and thereby makes the depiction of you-know-who that much more effective.

 

[Alex Davis]

That's the only trouble with the Call of Cthulhu - it's so hard to get hold of! I watched it on the big screen at EasterCon back in 2005 and that was absolutely great.

 

[Magnus85]

Charming little movie. Saw it last night. I was hoping they'd refrain from revealing the boss himself too much. But it was good anyway.

 

[Foxbat]

That's the only trouble with the Call of Cthulhu - it's so hard to get hold of! I watched it on the big screen at EasterCon back in 2005 and that was absolutely great.

I also love this movie.

I can't remember where I got my copy but it shouldn't be too hard to track down a copy (it's available through amazon at a reasonable price).

 

[Foxbat]

This looks interesting
"YouTube - New "At the Mountains of Madness" Trailer"

 

[ravenus]

That looks like some fan-made trailer. Very judicious use of clippings, some of it is from the last bits of the Kenneth Branagh Frankenstein movie I think. The proposed Guillermo Del Toro film is said to be in pre-production and stars Tom Cruise as, I don't know, hopefully the guy that gets killed less than 10 minutes after they land at the Antarctic

 

[Foxbat]

Damn! You're right. just checked out the comments (which I normally never do) and it is fan made. Ah well, at least the 'fan' has obviously got a bit of skill. Somebody give that guy a job

 

[Moonbat]

I'm afriad that it looks like At the Mountains of Madness has failed to get the green light.

Guillermo Del Toro won't be climbing the Mountains of Madness | Film | guardian.co.uk

I guess it isn't completly dead, but isn't looking good.

 

[Starbeast]

That's the only trouble with the Call of Cthulhu - it's so hard to get hold of! I watched it on the big screen at EasterCon back in 2005 and that was absolutely great.

You can watch this film on Netfilix or Youtube. However, I would have really enjoyed to see it on the big screen like you did.