Favorite Hp lovecraft themed movie

[kiskadee]

Any one has a favorite movie that is based on one of Lovecraft's stories or has a similar theme.

 

[Wolf873]

In The Mouth of Madness. Very similar to Lovecraft's works. Also, the The Thing. Dagon is another decent one.

 

[J-WO]

There's an argument to be made, IMHO, that Ghostbusters counts. If so, I'd probably go for that.

Otherwise, Dagon, for its relative loyalty to its source and refusal to be outright camp.

 

[Ningauble]

Out of Mind, starring Christopher Heyerdahl as Lovecraft. And the Call of Cthulhu silent movie, of course.

 

[j d worthington]

Out of Mind, starring Christopher Heyerdahl as Lovecraft. And the Call of Cthulhu silent movie, of course.

I was wondering if someone was going to mention either of those. Yes, Out of Mind, despite the limited budget, is one of the best Lovecraftian pieces ever put on film, because it captures so well so much of the essence of Lovecraft. It is also just a lovely tribute to the man and his work, and the power of dream. The silent film also manages to transcend the ridiculously tight budget to achieve a surprising degree of art... and I can't tell you how pleased I was, first time I saw it, that they managed to capture even several of the tiny details so well -- e.g.: "Parker slipped as the other three were plunging frenziedly over endless vistas of green-crusted rock to the boat, and Johansen swears he was swallowed up by an angle of masonry which shouldn't have been there; an angle which was acute, but behaved as if it were obtuse". Now, that would seem to be an extremely minor point, but it is things like this which add to the disturbing effect of Lovecraft, as they truly bring home the utter alienness of, in this instance, the geometry of R'lyeh, and how that very factor distorts not only all our preconceptions, but all our experience, of how perspective interacts with the nature of reality.

I am also, by the way, quite fond of Dagon; my affection and respect for that one grows with each viewing....

 

[Alex Davis]

I thought Dagon was a pretty good adaptation - the town in which it's set is fantastically creepy. I still have a certain soft spot for the Re-Animator movies, Jeffrey Combs is great in those, even though they are totally over the top.

There's also the HP Lovecraft Society short film of the Call of Cthulhu, which is well worth checking out. I was going to link to it, but for some reason the HPLS website seems to be down...

 

[nigourath]

Well,there are quite a few more ,still not mentioned here.Concerning Dagon (2001), i liked its ending , while the rest of the movie,i can"t say it was breathtaking.There should be first of all,a very important distinction ,between movies ,that are Lovecraftian adaptations from his works,movies with lovecraftian influences,like "in the mouth of madness" and finally movies,with lovecraftian elements ,included in them like for examble "the evil dead",by Sam Raimi.
The most faithfull adaptation ,and probably the best movie of all,is one not mentioned here:"The Ressurected",by Dan 0'Bannon(1992),based firmly on the "Case of Charles Dexter Ward".It has an excellent acting performance by Chris Sarandon, and it is a must see...
Also ,based on the same story ,but with many ...Edgar alan Poe elements, is the "Haunted Palace", by Roger Corman(1963),whith Vincent Price at the leading role,and it is an interesting movie-unlike ,the other movie by Roger Corman in 1970,"the Dunwich horror"(pretty poor in my opinion).Also,the "Haunted Palace" is also recorded as the first ever movie ,dealing with a lovecraftian theme ,after Hpl"s death.
One of the best is also,the first Reanimator ,by Stuart Gordon,and capturing a great deal of the atmosphere.
Another movie ,probably the most recent one and worthy to watch is "Cthulhu" (2007),that borrows from "Shadow over Innsmouth",although the acting ,could be a lot more improved.Also, a necessary addition to the list is "Necronomicon" of 1993,that is comprised by 3 horror stories ,involving the book Necronomicon,and stars Jeffrey Combs as HPL himself(i expected more of that movie,to be sincere).
Also all of the "Evil dead" movies are based on the power of the book Necronomicon ,and they star Bruce Campbell....the last two are more into a sort of parody though-horror mixed with comedy elements.....Without the horror element ,you could pseudo-count Ghostbusters,but with a great deal of fantasy....

 

[Ry-El]

So many to name.

Call of Cthulhu
Dagon
In the Mouth of Madness
The Thing
Re-Animator
Cthulhu
All the HP Lovecraft Collection DVDs

Lots more.

 

[Nesacat]

The top of the list would have the be the black & white, very grainy Call of Cthulhu. I love this movie and no matter how many times I've watched it, the movie captivates. it has somehow managed to capture the story.

I also rather liked In The Mouth of Madness and have watched it several time since I first saw it many, many years ago.

For some reason The Saragossa Manuscript always reminds me of Lovecraft but there is no horror per se there. Just a story within a story, within a story, etc. It feels like something Lovecraft might have done.

And finally there's Dagon. I have to say that I did not care for it when I saw it first and it was only on Mr Worthington's prompting that I watched it again. I'm glad I did because it's been growing on me with each viewing. This is probably a signal to stay very far from the shore.