Lovecraft and Hollywood

[SporgyTheReader]

Last month, there was been talk of Hollywood making a grand cinematic universe based of off Lovecraft's stories, there have been many film adaptations of Lovecraft's stories but most of them are relatively small in production, with the original Reanimator trilogy and a handful being larger. Most big budget Lovecraftian film projects have been mostly mythos-inspired or adjacent and don't take place in the mythos, so this was big news for not only Hollywood but also the Lovecraft community.

Personally, I don't find the idea of a Hollywood Lovecraft movie to be very... optimal, since Lovecraft and cosmicism as a whole is a very niche side of fiction and the majority of general audiences can't even spell "Cthulhu". And from many of the media articles that covered this topic, they painted the mythos as if it was monster horror much like the widely successful monsterverse, which is a common misconception of the mythos and Lovecraft's bestiary. There is also the high chance that this whole project would fail as like stated before, general audiences aren't aware of Lovecraft's fiction and there is also a chance that Hollywood would misunderstand the entire concept of what makes Lovecraft's horror work and lose the audience that already loves Lovecraft's work of fiction. I believe this would work better as a indie animated anthology series so it would be like it was made by the community for the community.

What are your opinions on the matter?

 

[BAYLOR]

If done correctly, it has possibilities. Guillermo del Toro wanted to doe At The Mountains of Madness as a feature film . I think had this one happened it could have been the start of such Lovecraftain Cineverse of films.

 

[CupofJoe]

There is always a lot of talk about X or Y happening. Especially from the fan communities.
Years ago and on another site, I can remember dozens of completely false but wannabe rumours about a Belgariad series of films. Names of actors, directors and even shooting dates were mentioned with complete surety. The writers had been approached and had said a big fat no.
Until the controllers of HPL's estate or a studio start issuing press releases, all it is is talk.
And even then nothing may come of it.
A lot of projects get started and then stall. Neill Blomkamp's Alien follow-on/reboot is a recent example.
I could see a streaming service thinking about it, but weird horror would be a tight fit and the target audience might not be worth it for them.
Personally, I like the pictures in my head when I read HPL [especially At the Mountains of Madness]. I don't know that another's vision would suit me as well.

 

[BAYLOR]

In failing too get a live action adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness going Del Toro want to do animated adaptation

 

[thunderbyrd]

making a movie out of a lovecraft tale presents the film maker with a huge and serious problem: how do you show "the unimaginable"? and how do you show the audience something the slightest glimpse of will drive them mad?

it's not going to be a popular opinion, but i don't think there is one single movie made from a lovecraft story that i think even comes close to the effect one gets when reading lovecraft. (and i have seen them all, for real) possibly "the dunwich horror" succeeds a little, but not much.

ridley scott's alien and alex garland's annihilation are two movies with lovecraft-ish elements that are very successful in depicting something like the utter alienation of lovecraft's imaginings, but of course aren't based on any lovecraft story.

oh i forgot! there is one very successful movie, " The Call of Cthulu". that one actually worked, IMHO.

 

[BAYLOR]

making a movie out of a lovecraft tale presents the film maker with a huge and serious problem: how do you show "the unimaginable"? and how do you show the audience something the slightest glimpse of will drive them mad?

it's not going to be a popular opinion, but i don't think there is one single movie made from a lovecraft story that i think even comes close to the effect one gets when reading lovecraft. (and i have seen them all, for real) possibly "the dunwich horror" succeeds a little, but not much.

ridley scott's alien and alex garland's annihilation are two movies with lovecraft-ish elements that are very successful in depicting something like the utter alienation of lovecraft's imaginings, but of course aren't based on any lovecraft story.

oh i forgot! there is one very successful movie, " The Call of Cthulu". that one actually worked, IMHO.

Quatermass and the Pit That one fits into the Lovecraft category.

 

[thunderbyrd]

Quatermass and the Pit That one fists into the Lovecraft category

yes, i agree to some degree it does! here is a thought about that: (bear with me, it's been years since i saw it) there is a scene where some people are watching a film of the aliens and someone comments something like "leaping and leaping and leaping! they just keep leaping!" signifying that it's horrifying to see. that strikes me as very lovecraft-ish. i mean, the "monsters" were just basically giant grasshoppers, but to the characters in the film, they were very disturbing in maybe irrational ways. very HP, IMO.

 

[thunderbyrd]

and i suppose we should include all the various versions of "the Thing".

 

[BAYLOR]

yes, i agree to some degree it does! here is a thought about that: (bear with me, it's been years since i saw it) there is a scene where some people are watching a film of the aliens and someone comments something like "leaping and leaping and leaping! they just keep leaping!" signifying that it's horrifying to see. that strikes me as very lovecraft-ish. i mean, the "monsters" were just basically giant grasshoppers, but to the characters in the film, they were very disturbing in maybe irrational ways. very HP, IMO.

In the movie the was workman who had been hired to drill a whole in the bulkhead of the Marian Craft, , He went back to get his tools,, he war in side the Martian shop as we was working , the light went out,eries noises started, . he's floating around along with his tool in side the capsule and the gotossesed by the ship and he ceases, he walking and gesturing funny because he's experiencing the memory of Martian who is trying to escape the cleaning of the Hive, Quatermass and company found him in the Priest house t and he started who jump leaping up into the sky shouting madness.

I have not doubt that writer Nigel Kneale had probably at some point read some Lovecraft and got some inspiration for Quatermass. from that.

 

[BAYLOR]

and i suppose we should include all the various versions of "the Thing".

That entity had shades of Nyarlathotep, the ever shifting Crawling Chaos.