Films based on HP Lovecraft
 

Been bitten by the Lovecraft bug. Written up a long wishlist from the arkham bazaar. (Can you believe they have CDs, too?)

Having only seen In the Mouth of Madness (John Carpenter) and Dunwich Horror (Daniel Haller), I'd be very interested to hear what other films based on HP Lovecraft you've seen, how faithful they are to the source material, and what you think of the film.

I heard Die Monster Die is based on The Colour Out of Space, but I haven't seen it so I can't say for sure on any of it.

Dagon (2001)!
I thought it was pretty damned good- and Return loves it.
It really expands upon the already quite good tale by Mr. Lovecraft...my only problem with it was that it lost some of its mysterium. Not much, though.
Very creepy, very weird.

I agree completely with Alky there. Dagon was a great movie.

Ugh... I dont.. I thought Dagon was wretched... It is a bastardised rewrite of Shadow over Innsmouth (not dagon, it is nothing like dagon....)


Stuart Gordon has a lot of moxie, but i think his movies do more to hurt rather than help future lovecraft projects.

Can't go wrong with Re-Animator or From Beyond. I enjoyed the Masters of Horror episode Dreams in the Witch-House aswell.

I really enjoyed Dagon, though it is not even close to being as creepy as the story Shadow over Innsmouth. But I think it is a fun movie and definitely worth the watch.
And Re-Animator is a must, really.

Just whatever you do, avoid, avoid, AVOID Beyond the Wall of Sleep unless you just can't help yourself...:p

There is actually a Call of Cthulhu movie out there, it's not well-known.

Made a couple years back and shot in black and white...with the feel of a 1920s movie. It is brilliantly shot and directed, with a lot of old-school techniques driving it instead of any modern cgi. Lovecraft would actually be proud of the way this one panned out to be.

And it looks great on DVD.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/...AL._SS500_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Call-Cthulhu-C...7059804&sr=8-1

The Resurrected (1992). Has Chris Sarandon in it. It is based on Charles Dexter Ward. They updated the story a bit but for the most part it stays faithful to the original in plot and tone. The Resurrected is my favourite Lovecraft movie, I loved the effects as well. I only have it on VHS:mad: , I need to get it on DVD.

Most of my usual recommendations have been mentioned (Dagon!), but I just want to chime in about STE's post.

I'm in the opposite boat: I've never read The Colour Out of Space, but I've seen the movie, Die Monster Die. I cant say if it has anything to do with the original story, but I'll be damned if it isnt one of the most fun movies I've seen in ages. HIGHLY recommend checking it out, especially if you liked Dunwich Horror.

Oh and for the record: I was really disappointed with that Call of Cthulhu movie. The concept is really cool and some of the stuff near the end is spot-on (R'leh was great), but overall it's even more tedious than the original story. I didn't dislike it per se, but even at a scant 47 minutes, it failed to hold my attention.

As everybody has already mentioned, Re-Animator is GREAT but be warned that it doesn't follow the source material as closely as a lot of other stories. I for one kind of liked the Masters of Horror offering from Stuart Gordon (I love Gordon's stuff) Dreams in the Witch-House and thought it stood well alongside the story. Don't forget to check out the upcoming From Beyond stop motion movie, it looks VERY good and there's a trailer here...

http://www.frombeyondmoviepage.blogspot.com/

The Unnamable and Lurking Fear are some which are so bad theyre good to watch.

the shuttered room was ok


and look here
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0325913/








:cool:

Everyone, thanks for the replies.

I think Dunwich Horror is a good film overall. Dean Stockwell was especially brilliant. Another underrated actor. His performance of the rituals was intense and powerful, very realistic. Scenes with Sandra Dee were especially sensual and charming, often edged with helpless humor.

Die Monster Die (1965 Daniel Haller)
Boris Karloff is always a pleasure to watch, whatever role he plays. If Dunwich Horror is any indication, I'm looking forward to this as well.

Re-Animator (1985 Stuart Gordon)
Saw this as a child of 7 or 8 years old. My parents never did mind their kids watching the likes of this, Gates of Hell, etc. The funny thing is that I don't remember ever being afraid or disgusted. But it's probably no surprise; kids are more resilient than grown ups give them credit for. This was very loosely based on the source material, but isn't most of Stuart's Lovecraft films?

From Beyond (1986 Stuart Gordon)
I was pretty much in tears, laughing my way through this one. Sure would watch it again. I don't remember ever reading about women in Lovecraft's stories. Nor love nor BDSM. What's the difference?

Dagon (2001 Stuart Gordon)
Having only seen the bloody promo pictures on the DVD cover of this one, it's pretty much another Stuart Gordon Lovecraft "adaptation," but still worth a look anyway.

I think Vodstok has a point. Gordon's films on Lovecraft stories have never taken the source material seriously. He's merely taken the simplest form of its idea and run with it. On a sidenote, I think his best EVER work was his season 2 episode in Masters of Horror: the Black Cat. Though it might have effectively been to the credit of Jeffrey Combs. Yet another underrated actor. But it's comforting to find him staying on the B-side of the film industry.

MoH S1: Dreams in the Witch House (2006 Stuart Gordon)
There were some truly chilling scenes. Reminds me very vividly of a rat coming out of a woman's mouth in some forgotten cheap flick. Free association is a darned thing.

Thanks for the link novakru. I actually know this site but haven't explored its pages, other than the stories online. Now that my husband and I started buying the Arkham editions, it's the next page on my target list. In case you haven't been there, http://www.yankeeclassic.com/miskato...thefilms02.htm is another site listing Lovecraft films.

Beyond the Wall of Sleep (2006 Barrett J. Leigh & Thom Maurer)
I just can't help myself, jenna26! It's often part of a film's allure when you read the reasons why most people trash a film in the forums: not for mainstream. Say no more.

Call of Cthulhu (2005 Andrew Leman)
This sounds really promising not just because of its style, but because it's been made (I read) by people who are passionate about Lovecraft and understand the spirit in his works. This is the next film on my list.

What did you find tedious about the story, The_Return?

the Resurrected (1992 Dan O'Bannon)
Chris Sarandon? I don't follow, Demonique. His funny Return of the Living Dead was the one film of his that I'd watch. Didn't get a good impression of him from the Alien extras, but I may have to bump the number of films up to two. Haunted Palace was an interesting loose adaptation of Charles Dexter Ward.

From Beyond (2006 Michael Granberry)
I like stop-motion animation films, but have a very short list: Alice, Corpse Bride and Nightmare Before Christmas. If anybody knows any similar theme animations I'd like to know about those, too.

the Unnamable (1988 Jean-Paul Ouellette)
the Unnamable Returns (1993 Jean-Paul Ouellette)
Lurking Fear (1994 C. Courtney Joyner)

The poster looks bad already. The demon looks like he belongs exclusively to the Buffy series. Uhm, I'll pass on these!

the Shuttered Room (1967 David Greene)
Why does this plot remind me of Unnamable?

Nyarlathotep (2001 Christian Matzke)
Have yet no idea of the story, but from the reviews read so far, it's very promising.

Wonderful to have things to look forward to!

Additional question...
Do you prefer to have read the story before seeing the film? Or the other way round?

I prefer the former. It seems I have yet a very long list of Lovecraft stories to read, when the leaves start to fall and the fireplace begins to warm up.

Tea?

Watched Beyond the Wall of Sleep last night. Didn't finish it. It's doubtful there was anything to miss out on at the end. It was utter rubbish!

To say that people won't like this film because it's arthouse? A mere excuse. By taking only the basic premise in Lovecraft's story, they totally missed his point.

Okay, I was warned. :rolleyes:

Up next is Call of Cthulhu which promises to be a vast improvement. Would have watched it after the Wall of Sleep, but after a time lying under the sky watching for shooting stars in the smoke of tea leaves and then reading the Temple in bed, just got too tired.

More films based on Lovecraft...

I hear Guillermo del Toro's been trying to get a personal project At the Mountains of Madness green-lighted for production. If this actually gets made, this is gonna be the first ever big budget Lovecraft film ever made. (Or so I think.) Though having only seen his Mimic and not being all that impressed by it, I did try to get an idea of his sensibility. He seems to be a real Lovecraft fan. This should be very promising, indeed.

Has anyone seen any of Lurker Films' H.P. Lovecraft Collections?
Volume 1 - Cool Air
Volume 2 - Rough Magik
Volume 3 - Out of Mind
Volume 4 - Pickman's Model

Still waiting for the first volume in the mail.

I read about those. They sound cool.

Dont judge him on mimic, it is a poor representationof his skills.

I have seen his movie sin this order:

Mimic
Blade 2
HellBoy
The Devil's Backbone
Pan's Labyrinth


He gets consistently better with each movie, and starting with Hellboy they are pure gold in my book. If he makes a Lovecraft movie, it will be made with love, passion, and true talent.

I prefer seeing the film before reading the book.... I'm usually disappointed otherwise.

I tried to tell you, I swear, everyone would be so much better off if they would listen to me.......:p Its awful. And believe me, it didn't get better. A complete mess.

I typically read the book or story first. That disappointment can be there, for sure, but I think I am usually pretty good about separating the two. Movies are a lot different from books, and they have to take a different approach for them to work. And I don't mind a whole lot if a filmmaker makes the story his own. I would rather judge the movie on its merits as a film, rather than as an adaptation of a story I love. Of course, I have exceptions to this.....Stephen King's The Shining for instance, a fine movie, but I have my problems with the direction Kubrick took.
I'm actually fairly new to Lovecraft though, so I have seen several movie adaptions of, or movies loosely based upon stories I haven't gotten to yet.

wasn't pee wee's big adventure based on lovecraft?

Thanks, Vodstok. I'll pass on Blade and Hellboy (for some reason I dislike the idea behind them), but will be sure to watch the last two.

---

You both have a good point. Knowing that a film came to be, ideally because of a book or story, I'd naturally be inclined to read what it's about before seeing the film. It creates a context for it. And while chances are high that one gets disappointed with the adaptation, there is always the rare surprise of finding that eventhough it may not be wholly faithful to the material, it has a unique quality from its maker's vision, expression or interpretation that does justice to the book or story. In my opinion, Dunwich Horror, In the Mouth of Madness and Stuart Gordon's the Black Cat are such examples. On the flipside, I've never seen a film that compelled me to read the book or story.

I'm fairly new to Lovecraft, too, jenna26 and so few adaptation films seen! :)

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Ehrm. There doesn't seem to be anything even remotely Lovecraftian about this tale.

You mean you never saw the copy of the Necronomicon in Pee Wee's library?

Holy shit.

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/6...fpeeweeoa0.jpg

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/6...ortraitru2.jpg

You see what we're saying?

It could have been placed there by an enemy. :rolleyes:

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Now now, let's not be vulgar. :cool:

Finally saw Call of Cthulhu yesterday.

Having seen so few silent films, it took me a moment to get used to the obvious lack of audible dialogue. That aside, the film is just lovely. A labour of love, and you can see and feel the great care with which they made this adaptation from the set pieces and props, lighting, makeup and costumes down to its actors. While in the beginning, it did seem tedious to me (most likely due to my initial awkwardness with the film's style), the pace picked up steadily until its exciting climax.

Here here, _____V_____: Lovecraft would be pleased.

Side note. This film being something of a direct visualization of the story, I couldn't help feeling that it was superfluous at first, since we all do that in our heads. After seeing the film, it's actually interesting to see how similar and different someone else's visualization is.

Up next... Lovecraft DVD Collection - Volume 1: Cool Air

H.P. Lovecraft Collection Volume 1: Cool Air

I've always had a thing for black and white films. The way the absence of colour temporarily dislodges one's routine way of watching films and makes one focus on the sound, motion and characters throughout the story. The soundtrack and effects blended very nicely to the scenes. Only at the beginning of the film was I distracted by some uneven cutting, which smoothed out as the story progressed. Randolph Carter wasn't quite the personality I expected. Dr. Muñoz was the light at the end of this film's tunnel. The actor is sensitive and open, with the sensibilities that Lovecraft would've appreciated. All this comes out in his character which was absolutely brilliant. On the down-side, the human tragedy demonstrated with the romance angle being the only passion (and subsequently the human tragedy) in Dr. Muñoz's life, to me was simply anti-Lovecraft. All that aside, this was an enjoyable adaptation.

Short Films Included:

Nyarlathotep - effectively surreal and apocalyptic, better than average adaptation, the first "Lovecraft" main character I've seen.

Imperfect Solution - at first I could not help feeling annoyed at this one. Kept comparing this Herbert West to Jeffrey Combs' and just found this one to be absolutely absurd. Somebody hit me. If it was truly intended this way, bravo. As later pointed out to me by a benevolent soul, this adaptation was faithful to the material and perfectly duplicated the spirit in which the story was written. Another lesson to learn.

the Hound - some chilling moments, the erratic narration is quite effective. Decent special effects, very imaginative lighting and cinematography. A faithful adaptation with big heart.

the Hapless Antiquarian - a filler in jest. I don't get why this is here at all.

Haha...How is it that you and I are almost always at opposite ends about movies?

It's true that Stuart Gordon takes quite a bit of liberty with Lovecraft's stuff...But, I absolutely LOVE what he does, and the addition of Jeffrey Combs makes it even better...Stuart Gordon has never let me down...It took me forever to find From Beyond to purchase, but I was so happy when I finally got it...I have all of the others, as well, and they are some of my favorites in this vast collection

In The Mouth Of Madness is awesome, too...Kudos to Carpenter on that one

I recommend ALL of the Lovecraft projects that Stuart Gordon has undertaken...As well as everything else that Stuart Gordon has done (Yes, even Dolls ;))

The Wicker Man is pretty Lovecraftian, too. Just without the monsters.

You are an evil, evil woman. Take that how you want too :) (I assume you are flattered)



Go watch some Spawn :p

:D...I love you, Vod....And ya know, it might actually be just about time to watch Spawn again

That's a relief. Just saw Mimic and didn't find anything extraordinary about it, besides the two kids getting killed.

I'm looking forward to Pan's Labyrinth.

Pan's Labyrinth is sooo good.

On the note of Lovecraft though, I watched Dreams in Witch House last night. It was alright, nothing special but I wasn't expecting much.

The Lovecraft film adaptation thread..
 

Lovecraft is a difficult author to translate to celluloid - when he describes his great ones/outer gods etc as undescribable and then showing them kinda defeats the purpose but from the amount of pretty poor adaptations my faves are:

With out doubt the best is The Call of Cthulhu (the recent Silent film) is by far the best adaptation of his work ever. Very close to the story in both plot and mood. An amazing piece of work..The HPLS have made some other good filsm too, there's a good From Beyond but unfortunally most of them despite being true to spirit fial in the budget department.

Stuart Gordon's Dargon is a pretty decent adaptation of The Shadow over Innsmouth (despite the title) - pity Combs wasn't in the lead though. Gordon also did a decent job of Dreams in the Witch-House in the 1st series of Masters of Horror. The Crimson Cult was another poor though all star cast version of Witch House too..

As much as i love Re-Animator i bet it would have Lovecraft spinning in his grave - there were woman and Boobs in it ofr godsake...

Despite everything I kinda like the 70's version of THE DUNWICH HORROR with Dean Stockwell...The more recent one with him was a chaotic mess...

The Haunted Palace is another fave of mine starring the always fantastic Vincient Price - it's a version of The case of Charles Dexter Ward with a title change so it would fit in with the rest of the other AIP Poe films. The Resurrected is another (closer) version of the same story..

I happen to love H.P. Lovecraft's works (I've read everything) and I doubt anything will ever match the brilliance of his stories, but I thought Dagon, The Resurrected, Re-Animator were very enjoyable fims...

I however was completely bummed by the silent-film adaption of Call of Cthulhu. It was boring and ugly...

I'm sure there's more Lovecractian films floating around... I'll dig up some more titles.

Here's a good link:
http://supernatural-films.suite101.c...d_hp_lovecraft

Die, Monster, Die! is a favourite of mine...super loose adaption of Colour Out of Space. Not very faithful to ol' HPL but still a damn cool 60's horror flick.

Love Dagon too. Shame about the deceptive title, but it does manage to stay surprisingly close to Shadow Over Innsmouth. Still, I'd love to see someone take on the actual Dagon short story - really think someone like David Lynch could do some great stuff with it.

I'm gonna agree with Piz on Call of Cthulhu though...even though it was pretty faithful, that doesn't make it well done.

Guillermo Del Toro has been trying to adapt At the Mountains of Madness for ages now, but it keeps getting pushed back. Hope he gets around to it, because he's the absolute ideal choice for Lovecraft. Can't wait to see what he does with it.

Yeh but its fun to talk about things from scratch.

...not to mention everytime I dig up an old thread everyone has a spazz out :p