The Movies of H.P. Lovecraft - Day 1 and 2

Right. I suppose I'll start with some information - I'll be celebrating my birthday next week. You know, have some friends over, have some fun, go insane... That kind of thing. The theme of the birthday is LOVECRAFT, and I have some neat plans in store (which I can't tell you here, in case some of the guests are reading this... *looks around suspiciously*) Anyway, the search has now begun for a film to watch - yesterday I wrote up a list of movies that are inspired by/adapted from the awesome stories of H.P. Lovecraft. As you may know, good movies that do this are seriously hard to find, especially when I'm looking for the ones who deal with the Cthulhu-part of the mythos. So that's what I'll be doing till next Saturday - find a great movie that introduces people to the Cthulhu-mythos and is scary/fun/good. Join me!

WARNING! Minor spoilers WILL follow. I'll try not to spoil a whole lot of the movies (in this post, it's the last film you'll have to watch out for), but sometimes I have to.

Day 1

My search began with a 2007 film, aptly named "Cthulhu" (all the movie-titles will link to imdb.com)
The film started out fine, and, it being an indie, I didn't expect brilliant actors or fantastic special effects, but the actors did their job surprisingly well, working hard with the material they'd been given. Granted, there were a few cheesy characters and scenes, but hell, I didn't mind. The story seemed good, it had a lot of potential, and it was very well directed. The photographer also did a great job (the scene when the MC is climbing up a ladder and drops his camera comes to mind. Great little scene.).

As already mentioned, the film had me intrigued, the story had potential with intriguing things happening, and some things I saw as set-ups for the latter half of it, among other things.

 Then it jumped the shark. 

There were a few laughable scenes up to the halfway point, but wow. It was like someone flipped a switch, and every character and plot turned into a walking cliché, with tropes as obvious as highlighted neon signs.

As we grew closer to the end, the film started trying to explain the plot, which it failed miserably at - flashbacks, cop-outs... You say it, this film had it. Then, just at the end, when it started getting a tad interesting again... 

the film ended WITH A FREAKING CLIFFHANGER! And it wasn't this slight, small cliffhanger - it was the fate of the ENTIRE FREAKING WORLD on the line. Seriously.

I've since read some reviews of the film, who praised its ability not to explain things, but leave them up to the interpretation of the viewer. And hey, I'm all for that - Lovecraft rarely explain every little detail of things happening in his stories - but that's not an excuse for making a film that fails to answer any question you might have. Mysterious and (seemingly) important characters are introduced, then killed in their next scene, plots take up a lot of time and have nothing to do with anything, and then the film ends on a goddamn cliffhanger. No. Just... no.

And it had such a promising start... 

The second film of Day 1 was "Castle Freak", made by the famous adaptor of Lovecraft; Stuart Gordon. As I had never seen a Stuart Gordon film before, I was pretty excited, as a lot of internet-people say that this guy makes good movies, and is one of the best when it comes to adapting Lovecraft. And, just to get it out of the way - I was impressed.

The problem is that Castle Freak is NOT a Lovecraft-movie. Yes, it may be based off one of his short-stories, and yes, it's an above-average horror film, which is effectively creepy, a bit gory, packs a decent enough story and a bit of camp. The actors serve their roles, and everything is basically a-ok. But it's really not a Lovecraft-movie. It has none of his famous themes or creatures, and while it may be based off of something he wrote (I haven't read this particular short-story), it's surely not his best work, nor the one he's most satisfied with.

Castle Freak was a decent enough horror movie - just not what I was looking for right now. Still, if you'd like to see a cool horror flick, which there really are few of, this one is for you. It's never terrifying or very creepy, but it's far above the other dreck of the genre, like "Husk".

And we've reached...

Day 2!

The first two movies of the day were the Spanish film "La Herencia Valdemare" (translates to "The Valdemare Legacy") and its sequel, "La Herencia Valdemare II: La Sombre Prohibida" (translates to "The Valdemare Legacy II: The Forbidden Shadow"). Since the second movie is a direct continuation of the first one, making it one long move split in two parts (much like Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill"), I'm going to review it as one film. This is because the first movie basically sets up the second; without seeing the second film, you're not going to understand shit. (This is so obvious that it's painful - the first film even ends with a trailer for the second one, and a text saying "TO BE CONTINUED IN...").

The writers of these two movies have let themselves be inspired by Lovecraft and his legends, while putting their own spin on it, essentially presenting it as a "haunted house"-film (though after the first 30 minutes, it becomes apparent that this is not all that is going on).

I'm not going to say much about the plot, only that it is a great "little" film, with cool twists, neat sets, above-decent special effects and an engaging story that makes sense. (There is one detail/plot twist that I'm a little fuzzy on how worked, but I'm willing to let it go, as I didn't have that much of a problem with it there and then.) There are a few creepy scenes (though not many), and the film is much more of an occult fantasy set in the Victorian Times (there are quite a few flashbacks in this film) than a straight-up horror film. But really, genres aren't important - what is important, is that the film works. "La Herencia Valdemare" works, as a single film. It has a beginning, a middle and a satisfying end, it provides a crash-course in Lovecraftian themes, and it has a great deal of fun along the way. It's pretty obvious that this is a film made by people who admire and look up to Lovecraft, and they've made a good film showing exactly that.

As you've probably understood already, "La Herencia Valdemare" is the best Lovecraft-film focusing on the Cthulhu/Old Ones-mythos that I've seen yet. It's a highly interesting film, with great set-pieces and a wonderful story, and though it drags on for quite some time, (especially with the second half, which is slightly clichéd, but not terribly) I liked this film very much, and I'd like to see it again. Definitively worth a look.

Next movie up was once again made by Stuart Gordon - this time "Dagon". While this was a much better adaptation of Lovecraft and his central themes of Cthulhu and other Old Ones, it was even more campy, and I felt it lost a bit of its charm when it came to the "real" stuff that I'd been waiting for. Besides, the special effects were absolute shite, especially for the tentacled-monster in the well (the ones on the Mermaid-Girl and the town's other inhabitants were very well-done). There isn't often that I agree with George Lucas on the topic of "fixing up old movies", but some of the CGI in "Dagon" could sure use a facelift - it would've done wonders.

"Dagon", while not a bad movie, is not a good enough introduction into Lovecraft's weird and wonderful Old Ones-mythos - this one's more for those who knows a bit of what they're going to. Besides, if I had showed this to my friends, they're more likely to remember the creepy and weird fish-people than the actual Old Ones.

This means, of course, that the search is still on. Join me in a couple of days, when I've watched even more Lovecraft-films, continuing my search for a good introduction into his Cthulhu-mythos. And please leave a comment if you have a suggestions in the 'movies about the Old Ones'-genre, or if there's anything else you'd like to discuss. 

Till next time!