Cthulhu mythos in films

[GOLLUM]

Thanks for the correction.

I'm going to my specialist SFF shop later this week to see what HPL films they do have in stock actually. May list them and then get you good folk to tell me if any are worth checking out.

 

[j d worthington]

Be glad to help. The Cat's seen some I haven't seen, I believe, so she could give some excellent feedback there, as well.

 

[GOLLUM]

You two could prove to be real penny savers!

If I ever get over to Texas (which I plan to do BTW) and Malaysia, I'll have to shout you both a meal...

 

[j d worthington]

Uh, not Singapore... Malaysia....

 

[GOLLUM]

LOL! Sorry about that chief....

 

[j d worthington]

I see you corrected the post... so the claws are probably sheathed now.

 

[GOLLUM]

But not the pitching arm...

 

[j d worthington]

Got a good supply of rocks, too!...

 

[Crymic]

just got done watching a anime series called Demonbane.. It's based off Cthulhu mythos and alot of lovecrafts works. They even summon Cthulhu in it.

 

[white_wanderer]

Is it just me, or was The Thing along similar lines to mountains of madness?

 

[j d worthington]

Is it just me, or was The Thing along similar lines to mountains of madness?

I had attempted three times to post an answer to this earlier, and it didn't work... so perhaps this time will be the charm....

Ahem: No, it's not just you....

While I seriously doubt that the original story ("Who Goes There?", by John W. Campbell, Jr.) was any sort of tribute to HPL (whose style, I understand, he had grave problems with), there have been quite a few who have noted points of similarity... enough so that the tale was included in one of Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu/Mythos Cycle books: The Antarktos Cycle, along with several other pieces connected in one way or another to Lovecraft's.

As for the film versions... well, Carpenter's certainly has some Lovecraftian touches, such as the alien's appearance in the dog-pen being suspiciously like that of a shoggoth at one point, for instance.... And Andrew Migliore and John Strysik included both versions of the film in their guide to Lovecraftian cinema, The Lurker in the Lobby.....

 

[Ebonsword]

There is a Vincent Price movie called The Haunted Palace that is very Lovecraftian (Vincent Price's character is even named "Charles Dexter Ward"!).

In fact, I'd say that it's about the best Lovecraftian movie there is, being much more faithful to the atmosphere of Lovecraft's stories than overly gorey schlock like The Reanimator and Dagon.

 

[j d worthington]

Can't agree with you on that one. Though I do think the film has its moments, it always came across as in general quite flat and rather meandering; not well-thought-out on any level. That last would normally be surprising, considering Charles Beaumont, usually a fine writer on or off the screen, did the scripting... except that Beaumont never much cared for HPL's work to begin with, and undertook this one reluctantly; and I'd say it unfortunately shows.

For all their flaws (and yes, they certainly have their share) Re-animator and (especially) Dagon show a strong understanding of HPL's work and a desire to be faithful to the spirit without slavishly copying Lovecraft's text. There are plenty of elements I'm sure he would not have liked; but I see a good deal more genuine respect for the man's writing in these than in the majority of professional films "based" upon his work.