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Miniatures Adventure => Call of Cthulhu => Topic started by: gauntman on February 26, 2008, 05:08:08 PM
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I'm a big fan or Lovecraftian style genre movies and have quite a movie collection.
Thought I'd list a few related movie titles for those who like these types of flicks. I've only includded movies and shorts I have on DVD.
Beyond Reanimator
Call of Cthulhu (Silent, very good adaptation)
The Curse (Will Wheaton) adaptation of Color Out of Space
Dagon
The Dark (neat movie with hottie and Sean Beal)
Darkness (very cool movie highly recommended)
Die Monster Die (Borus Karloff, for Die hard fans only)
Dunwich Horror (neat adaptation with Hippies, for true fans)
From Beyond (great B-movie classic)
Halfway House (softcore, sex murder and Cthulhu)
Hellboy (weird ww2)
Hemoglobin (Rutger Hauher, and inbred cannibal monsters)
In the Mouth of Madness (I love Sam Neill & Charton Heston too
Phantoms (horror destroys town with Peter Otool, Ben Afflick)
Night Gallery Season 2:
(Cool Air, Pickman's Model, & Professor Peabody's Last Lecture)
Necronomicon (2 out of 3 decent short flicks isn't bad)
Dreams of the Witch House (decent short Master of Horror)
Reanimator (Jeffery Combs great)
The Ressurrected (Chris Sarandon, one of the best Lovecraft flicks)
She Creature (period film mermaid movie with a cthulhu genre feel)
The Thing (Carpenters classic)
They (Horrors in the dark)
X the Unknown (black and white horror from deep within the earth)
Rawhead Rex (added for it's theme and feel only, ancient evil released)
This is the extent of my present collection...
I am presently in negotiations for 2 more rare Lovecraft movies.
Dark Intruder
and The Shuttered Room
Are there others out there worth viewing/finding I'm leaving out....???
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I'm sure I saw a film, possibly made for TV, based on Stephen Kings's Crouch End. It was a short story from the New Tales Of The Cthulhu Mythos collection.
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Think the story was one of the Nightmares & Dreamscapes series, called Crouch End funnily enough
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There is a great resource book out there called: Lurker In The Lobby. A Guide To The Cinema Of H.P.Lovecraft. Inside you will find a crazy ammount of movies/t.v/shorts and other weirdness relating to (...in some way...) Lovecraft and the original source material.
You got most of the good ones...Dunwich Horror and Re-Animator being among the best. (IMHO) How is The Curse? I've never seen it and can't quite make myself buy it...Wil Weaton and all that...
Here are some more...in no order:
The Haunted Palace, Marebito, Uzumaki, Cast A Deadly Spell (pure crap), Castle Freak, The Darkness Beyond...and one of my all time greatest movies ever Quatermass And The Pit.
Actually all of the Quatermass stuff is pretty good...Fungus from space, creepy bug-people...
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What about Lair of the White Worm
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Mike your right, I missed a few
As a matter of fact, I missed my favorite obscure Lovecraft type flick "Curse of the Demon" If you like these films, I PROMISE you will love this one. It's a black and white based on a story by the master horror writer M. R. James. It is one of those obscure classics that evryone is shocked after they see it that they haven't heard of it before. The entire flick builds up to a single moment, the creature effects where the monster is finally revealed are dated but the movie and acting are pretty wonderful. It's worth owning.
Actually Slither should be classified as a Cthulhu flick too. It's very much like Glaaki.
Also just got a rare transfer of "The Thing that Couldn't Die". Plot is fun and simple, warlock is decapitated by witch hunters they bury his head (which is still alive) and his body separately in a chest and coffin to hopefully trap him forever. That is until the chest containing his head is dug up. Warlock wants his body back and uses his mind control powers to ensure the locals help him.
Quartermass in the Pit is pretty decent...though the ending takes away from the build
The Curseis the best version of the Color Out of Space...this was another tough one to come by...had to get a dvd transfer.
The Haunted Palace, Marebito, Uzumaki I love the old mushroom men movie... Uzumaki is plain visually disturbing for some reason...
And good ole Vincent Price is nice in haunted Palace....
Lair of the White Worm is one of the best ole vampire flicks around...with a great old one feel.
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Thanx for the tip Gauntman. I'll try to find a copy (...order a copy...) of Curse Of The Demon later today.
Checking your list I noticed you included the Night Gallery version of Cool Air...I find the newer Bryan Moore's Cool Air to be a much better re-working of that classic tale. Also, Jack Donner as Dr. Munoz is wonderful! Reminds me of the old Eerie comic version drawn by Wrightson...just not as much stringy saliva!
Speaking of comix you should check out Necronaughts (sp?), Lovecraft, Houdini and Howard save the world form eldritch doom...not a bad story, goes a little 'cosmic horror' at the end. Still, the art is a joy.
And I would be remiss if I failed to mention Lovecraft. Quite possibly the finest comic adaptation of Lovecrafts life...mythosed out of course. If I recall corectly it was a failed screenplay...just too weird for the movie-going public...still, get the graphic novel fromVertigo...and love it!
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I'd like to see that version of "Cool Air".
I can recommend a couple good modern Lovecraft type books too.
"Wetbones" by John Shirley
"Song of Kali" by Dan Simmons
These are both very well written stories but are both quite graphic.
I read a lot of books by Ed Lee. He writes graphic gothic horror.
"Messenger"
"Slither"
"Flesh Gothic"
I have a bad habit of getting off topic... I'll stop now...
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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0643104/
Dreams in the Witch House is a very good 'film' adaptation.
Especially the little human faced mouse guy...Brown Jenkin
It is only about 1 hour long, but if you are a Netflix subscriber, you can watch it right from the website.
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I watched "Curse of the Demon" (AKA Night of the Demon) again last night. I think this must be one of the better black and white horror movies. Definately a great movie for lovecraft lovers.
The major villian in the movie is based on the real life character of Alester Crowley (spelled wrong)
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Aleister_Crowley_4.png)
It's even better the second time you watch it, because of all the hidden things you miss the first time you watch it.
Be mindful if you rent it through Netflix or Blockbuster, Curse of the Demon and Night of the Demon are different edited versions. I do beleive Curse of the Demon is the better version to watch.
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Just finished watching "Beyond the Wall of Sleep". Good storytelling but bad acting.
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How about "Gothic", a little before Lovecraft but in the same vein.
Also, "The Fog" and that other Carpenter movie..."Prince Of Darkness"? I think it was called. (Again, not really Lovecraftian but kinda the same if you squint and don't listen too close.) Don't really recall "P.O.D." but I think in the end that the devil was math...or somthing :?:
...
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Prince of Darkness is a definate Lovecraft flick. Good call Mike.
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Doesn't Conan have strong links with the Mythos? Could the 3 Conan movies be included as well? :?:
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3 Conan Movies...I thought there were just two?
anyway..
I don't know..I always considered Conan fantasy....
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3 Conan Movies...I thought there were just two?
anyway..
I don't know..I always considered Conan fantasy....
I'm including Red Sonia where they changed Conan's name to Lord Calidor or some such for copyright reasons. Fantasy yes, but Mythos to I always thought. :wink:
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In my opinion, very little of the Cthulhuesque aspects of REH's stories made it into the Conan movies (or that abominable Kull movie with Kevin Sorbo in it). There was a scene in Red Sonja where the priestesses were thrown into some pit (the inside of which was never shown) and lots of screaming followed as if they were coming under attack by something monstrous. That seemed sort of Lovecraftian to me, but it wasn't much.
Maybe the upcoming animated Conan movie, Red Nails, will have a stronger Lovecraftian feel. I haven't read the original story yet.
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What about Ghostbusters? Evil arcitecture, dog monsters, pagan sceremonies, Doomsday cult...lots of ghosts...it's a stretch but come on! Gotta love the Ghostbusters. :roll:
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...The Deadly Spawn!...Haven't seen it in a long while but I seem to recall a metior crash, some wormy alien monsters and a frightened small town....again, kinda Lovecraftian...
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Deadly Spawn - wow. Only a horror buff would even try to find and watch that one.
I feel a real kinship with ya for mentioning that one.
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...speaking of kinship how about...The Kindred...experimental 'son', tentacles...don't remember much else about it thou...
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I've been looking for Kindred on dvd for ages without success, is it available under another name?
Deadly Spawn is a great movie considering it's made by fans. It was filmed in the Hildebrandts' house (the brothers that did the art for the original Star wars poster)
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Also, Slithis and Humanoids From The Deep are both good/crap movies about deep ones. Gotta love the whole humanoid rape scene...bizare f'd up stuff! Not to be viewed with your Grandmother! ...Man! I wanna watch some more old shlock!
The Shoporama is closed for the evening but I may just try to order a copy of The Kindred tomorrow...I remember it being the bees knees when I was a wee wretch.
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Check out The Mist, it's actually a good flick and the monsters are Cthulhu-esq. Very psychological and could be a template for such reactions when up against the Old Ones. Great ideas for campaign games too.
Check it out,
Brian
http://www.sidereel.com/The_Mist
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Never heard of it...looks O.K. Stephen King movies are always worth a rent. (I'm sure my wife disagrees...)
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Stephen King movies are always worth a rent.
If only because it means you get the same amount of actual plot in a 90 minute movie as you do in one of his books without having to plough through hundreds of pages of extraneous detail and fatuous backstory.
Some of the ones I've seen have been hillariously badly acted too.
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I just got a transfer copy of "Humanoids from the Deep" (1980) version. It is a great classic B-movie. I love the whole Deep One feel to it. Even though they explain the issue as a genetic mutation.
I've been looking for a transfer on the "Kindred" too. I found one but haven't been willing to shell out the dollars for it yet. I love collecting old made for TV movies and rare Horror Flicks.
Been waiting for the "Mist" and "Ruins" to hit DVD too.
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The figure in my picture icon isn't holding an accursed tome.....it's a rare horror dvd.
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Tried to order The Kindred and was informed that it has been discontinued... :cry: Guess I'll have to try and find an old Betamax copy and steal my dads old machine... :freak:
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"Steven King movies always deliver what you expect, and somtimes even end up being quite good.", is what I should have said...I don't want anyone else to quote me saying, "Stephen King movies are always worth a rent." It makes me sound like an idiot.
And although I may infact be an idiot I'd like to keep it under wraps for the time being... :D
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:lol:
I knew what you meant Uncle Mike, just agreeing with you in a rather too pointed way.
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I'm so thrilled I just got:
Shuttered Room inheriting a old house in Arkham!!! with Oliver Reed.
Boogens monsters freed from the earth
The Maze
The Asphyx about capturing death
Rod Serlings Lost Classics great period espisode with James Earl Jones and Jack Palance about reanimating the dead of an island community[/b]
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The only one of those I've seen is the Boogens...bad movie! The Shuttered Room sounds quite good thou...let me know how it is.
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I remember seeing the Boogens when I was a kid and it scared the Hell outta me. That's some old school fun there.
Brian
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Don't ruin Boogens for me yet. Haven't gotten the time to see it.
I'm presently working my way through all 3 Seasons of the Night Gallery.
The plot of Boogens sounds a little like that Masters of Horror Episode "The Damned Thing."
I love old horror movies two of my favorite gems are "Dark Night of the Scarecrow" & " Don't be Afraid of the Dark. There was a time made for TV movies were just as scary (if not more) than what was on at the movies. I still have childhood memories of seeing those 2 movies when I was young -too young in fact.
Someone sent me the entire first Season of "Friday the 13th the series" yesterday. "Werewolf" the series with Chuck Conner is my next shipment.
I get a neat feeling of nostalgia wathching all this old stuff. My oldest son loves watching horror movies with me. I wonder what kind of damage I'm causing his young mind. Anyway, I watched them with my dad too when I was little - I turned out ok, right? :freak:
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Whoa whoa whoa!!!! Where did you get the Friday the 13th series from??? I didn't think it was out on dvd! :o
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I traded for it.
You would be surprised what dvd collectors out there have. The hard part is finding the people who have with what you want.
I love trading obscure movies and tv shows with people.
It's on 7 DVDs like 29 episodes. I only have Season 1. It'll take forever to get around to watching it.
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I just got a transfer copy of "Humanoids from the Deep" (1980) version. It is a great classic B-movie. I love the whole Deep One feel to it. Even though they explain the issue as a genetic mutation.
You don't need a transfer copy, it's available to buy.
http://800-buy-movies.com/generalDVD/116964D1_Humanoids_From_The_Deep_dvd.htm
for example...
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You don't need a transfer copy, it's available to buy.
_______________________________________________________________________
"Traders (much like beggars) can't be choosers...."
http://www.sell.com/search/index.x?_d=1&posted=mini&show=mini&search=friday+the+13th
Here's a link for Friday the 13th complete series on www.sell.com
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Friday the 13th was one of my favorite TV shows as a teenager. I remember Saturday nights watching War of the World TV show then it was Friday the 13th the Series and then Elvira Mistress of the Dark.
That brings back some great memories,
Brian
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Thanks for the link Gauntman! Are these legit copies? Are they just recorded from tv?
Ahhhh, the good old days of watching the War of the Worlds tv series (the first season at least) and Friday the 13th! :) Brings back good memories...
At least they have War of the Worlds out on dvd. I didn't realize how bad some of the episodes (okay okay most!) are until I watched them again. Still, the couple of good ones make up for the bad ones. :wink:
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That second season got way out there didn't it? Turned into a post apocalyptic thing which they never really explain to well. Tons of holes in the whole series but it was simple sci-fi fun.
Do you also remember Freddy's Nightmares, The Dark Room, Tales from the Crypt and Monsters, these were also staples in my splatter punk teen years.
Brian
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I remember The Dark Room and Tales from the Crypt was one of my favourite tv shows out there! I recently bought all (except the last) of the seasons on dvd. Had a great time watching them all again - it had been so long that I'd forgotten what really happened in them... :)
The second season of War of the Worlds - I couldn't get into it. Kind of a neat idea, but I didn't like it and pretty much just stopped watching it after a few episodes. What ever did happen on that season? :?
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Tell you the truth I don't even remember. I haven't seen the 2nd season since it aired originally. I want to say that the daughter and some alien hybrid fell in love and then everyone saw the futileness of the fight and decided to live in peace or some crap like that. I want to say that the black guy and the mom ended up dying by the end of the season but like I said I can't remember.
Brian
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Count me in. Great show with interesting storylines. You wouldn't know it from the title.
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Warlords of Atlantis has some lovecraftian elements as I think about it.... cursed idol, monsters from the deep/another world, deep one hybrid types....
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I have attended the HP Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland Oregon several times in the past few years. My 2 short films, "The Vessel" and "Room for Error" were screened there. Always a good crop of indie Lovecraft inspired films, and adaptations. I have seen many versions of Cool Air, Statement of Randolph Carter, From Beyond, The Tomb. A really good short film was "Binding Silence" which won the 2006 award for best short.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qd3k4LDy5Q
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I'm 6 years late jumping on this one, but you guys forgot Alien. Its part Lovecraftian Horror, part gothic horror. The Nostromo looks like a big gothic mansion, and an unknowable horror waiting in deep space, with no regard for human life? Pure Lovecraft.
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Recent films I've seen on Netflix with a Lovecraftian feel:
YellowBrickRoad (loved it)
The Corridor
Absentia
Jugface
The Shrine
Phantoms
House of the Devil
Resolution
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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gZUFUqvkHiI
This one is very well done.
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SyFy horror film Sea Beast.
Not very good, but has Deep ones attacking fishermen ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQqaQIJwIgY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQqaQIJwIgY)
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A few new ones...
The Void (madness, transformations, slimy monsters, cultists, far realms)
Deep in the Darkness (Cowboys vs Tcho-Tcho)
Event Horizon (Scifi + Dimensional Evil)
AM 1200 (Film Short - Madness, Elder Evil)
Blood Glacier (ancient horror, transformation)
John Dies at the End (drug-induced awareness of things beyond understanding)
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I was also going to mention Event Horizon and also add The Relic. Both of these films I felt were very "Lovecraftian".
William
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There's The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu which is distinctly tongue in cheek but worth a watch. It was available in one of the UK poundshops for, as might be expected, £1.
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A few new ones...
The Void (madness, transformations, slimy monsters, cultists, far realms)
Deep in the Darkness (Cowboys vs Tcho-Tcho)
Event Horizon (Scifi + Dimensional Evil)
AM 1200 (Film Short - Madness, Elder Evil)
Blood Glacier (ancient horror, transformation)
John Dies at the End (drug-induced awareness of things beyond understanding)
Three very good recommendations there. Event Horizon and John Dies at the End are tow of my favourite films, the book of JDatE is also fantastic. The Void was basically everything I love rolled into one movie. Those triangle hoods are getting painted onto my cultists, without a doubt.
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This is what Wikipedia lists as films influenced by H.P. Lovecraft. Some have already been mentioned.
The Haunted Palace (1963)
Die, Monster, Die! (1965)
The Shuttered Room (1967)
The Dunwich Horror (1970)
Re-Animator (1985)
From Beyond (1986)
The Curse (1987)
The Unnamable (1988)
Dark Heritage (1989)
Bride of Re-Animator (1990)
Cast a Deadly Spell (1991)
The Resurrected (1992)
The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter (1993)
In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
Necronomicon (1994)
The Lurking Fear (1994)
Witch Hunt (1994)
Castle Freak (1995)
Bleeders (1997)
Out of Mind: The Stories of H. P. Lovecraft (1998)
Cool Air (1999) Cthulhu (2000)
Dagon (2001)
Beyond Re-Animator (2003)
The Call of Cthulhu (2005)
H. P. Lovecraft's Dreams in the Witch-House (2005)
Cthulhu (2007) The Tomb (2007)
Chill (2007) In Search of Lovecraft (2008)
The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu (2009)
The Whisperer in Darkness (2011) Innsmouth (2011)
Call Girl of Cthulhu (2014)
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"Call Girl of Cthulhu" ?!? lol lol lol
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This is what Wikipedia lists as films influenced by H.P. Lovecraft. Some have already been mentioned.
The Haunted Palace (1963)
Die, Monster, Die! (1965)
The Shuttered Room (1967)
The Dunwich Horror (1970)
Re-Animator (1985)
From Beyond (1986)
The Curse (1987)
The Unnamable (1988)
Dark Heritage (1989)
Bride of Re-Animator (1990)
Cast a Deadly Spell (1991)
The Resurrected (1992)
The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter (1993)
In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
Necronomicon (1994)
The Lurking Fear (1994)
Witch Hunt (1994)
Castle Freak (1995)
Bleeders (1997)
Out of Mind: The Stories of H. P. Lovecraft (1998)
Cool Air (1999) Cthulhu (2000)
Dagon (2001)
Beyond Re-Animator (2003)
The Call of Cthulhu (2005)
H. P. Lovecraft's Dreams in the Witch-House (2005)
Cthulhu (2007) The Tomb (2007)
Chill (2007) In Search of Lovecraft (2008)
The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu (2009)
The Whisperer in Darkness (2011) Innsmouth (2011)
Call Girl of Cthulhu (2014)
I think the list of films influenced by Lovecraft is a lot bigger than this. These appear to be films that are based on Lovecraft's work or directly reference the man himself or elements from his Mythos. His influence is evident in hundreds more films. Well, maybe not hundreds, but a lot more than on that list. Cast a Deadly Spell is one of the best of those listed above, it's a lot of fun and really inventive. Worth tracking down.
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The Void was pretty enjoyable, an old school physical effects film (no shortage of sprayed Kensington Gore). As an aside, 'The Resurrected' sometimes turns up as 'Shatterbrain' (a terrble title).
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I quite liked The Objective
https://youtu.be/GhZZsuOMOi4
It's very Delta Green
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Somebody slap me silly; I scrolled through the thread and can't find:
1) Night Gallery tv series. Cool Air was done, and I thought well, and a really cute short with Carl Reiner as a professor reading a forbidden tome*. There were others that you could see influence. Beware really uneven production quality, including the occasional incomprehensible edit.
2) HPLHS.
And I have a vague memory of something in Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond that had suggestions of Dagon, though the series presented itself as 'true stories.'
Doug
Edit: *“Professor Peabody's Last Lecture”
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Having just joined I'm gradually reading through and making odd comments...
Not mentioned, but Bleeders and Hemoglobin are the same film -I think Hemoglobin American version based on the spelling, Bleeders UK title. Could be the other way round. Alan Reeves soundtrack is brilliant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWaw5dWfP88
The Kindred can be found on YouTube - no idea how 'legit' it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxsNQ2PgXHg
Lair of the White Worm has a strange version of a North Eastern song about the Lampton Worm...
Lots of Lovecraft fan movies and audio books on YouTube - worth doing a search for them.
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Not enough.
Dunwitch Horror begs for a better remake.
Lots of loose adaptations, but few true Lovecraft films.
Stuart Gordon, IMO, absolutely rocked HP stories set in modern times.
Re-animator is GOAT, as is Dagon, and From Beyond is no slouch either
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The Void was pretty enjoyable, an old school physical effects film (no shortage of sprayed Kensington Gore).
Saw this just recently. Thought is was a pretty decent B movie. Very good visuals and atmosphere. VERY Lovecraft influenced, and IMO a better source of reference/inspiration than many actual Lovecraft movies.
But, and this will sound weird if you haven't seen the movie, it also works ESPECIALLY well as an unofficial distant WH40K prequel, sort of like how some fans view the movie "Event Horizon". The thought occurred to me about halfway through the film, and I was surprised not only at how well it clicked, but also by how the stuff that would otherwise be too muddled or vague gets explained perfectly if you project 40K lore behind it in your head.
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YellowBrickRoad (loved it)
This... I didn't like.
Well, I DID like it, until the very end. It's basically a creepypasta in movie form, and it's SUPER obvious the writer/filmmakers got nearly done making the film before realizing that creepypastas don't have endings (they aren't so much stories as faux urban legends: set-ups that trail off without resolution to blend the scenario into reality), but their movie really needed one. They'd done too good a job hyping the MacGuffin to not show the audience what it was, but they had had no idea what it was themselves, so they crapped together some bollocks for the last 5 minutes that was utterly lazy, leadenly anticlimactic, AND completely clashing with the style of story they'd being telling up to that point.
I would not be surprised in the slightest if that ending wasn't even written 'til after the rest of the film had already been edited. In fact I'd be very surprised if that that wasn't the case.
Up 'till that final denouement, it's pretty creepy and tense and weird in a good way.
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I recently picked up 'The Creature Below' - I can only say that if you should see it lurking in your supermarket bargain bin, hurry on past & utter a little prayer to the deity of your choice.
If 'The Void' is an excellent example of a film that wears its Lovecraftian influences lightly, 'The Creature...' gallumphs on yelling "Look, look, I once read... (insert any Lovecraft story here)". Terrible (& I really mean terrible) CGI & acting that wouldn't pass muster in the local village hall, avoid.
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I'd forgotten about 'Dead Shadows' (2012), a visually fairly stylish French effort - think 'Night of the Comet' with Lovecraftian mutations instead of zombies, plot-wise a bit 'meh' but reasonably enjoyable.
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Two of a sort: "Sauna", and "Beyond the Black Rainbow".
Both are not explicitly or exactly Lovecraftian, but fit into the general milieu.
"Sauna" is about a pair of brothers in medieval Finland, who come across an isolated village while on a surveying/cartography mission. Creepy weird stuff is going on that seems to be emanating from a cyclopean building in a nearby swamp that everyone assumes to be an ancient sauna.
"Beyond the Black Rainbow" is about a teenage girl being held captive an a weird sci-fi lab complex, by a psychiatrist who's trying to awaken reality-warping psychic powers.
Both are very surreal and only half-there plot wise, but are very strong atmospherically. They aren't good movies per-se (some very hipstery people out there will try to tell you BtBR is a masterpiece, when it's really more of a "nice first try, needs more cowbell"), but they are engaging to watch as studies in mood and setting.
...Oh, and while on the subject of "movies that are great atmospherically, but a bit half-there on the plot", I might as well mention an old favorite in "The Keep". Like the above, great atmosphere, compelling setting, just don't expect to be satisfied with the story. Go in wanting good strong dream-horror instead of plot, and you'll be happy.
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Oooh, more explicitly Lovecraftian: "Dark Waters", about a woman who goes to visit an island convent, and discovers that the nuns there in fact may be worshiping... something else.
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[quote author
...Oh, and while on the subject of "movies that are great atmospherically, but a bit half-there on the plot", I might as well mention an old favorite in "The Keep". Like the above, great atmosphere, compelling setting, just don't expect to be satisfied with the story. Go in wanting good strong dream-horror instead of plot, and you'll be happy.
[/quote]
The Keep is great, not quite Lovecraftian as it deals with Good and Evil, but it does have an ancient horror awakened by unwitting humans vibe. The soundtrack is probably the best thing about it. Its like Tangerine Dream did actually see the movie before they wrote the score, it often doesn't match up with what's going on, but it just works. The scene where the Grenadier steels the crucifix and awaken the evil entity is my favourite bit. Dreamily shot with intense music that shouldn't work, but does. Michael Mann went on to direct Heat, one of the best films ever made, and in no way Lovecraftian.
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The Keep is great, not quite Lovecraftian as it deals with Good and Evil, but it does have an ancient horror awakened by unwitting humans vibe. The soundtrack is probably the best thing about it. Its like Tangerine Dream did actually see the movie before they wrote the score, it often doesn't match up with what's going on, but it just works. The scene where the Grenadier steels the crucifix and awaken the evil entity is my favourite bit. Dreamily shot with intense music that shouldn't work, but does. Michael Mann went on to direct Heat, one of the best films ever made, and in no way Lovecraftian.
That's my favorite scene too. It's a distilled microcosm of all the best things about the movie.
I mention The Keep in a Lovecraft thread because I love the the look and feel of the physical setting, and feel like it's a good example of the vibe Lovecraftian ancient ruins should have (like the underground parts of the dreamlands, or the cavern city in "The Rats in the Walls"). It's this big stone fortress that's constructed almost like a copper age dolmen, and it's incredibly creepy and otherworldly in a "less is more" sort of way. The music is indeed a huge part of what's good in the movie (as you say, it feels like it shouldn't work, but it really does), but the look of the keep and the cavern beneath it are my favorite things about the movie.
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The Keep definitely belongs in this thread. F Paul Wilson was a big Lovecraft fan, but Lovecraft himself wouldn't have gone in for silly things like good actually triumphing over evil lol IN terms of tone, atmosphere and some of the themes it is very much Lovecraft, or maybe Robert E Howard, inspired. Howard was in the Lovecraft circle and even wrote a few Mythos stories too.
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Saw this just recently. Thought is was a pretty decent B movie. Very good visuals and atmosphere. VERY Lovecraft influenced, and IMO a better source of reference/inspiration than many actual Lovecraft movies.
But, and this will sound weird if you haven't seen the movie, it also works ESPECIALLY well as an unofficial distant WH40K prequel, sort of like how some fans view the movie "Event Horizon". The thought occurred to me about halfway through the film, and I was surprised not only at how well it clicked, but also by how the stuff that would otherwise be too muddled or vague gets explained perfectly if you project 40K lore behind it in your head.
I'm intrigued as to how you view it as a 40K prequel. Do you see the world they end up in at the end as the Imaterium?
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I forgot about the Howard the Duck movie. That's definitely a Lovecraftian flick
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I'm intrigued as to how you view it as a 40K prequel. Do you see the world they end up in at the end as the Imaterium?
Yes. Sort of.
My first thought was they sorta got warpgated to another planet, but that's mostly because my impression of the warp is that it's a place with no physical aspect to it. It's just space and energy with a dimensional structure that makes the existence of matter as we know it impossible without something like a Gellar field.
The closest thing I can remember seeing in a movie to how I imagine the Immaterium is the purgatory/limbo dimension seen in Poltergeist II. Or hyperspace in Babylon 5. Really though, I don't think it "looks" like anything, because eyes and light have no physical context there. You'd perceive it through senses that have no context in our reality.
It would make more sense on a thematic level if that was the Immaterium though. And given that they were both healed, and that the flashes/hallucinations throughout the film depicted that place, I think that is the Immaterium, just represented in a visually symbolic rather than literal way.
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Okay, 6 pages in and no mention of Possession (1981) or The Last Wave (1977)?
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Okay, 6 pages in and no mention of Possession (1981) or The Last Wave (1977)?
I've heard of the Possession, but the Last Wave is unfamiliar. To Google!
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I loathe most australian cinema of the 70's, slow and tedious is the general direction it takes. Stone and mad max being the exceptions. I expect the last wave being the in the camp of the former.
Don't watch it then. Job done.
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The Midnight Meat Train is definitely inspired by Lovecraft.
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The Midnight Meat Train is definitely inspired by Lovecraft.
It's based on one of Clive Barker's stories from his Books of Blood collection. Barker is a very different animal to Lovecraft, but his work does show a smattering of Lovecraftian influence, like many horror authors.
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Oh contraire, I watched enough to show me I was right. If you are a fan of weir then give picnic at hanging rock a go as well. A better film with the same sort of supernatural background.
You watched a film you don't like, simply to be able to say to a total stranger on the internet that you watched it and why,, yes, you don't like it and were correct in your opinion? And you spent actual time doing that?
Lol
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CAST A DEADLY SPELL
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Dunwich Horror (neat adaptation with Hippies, for true fans)
Dr. Henry Armitage "Nancy, please take the Necronomicon back to the library"
Nancy: "OK"
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Friendly discourse, chaps. ;)
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CAST A DEADLY SPELL
Great little film, wildly inventive. Some naughty so and so has put it on Youtube if anyone to go on there and tell them off for copyright infringement.
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https://youtu.be/t_cZ3rOmY-s (https://youtu.be/t_cZ3rOmY-s)
Another one for the list, Annihilation, based on Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach novels. It's not exactly Lovecraftian horror, but you can see the lineage. Looks bloody good too.
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Been a long while since I've added to the Lovecraft movie list.
Anyway, this one will definately appeal to Lovecraft fans
Cold Skin
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034385/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034385/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)
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Not a movie, but the two 'Stranger Things' seasons definitely have that Lovecraftian feel, with the parallel dimension full of nasty things just begging to get out into ours.
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The Ritual is not only a great film, it has what is strongly hinted at as being a well known lovecraftian entity, mistaken for a norse god.
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Very excellent suggestions, loved Annihilation, The Ritual and The Void. Cold Skin has been on my to see list for a while now and also looks good. Don't think Cabin in the Woods has been mentionned but is also Lovecraft inspired I think.
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Those were all good mentions...
Ritual- I want more movies like that!
The Void-definately Lovecraft inspired
Cabin in the Woods - that's just an awesome flick all around..
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Howdy,
This is a great resource for Cthulhu inspired films. I thought I'd mention a couple of films that might not have been mentioned here (and which you may or may not agree with ;) ) :
Absentia 2011
Bride of Re-animator 1989
The Burrowers 2008
City of the Living Dead 1980
Die Farbe 2010 (The colour out of space) (mentioned in other threads)
The Dreamquest of the Unknown Kadath (2003)
It Follows 2014
The New Daughter 2009
Pickman's Muse 2010
Pontypool 2009 (mentioned in other threads)
Ravenous 1999
The Spider Labyrinth 1988
Spring 2014
Also, have these sites been mentioned?
http://unfilmable.blogspot.com.au/
https://lovecraftzine.com/movies/
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Thanks to this chat i saw The Spider Labyrinth off youtube...loved it...... big thanks
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ0z3g1nyGE
Black mountain...slow, dark and hangs on you......