Cthulhu Movie - been out for a while

[warrenss2]

I must be living in a cave.

I had no idea this was out.

http://www.cthulhu-themovie.com/video.html

I know of some other Cthulhu movies - The Unnamable 1 & 2.

What else is out there? Are they meant for man to know?

Help me lose what sanity I have left and fill me in on what I'm missing.

[Galman]

The secrets we uncover, but not my interest is peaked!  I must know more!

[Schweizer]

Since the Lovecraft stuff is public domain, anyone and his brother can make a Cthulhu movie.  I've not seen it, and it may be great, but it's not a studio pic.  Amateur stuff can range from truly excellent and professional to some college kids who checked out a higher-end camera from the JMC department.

The script looks like it could be strong, and the acting seems good.  My main concern is the contemporary nature of it; part of what I love so much about the Cthulhu mythos stories is the period feel.

[Dr X]

There are over a dozen movies that draw directly on HPL's work. A few that I found entertaining for various reasons include.....

There is a wonderful 90s movie by HBO called Cast a Deadly Spell. It has a cool mix of 1940s hardnosed detective story with a dab of tongue-in-cheek Lovercraftian mythos. Definately recommended if you have not had a chance to catch it.

The Resurrected is from the early 90s and based on HPL's "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" and directed by Saint Dan O'Bannon. This has some very cool scenes but just never seems to really do it for me.

Re-animator from the mid-80s is rather loosely based on HPL's work. It is campy but still a very entertaining flick.

Then back in the 70s Dean Stockwell starred The Dunwich Horror. Again, this one has some cool parts including the opening credits but it has a real 70s feel to it.

For something a little newer, check out Dagon. It is fairly decent.

Some movies are so loosely based on Lovecraft's work as to be unrecognizable. A couple of Boris Karloff's movies from the late 60s falls into this category -  The Crimson Cult and Monster of Terror.

[Doc Twilight]

There are over a dozen movies that draw directly on HPL's work. A few that I found entertaining for various reasons include.....

There is a wonderful 90s movie by HBO called Cast a Deadly Spell. It has a cool mix of 1940s hardnosed detective story with a dab of tongue-in-cheek Lovercraftian mythos. Definately recommended if you have not had a chance to catch it.

The Resurrected is from the early 90s and based on HPL's "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" and directed by Saint Dan O'Bannon. This has some very cool scenes but just never seems to really do it for me.

Re-animator from the mid-80s is rather loosely based on HPL's work. It is campy but still a very entertaining flick.

Then back in the 70s Dean Stockwell starred The Dunwich Horror. Again, this one has some cool parts including the opening credits but it has a real 70s feel to it.

For something a little newer, check out Dagon. It is fairly decent.

Some movies are so loosely based on Lovecraft's work as to be unrecognizable. A couple of Boris Karloff's movies from the late 60s falls into this category -  The Crimson Cult and Monster of Terror.

Let me re-emphasize and agree with X here that "Cast a Deadly Spell" is fantastic. The first one. For some reason, not long after the first one, they RE-DID IT with Dennis Hopper. Not nearly as good.

-Doc

[alone_withmyaxe]

Should mention these guys, they have made an amazing silent version of Call of Cthulhu.
http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/index.html

Their site is cool too.

http://www.cthulhulives.org/toc.html

They are currently working on a new talkie as well, and if you are interested they have done some radio plays.

[Leapsnbounds]

There was also a remake of the Dunwich HOrror again with Dean Stockwell.  I liked the 70's version better, it really had that Lovecraft touch to it.

[P_Clapham]

There was also a remake of the Dunwich HOrror again with Dean Stockwell.  I liked the 70's version better, it really had that Lovecraft touch to it.

Wow, I'll have to check out the remake. 

[blackstone]

The 2008 Cthulhu film is more a re-telling of the Shadow Over Innsmouth. It's character driven rather than a monster film and worth a watch. Dagon is another version of the Shadow over Innsmouth and I think it's great, possibly my favorite Lovecraft film. I also can recommend the 70's Dunwich horror. There is a trilogy of re-animator films with Jeffrey Combs, one being Bride of Re-animator

A while ago I saw a trailer for a version of The Whipserer in Darkness which looked interesting....

[bc99]

I have to second Dagon being probably the best Cthulhu film I've seen.

[TwoGunBob]

Trailer of the silent Call of Cthulhu film.

[UncleRhino]

There is a movie starring Jeff Combs as H. P. Lovecraft called Necronomicon made in 1994.  We(my ex-wife and I) rented it as soon as it came out and I thought he did a fairly good job as Luveh Keraph, the whole time I could not keep from giggling a bit over the film.  Mostly because my (ex)wife ran his fan club at the time, so he would call the house about once a month to talk to her about fan club business.  Kind of weird to have those phone calls, but he was always eager to chat Lovecraft with me for a few minutes.  I remember him laughing about what was done with the conversion of Herbert West-Reanimator over to Reanimator the film.  He asked me once what my favorite Lovecraft tale was and when I told him Pickman's Model, he did mention that at one time there was some talk about that as a film, but it never went anywhere.

At any rate, the film, Necronomicon contains adaptations of three stories:  Cool Air, Whisperer in the Darkness and The Rats in the Walls.  They are about as good as any of the others he was involved in, ie From Beyond and The Lurking Fear. 

Give it a rent if you can find it somewhere, it is not a half bad film, and rather funny to see Combs playing Lovecraft.

Ryan

[P_Clapham]

The short films from the H.P.Lovecraft collection have been some of the best I've seen.
[url][http://www.amazon.com/H-P-Lovecraft-Collection-Vol-Mind/dp/B0015U0QOE/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1256867789&sr=1-7/url]
Out of Mind has a brilliant Potrayal of H.P.L. by Christopher Heyerdahl, in "Out of Mind".

[Uncle Mike]

Agreed, 'Out Of Mind' is a great short film about Lovecraft and his effect on pop culture...also a mythos tale, also featuring Lovecraft as a character. Usually I hate stuff like this but 'Out Of Mind' blew my ftaghn mind! My personal favorite, and quite possibly the closest translation of Lovecrafts work to film, is the inspired 'Cool Air'...fantastic, moody and a great story to boot! Followed closley by the silent 'Call Of Cthulhu'.

Guilty pleasure: Stuart Gordon's 'From Beyond'...complete massacre of a Lovecraft story, full of nudity, sexy themes and tons of other stuff with no place in a lovecraft story.

Also, 'Cast A Deadly Spell' is garbage (imho). Almost as bad as 'The Curse' with Wil Weaton...

[P_Clapham]

I'm working on a Term paper on H.P.L. & the Arabian Nights, so I watched Out of Mind tonight for some inspiration.