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April 21, 2008 9:47 PM

Great Lovecraft-inspired movies?

Well I used the search mechanism, and wow are there a lot of Lovecraft threads. And also somewhat inexplicably "Posts tagged with food by Astro Zombie". I will enjoy reading those. But I didn't see an answer to my question there, my question being:

What great Lovecraft-inspired movies are there? I saw In The Mouth of Madness in the theatre in '95 and hated it. Since then I've become both a huge Lovecraft and John Carpenter fan, and watching it again tonight, well, it blew me away. One reviewer said it captured the Lovecraft atmosphere better than any other film. I've seen some straight adaptations -- From Beyond and Re-Animator, of course. I could start hunting down everything on the wiki list. But ITMOM isn't on there because it isn't an adaptation per se. So any other great Lovecraft-inspired movies out there?

posted by Durn Bronzefist to media & arts (37 comments total)

"In the Mouth of Madness" is exactly what popped into my head when I read your question. I thought it was like much of John Carpenter's work: wildly uneven, but when it's good, it's really good. Sadly, the ending is all the more effective if you see in in a movie theater, but whatever.

For some reason, mainstream Hollywood has not caught the Cthulu bug, but there have been a half-dozen or so indie films, of questionable entertainment value. I've seen Necronomicon, for example, and wish I hadn't.
posted by zardoz at 10:05 PM on April 21, 2008

Cast a Deadly Spell, more or less.
posted by zamboni at 10:13 PM on April 21, 2008

Dagon is the first that comes to mind. It's an adaptation of a Lovecraft short. There is some other Sci-Fi channel movie that borrowed heavily from Lovecraft - it was out in the late 90s, early 00s... sorry I can't recall it, maybe it'll come to me later. Hellboy, of course borrows heavily from Lovecraft...

Carpenter devotee here... but he's hit or miss. His remake of the The Thing will always be one of my favorites...
posted by wfrgms at 10:37 PM on April 21, 2008

I was actually quite impressed with the recent The Mist. At the very least, it was a good iteration of Lovecraft's influence on Stephen King.
posted by Sticherbeast at 10:43 PM on April 21, 2008

The Call of Cthulhu, a well-made "silent" version of the story, is very atmospheric and captures the feel of the original story. I'm looking forward to their upcoming production of The Whisperer in Darkness.
posted by SPrintF at 10:49 PM on April 21, 2008 [3 favorites]

The Lurker in the Lobby: The Guide to Lovecraftian Cinema
posted by Artw at 11:20 PM on April 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

Out of Mind
posted by juv3nal at 11:22 PM on April 21, 2008

youtube trailer thingy for Out of Mind
posted by juv3nal at 11:26 PM on April 21, 2008

Talking of Carpenter, I'm a big fan of Prince of Darkenss, which has a bit of a Lovecraftian edge to it. And The Thing, well, is that a Shoggoth like beast or what? And based on a story by Lovecrafts editor as well (the carpenter movie is actually a much more faithful adaptation of the short story than the original).

Steven King has called Alien Lovecraft in space.

Moving away from monsters I'd actually throw out Pi as a movie thats very lovecraftian in theme and tone, though I've no idea if it was intended as such.
posted by Artw at 11:28 PM on April 21, 2008 [2 favorites]

Through the '70s "Lovecraft-inspired" and "great movie" were oxymoronic (see"Dunwich Horror," or rather don't). Stuart Gordon' "Reanimator" series in the mid 1980s were great gut-munchers, but they didn't really capture that old Cthulhu mode. "In the Mouth of Madness" is still the biggest frog in the pond. As zardoz says, Hollywood doesn't really know what to do with Lovecraft.
posted by doncoyote at 11:29 PM on April 21, 2008

Anything by Nigel kneale is probably worth checking out, particularly the Quatermass stories, which are all horrors from space, ancient astronauts and things man was not supposed to know.

Stretching things a little... Hellblazer and it;s spin-offs could be seen as a sort of S&M themed Lovecraftian rip off.
posted by Artw at 11:38 PM on April 21, 2008

I've seen Necronomicon, for example, and wish I hadn't.

That in itself is very Lovecraftian of you.

What, nobody mentioned Evil Dead? Okay that's a long bow to draw.

Artw, I was about to say the Hellraiser movies too, specifically the second one (Hellbound) and the fourth one (Bloodline - yeah it's in space).

Speaking of space, I found Event Horizon extremely Lovecraftian, and more enjoyable when watched with H.P. in mind. It was a divine mix of themes for me, whatever one says about its execution.

Despite the above - and thanks to various posters - there's clearly a lack of quality Lovecraft cinema. To Hollywood!
posted by cosmonik at 11:50 PM on April 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

I was actually quite impressed with the recent The Mist.

If you sprint out of the theater or flip off the DVD before the last five minutes, then sure. ;-)

I would say that 28 Days Later and Sunshine were both somewhat Lovecraftian for me.

The television show Night Gallery apparently adapted some Lovecraft works. The first season is on DVD.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 12:54 AM on April 22, 2008

I've yet to find a single cinematic experience that comes even close to reading an actual Lovecraft short story, printed on paper (the Joshi-compiled and annotated Penguin editions are my preferred versions), in a dimly-lit room (use candles if you want to get dramatic), possibly with a little drink by my side, possibly not, but most certainly with some Lustmord playing in the background. Atmosphere-tastic!
posted by turgid dahlia at 1:32 AM on April 22, 2008

Second 'Sunshine' as having some elements, although I don't see it in 28 Days Later...that's a discussion best held outside the green, I guess.

There was a movie that had four short films loosely (if at all) inter-connected; all were Lovecraftian, it was fairly poorly made...I am not sure if this is the 'Necronomicon' movie linked to above (if so it was a different cover on the version I saw). Despite its quality, I felt it captured the plot and character elements of Lovecraft well (alas, not the atmospherics, thematics or complex psychological elements).
posted by cosmonik at 3:07 AM on April 22, 2008

Lovecraft doesn't seem adaptable to cinema. I mean, Hollywood always has to depict the monster on screen, and when the monster is an unimaginable mind shattering horror, that doesn't work too well. Basically In the Mouth of Madness is it for now, although Blair Witch in some ways encapsulates what makes a Lovecraft story. The fear of the unknown and unknowable reflected in the minds of the protagonists.
posted by BrotherCaine at 3:43 AM on April 22, 2008

I'll second "Dagon" for the sheer creepiness of it.
I'll second "The Call of C'thulhu" for it is evidently a labor of love.
I'll second "Hellboy" because DelToro really gets Lovecraft. I can't wait for his "At The Mountains of Madness" if it ever gets made, because it's a great story and a great Call of C'thulhu RPG campaign.
posted by willmize at 4:15 AM on April 22, 2008

Yeah, my first thought after seeing The Mist was "Hey, that was a pretty good Lovecraft movie" (and I loved the ending; it was *perfect*). Sunshine wouldn't have occurred to me, but I agree it works here - plus it's a great little horror/scifi blend. And I'll disagree with BrotherCaine; Lovecraft seems to me *very* adaptable to cinema, and it's a mystery why more Hollywood directors haven't used his world. Even if you ignore the many films where the horror ends up mostly offscreen, it's not like Hollywood's ever felt compelled to stick closely to original scripts, and there are so many great set pieces in Lovecraft's work there's plenty for Hollywood to work with. Hellboy's a great example of how it could be handled, minus the humor.
posted by mediareport at 5:04 AM on April 22, 2008

Lovecraft as a sort of alternative history could be very cinematic, but for me Lovecraft is about sanity shattering horror, not startlement, gore, or cheesy laughable effects. Now that I think about it, I'm going to nominate "Pan's Labyrinth" despite the fact that it more strongly resembles a conventional mythos than a Lovecraftian one.
posted by BrotherCaine at 5:38 AM on April 22, 2008

Well, it's not a movie, but considering how badly Hollywood seems to drop the ball on Lovecraft, I can't resist mentioning the Interactive Fiction game Anchorhead by Michael Gentry. It is text-based (like Adventure and Zork), so depending on your age and geekiness, the mode of gameplay will seem either nostalgic and charming or archaic and frustrating. It really does capture the lurking-horrorness of Lovecraft very well, though.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:40 AM on April 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

Seconding Alien

I saw Rec recently and that for me really tapped into that Lovecraftian lurking nameless horror lurking under everyday reality vibe. It's a Spanish film but it's been remade as the soon to be release Quarantine (there's a trailer on the internet but it's spoiler-tastic)

And to a lesser extent I always though The Blair Witch Project was vaguely Lovecraftian.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:41 AM on April 22, 2008

Seconding Cast a Deadly Spell. Fun intersection of hardboiled detective and Lovecraft. Also, not a movie, but the video game Eternal Darkness is Lovecraft all the way.
posted by electroboy at 7:48 AM on April 22, 2008

The Resurrected is a pretty decent adaptation of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. There's also Stuart Gordon's version of Dreams in the Witch-House, made for the Masters of Horror series.
posted by Dean King at 8:14 AM on April 22, 2008

There aren't very many "good" lovecraftian movies. I can only think of a couple:
Dagon
The Thing
Event Horizon
Dreams in the Witch House
In the Mouth of Madness
Hellboy
The Mist (except for the awful, unnecessary ending)

On the bright side, I believe that Guillermo Del Toro is currently working on "At the Mountains of Madness."
posted by anansi at 8:24 AM on April 22, 2008

Oh yeah - Phantoms was definitely Lovecraftian.

"At The Mountains of Madness" absolutely begs to be made a movie - it's easily scriptable, plenty of tense moments, and has elements which would allow for a decent big-budget film that could be digested by the masses.

I think it'd be possible to bring the kinds of sanity-shattering moments of Lovecraft's stories to cinema, albeit it'd be a challenge that'd no doubt be unpopular among big-budget studios.

I'd forgotten about The Resurrected, and while it's okay, it's one example I'd consider missing the mark in terms of re-creating that pants-filling moment of the main revelation re. The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.

And if we're mentioning video games: besides the obvious Dark Corners of the Earth, which is explicitly of the Mythos, there's also Alone in the Dark which stands out rather starkly.
posted by cosmonik at 8:25 AM on April 22, 2008

For my money, no one's hit the Lovecraft mark yet in films. That said, I'd love to see a good film of "At The Mountains of Madness," my fave Lovecraft piece.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 8:36 AM on April 22, 2008

Another out-on-a-limb one here but you might want to check The Keep. Lovecraftian strirrings of a thing-that-should-not-be under a creepy catsle that was *built to keep something in*. Also laser beams, Tangerine Dream and Nazis.
posted by Artw at 8:39 AM on April 22, 2008

I've seen the 2005 silent Call of Cthulu and I was really unimpressed. If my kids did it as a class project, yeah, it'd be cool in that light. As an investment of your adult movie attention time, not so much.

But then again I really enjoyed Hellboy, and I've felt pretty much alone on that one.
posted by NortonDC at 8:54 AM on April 22, 2008

I’ve not really seconded Hellboy because, though it’s got alien squid monsters, it’s more of an action movie in theme and tone. It’s still a damn good movie though. For the same reason I've not mentioned the Justice League episode where Superman and various heroes and villains fight Cthulhu, and Solomon Grundy punches Cthulhu in the brain.
posted by Artw at 9:32 AM on April 22, 2008

Now that I think about it, I'm going to nominate "Pan's Labyrinth" despite the fact that it more strongly resembles a conventional mythos than a Lovecraftian one.

When I saw it I thought that if Lovecraft ever wrote a kids' story it might end up looking something like that.

Although it's coming from a completely different tradition of Japanese ghost stories I think Ring (the original version) has a some strong Lovecraftian elements.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 10:04 AM on April 22, 2008

i just saw the 2005 silent "call of cthulhu" and it was quite fun.
posted by rmd1023 at 10:39 AM on April 22, 2008

If you can find it, Malefique is well worth watching. Not a direct Lovecraft adaptation but very much in the same tradition.
posted by clockworkjoe at 11:15 AM on April 22, 2008

"At The Mountains of Madness" absolutely begs to be made a movie - it's easily scriptable, plenty of tense moments, and has elements which would allow for a decent big-budget film that could be digested by the masses.

Hey hey, looky here!
posted by zardoz at 2:31 PM on April 22, 2008

Zardoz – don’t get too excited, there’s a lot of back and forth on that, and the odds are it won’t happen for years, if at all. Looks like Del toror is doing an indie flick next, and after that it will probably be one of a number of projects, including The Hobbit, with MoM being kind of unlikely. Not that I’ve been watching this like a hawk or anything. Latest.
posted by Artw at 2:39 PM on April 22, 2008

Excellent! That's a nice lineup of flicks to check out.

In terms of those I'm familiar with enough to comment on, I agree that Prince of Darkness (another fave) definitely has the right vibe. And Artw, The Keep -- hell yeah. I'd forgotten all about that one. Time for a re-watch.

Great thread. Thanks, guys. Bunch of these I've never heard of (eg: Dagon, and Sunshine, which I now can't wait to see), and a few I've never thought of in this light, such as Event Horizon (had no plans to see; now it's on the list). And I'm all revved up to watch some Quatermass, which is another one I'd forgotten about. Not sure how I'll get my hands on Dreams in the Witch House, but it must be done. And yeah, At The Mountains of Madness -- great CoC campaign. Would love to see it done right as a film.

I'm kind of on Cthulhu overload at the moment, opening some packs of the old CCG I picked up (love the art and it's a funky game) and will probably watch ITMOM again before the week is out, because... man, how dead on was that?

Any other suggestions or comments, please, keep em coming!
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 5:25 PM on April 22, 2008

I found the book House of Leaves to be pretty Lovecraftian (forbidden knowledge, madness, cursed places).

Also, no one I know appreciates this, but there's a sex shop near me called Lovecraft. Cracks me up every time I see it.
posted by electroboy at 7:05 AM on April 24, 2008 [1 favorite]

Late Bloomer.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:47 AM on July 16, 2008