Re: Lovecraft

Yeah, a happy ending is very unusual in HPL. Usually it’s just a temporary victory over the Old Ones, who will keep on trying to take the earth. Yep, I’ve always thought it would be great to do my own HPL movie, but I don’t have the intellectual or financial resources to do it. There was a not-too-bad one starring Fred Ward and Juliane Moore – it was a period piece in an alternative L.A. where Lovecraftian magic is widely practiced. Ward is a detective who is distinguished as one of the few who don’t do magic. Sorry, I don’t recall the title.

I think that At the Mountains of Madness would make a great period piece, done as a flashback. There could be a modern prologue and epilogue. The prologue could have a researcher discovering a world government conspiracy to keep central Antarctica hidden and “under interdict” because they know of the ancient horrors that lurk in its mountain range. These horrors are known from the expedition that HPL fictionalized, and since then, the conspiracy has falsified explorer’s reports, satellite maps, etc., so no one knows that central Antarctica is off-limits to wider knowledge. The researcher discovers the HPL expedition report – essentially the novel – and the Prologue segues into a period piece of early 20th century exploration.

Then the epilogue can show either 1) the researcher doing the responsible thing and supporting the cover-up, or 2) we discover that he is a secret magician for the Old Ones and wants to wreak havoc on the planet, and goes public with his findings. Just an idea…