CaptainHowdy.com The #1 Exorcist Fansite Since 1999
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Yeah, I just read it and replied in the Sequels department under Teihlard, Jung, Merrin, Gnosticism article – thanks.
Yeah, those drawing/painting shows are sooo cool! I’ve loved them since I was a kid.
I think that your attitude is healthy – thinking “better” instead of “perfect” is reasonable and ends up in less frustration than thinking you need to have a perfect result!
You’re welcome. I wish I could draw well, sketch and/or paint, but I don’t seem to have the “touch”. I can do crappy dinosaurs, flying saucers and mountains and trees but they’re all pretty pathetic!
Thanks for filling me in… I still need to read that story on your blog you mentioned. Maybe over the weekend, hope yours is pleasant.
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…
Something Wicked This Way Comes.
The Haunting.
The Legend of Hell House.
The Innocents.
The Others.
Various Christopher Lee Draculas.Yeah, the sexism and racism bother me, as does the die-hard materialist reductionism of his essays and letters… but his horror fiction is deeply satisfying to me.
For sheer alien-ness, I love The Colour Out of Space. A quasi-sentient cosmic gas, embedded in a meteorite, “feeds” on an innocent farm family. It lurks in the well and gradually “possesses” and consumes the family. HPL’s descriptions of the deep New England woods are just as uncanny as his depiction of the alien presence.
The Dunwich Horror for its duplication of the Christ story: a virginal young albino woman, Lavinia Whately, is impregnated by supernatural forces and gives birth to a son, half-human, half-Other. The story is replete with New Testament references: the son-creatures, Wilber and his invisible monstrous twin, are prophesied by an old man, their foster father Wizard Whately. Wilbur is not only the prophesied One Who Is Coming, his supernaturally-driven mission is to establish his true-parental “Old Ones” on earth in a kind of evil “kingdom”. As in the Christian story, the earth will be cleared off and replaced with a new world. Wilbur will establish this kingdom by bringing to maturity his invisible twin brother who in turn will bring their mutual Father, Yog-Sothoth, to earth. When the plot is foiled, the monstrous twin, stranded on a hill in the midst of noonday storm and darkness, calls upon his hideous Father to help him, to no avail. The parallels to Jesus’ crucifixion here are obvious, striking, and at the same time horrific, poignant, and sardonic.
I could go on and on about HPL.
But… – this is an obsessive, serious gripe – _not_ about the so-called Lovecraft movies.
I have not seen one “Lovecraft” film worthy of the name, except perhaps “Reanimator” in certain parts. Seems that born-yesterday kid-directors get off on the idea “Hey! Look at me! I’m making a Lovecraft movie!” while proceding to rape HPL and his stories. Why, oh why, don’t they grow up and _do_ Lovecraft? It’s strictly amateur hour performed by pinheads who don’t really “get” Lovecraft.
I say, respect the Master enough to replicate his fiction! If this means making some of the films period pieces, so much the better. To me nothing is more exasperating than viewing a purported “Lovecraft movie” and instead experiencing an immature, non-Lovecraftian “interpretation” – usually decked out in bad SFX. (The abortion called “Dagon” comes to mind here). Bottom line: if filmmakers respect Lovecraft, then by Cthulhu, have them DO Lovecraft! If they aren’t willing to capture HPL’s spirit and to responsibly flesh out his stories, they shouldn’t bother at all.
Best: Rear Window – funny and suspenseful, plus Grace Kelley.
Fave: North by Northwest has me laughing all thru because of the snappy, sophisticated dialogue, not to mention the sight gags such as are seen at the Chicago train station. Slick location photography, the romance of train travel, gorgeous Eva Marie Sainte, smooth James Mason, creepy Martin Landau, witty Cary Grant, cynical Leo G Carroll… and so much more.
Worst: Haven’t found one yet, but I have yet to view Topaz and Torn Curtain…
P.S: The worst one I _have_ seen: The Birds. Didn’t find it scary and the bird attacks on the schoolgirls had me giggling, as did the lady ornithologist. It was a misquoting of Daphne DuMaurier’s superior short story. Actually, someone should adapt that for the screen – the way it’s written, it’s practically pre-storyboarded. It would make a good, if short, film.
