[Film] The Stars are Right!

I just picked up a copy of the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society's silent film adaptation of "The Call of Cthulhu" on DVD. Based on the best known short story by Howard Phillips Lovecraft, this has long been regarded as unfilmable. It has multiple locations, a cast of dozens, and requires a deft touch. Most Lovecraft film adaptations have been, well, lets face it, pretty terrible (with occasional okay standouts like 'Dagon'). So it seems a real gamble to do a faithful low budget black and white silent film version of a story that is supposed to take place in the 1920's (thus befitting said treatment).

Boy did it pay off.

Wow. It was even better than I expected. It would be difficult to imagine any authentic looking twenties style silent film being done at all anymore, much less one as pitch perfect as this one. From the old style effects and rendering tricks (scale, fx), a noir atmosphere, background music, even to such details as the scratching of the negative, the typefaces on the placards (in 24 languages to boot!), almost every detail was painstakenly done to look authentic. This project was clearly in the hands of folks who "get" Lovecraft, and wanted to do something that didn't betray the imagery and story. It comes off as part twenties silent film, part noir, part suspense film, part low-budget indie, Brechtian play, Wiene-esque Expressionistic nightmare, and part Ray Harryhausen inspired madness. All of it comes off as a labor of love, and a hell of a lot more than I ever would have expected given their budget and the less than stellar past Lovecraftian adaptations to rise from the depths of R'lyeh. The effects are seriously old school, consistent with what you might have seen in a real 1920's silent film (and the more modern effects are pretty seamless, and the acting is better than in the 20's!). It is also amazing what you can get away with in black and white. Some of the scenes are just surreal. The film runs 47 taut minutes.

If you are a Lovecraft fan you will absolutely shiver when you see Cthulhu emerge.

DVD was ordered direct. $20, and shipping was $1.31 A great value. Even my receipt came on paper that looks like a Lovecraftian inspired 1920's telegram. The details are everything. This film was done by a lot of dedicated folks not making a lot of money over the space of two years. Lovecraft fans should support projects like this. Here is the trailer.

If you like Lovecraft, reread "The Call of Cthulhu", then pop this movie in and enjoy.