Lovecraftian Horror

[deepestsleep]

Can anyone recommend some good stuff?

Dagon is probably the most recent. What's that like?

(Whilst your here, if you can give me the names of some of his books, I'd appreciate that too!)

Martin

[the night watchman]

Lovecraft mostly wrote short stories. The Del Rey line (below) contains his most well known. The Arkham House line (below) contains nearly all of his stories.

Del Rey paperbacks (cheap & cool covers):
"The Lurking Fear and Other Stories"
"The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath"
"At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror"
"The Tomb and Other Tales"
"The Case of Charles Dexter Ward"

Arkham House editions:
"At the Mountains of Madness"
"Dagon and Other Macabre Tales"
"The Dunwich Horror and Others"
"The Horror in the Museum"

Movies:

"Dagon" (based on "The Shadow Over Innsmouth") and a little-known movie called "The Resurrected" (based on "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward") are probably the closest to achieving Lovecraft's atmosphere, mood, and sense of the uncanny, IMO. Two other movies not based on Lovecraft but with the Lovecraft flavor are "Alien" and John Carpenter's "The Thing."

"Re-Animator" and "From Beyond" are based from stories of the same name, and are fun movies, but not terribly representative of Lovecraft. "The Dunwich Horror" was made into a movie and follows the story reasonably closely, but completely misses the mood and sense of unearthliness.

The novella "The Color Out of Space" was made into "Die, Monster, Die" and later into "The Curse," both of which bear only a superficial resemblance to it.

"The Haunted Palace" is based loosely on "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" and is an okay movie.

I'm probably missing some other obvious ones, but those of some films off the top of my head.

[the night watchman]

Here's a site dedicated to Lovecraft in the movies:

http://www.thelurker.com/

My opinions on more movies:

"Bride of Re-Animator" - So-so sequel to "Re-Animator." Has its moments, but the humor is weak and the story is hobbled by too many characters and far too much plot.

"Cast a Deadly Spell" - Not directly based on any story, but a fun campy movie that takes place in a world where magic is commonplace.

"Castle Freak" - Verrrry loosely based on "The Outsider." Pretty good flick by Stuart Gordon.

"The Crimson Cult" - Very loosely based on "Dreams in the Witch-house." Frickin' awful movie. A yawnfest. Avoid at all costs.

"Forever Evil" - Not based on any one story, but definitely inspired by Lovecraft's work. Very bad movie, but also very entertaining.

"In the Mouth of Madness" - Again, not based on any one story, but inspired by Lovecraft's work. Some people really like this movie. I thinks it's okay, but more of a missed opportunity.

"Necronomicon" - Anthology of three stories, one sorta, kinda, but not really based on "The Rats in the Walls," one on "Cool Air,” and one very, very, very loosely on "The Whisperer in Darkness." A middlin' to okay flick, but don't think you're actually seeing Lovecraft's work with any of these "adaptations."

"The Unnamable"/"The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter" - Fair movies that, again, use Lovecraft's work as springboards for their own stories.

Here's a good site for the Lovecraft novice:

http://www.hplovecraft.com/


Hope I've been helpful.
:)

[izombie]

Well there is the rub: you want good stuff.

I've been a Lovecraft fan(fanatic) for many, many years and to me most of the movies that get his name slapped onto them probably make him spin in his grave.

In my opinion see these movies for a decent/good Lovecraft to screen expierence.

Dagon - Based on his stories: Dagon and The Shadow over Innsmouth.

The Resurrected - Based on The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, one of the best Lovecraft adaptations in MHO. Stars Chris Sarandon rent it this weekend, I believe you will enjoy it.

Re-Animator/Bride of Re-Anaimator - Both movies as based on the story Herbert West:Reanimator. If you have read this story you can put the pieces together and find the story in both movies. If you rent these get the uncut versions.

Castle Freak - A decent flick with two of the stars from Re-Animator (Crampton, Combs) again go for the uncut version.

In the Mouth of Maddness - Not based on a particular story but good influence.

The Necronomicon - I liked it because I'm a Yunza fan, it is passable...

Edgar Allen Poe's The Haunted Castle - Roger Corman production of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, he used Poe's name because more people were familiar with him (Thanks for the help Roger<dick>) Vincent Price give a decent performance in this movie.

Ones to avaiod like the plague:

The Unnamable - While this is a very short Lovecraft story, the movie sucks ass

The Unnamable II:The Statemtent of Randolf Carter - Well becuase the first one didn't suck enough we get part two, sorry if this sounds sexist but the only redeeming qualitys in this movie are:
1) Maria Ford naked the whole movie
2) Julie Strain as the "Monster"

To top it all of they used the title of another good(but short) Lovecraft story: The Statement of Randolf Carter, this story has nothing to due with the The Unnamable, people should have been flogged for this!

The Curse/Die Monster Die - Sucked the Color out of the Colour out of Space

Cthulu Mansion - Public execution would be to good for this movie.



I could go on and on but here is a decent site for more info

http://www.thelurker.com/

I also can strongly recommend the book Lurker in the Lobby.

[the night watchman]

izombie, have you seen any of the short films that are listed on that site. I've heard good things about "The Music of Erich Zann." I've also read a review of a 60 min. adaptation of "The Yellow Sign" from the story by Robert W. Chambers. Have you heard whether this has been or will be released?

[deepestsleep]

Cheers people! That'll keep me going for a bit! (though feel free to continue the discussion!)

Martin

[izombie]

Originally posted by the night watchman
izombie, have you seen any of the short films that are listed on that site. I've heard good things about "The Music of Erich Zann." I've also read a review of a 60 min. adaptation of "The Yellow Sign" from the story by Robert W. Chambers. Have you heard whether this has been or will be released?

No I have not seen any of them, but they're on the list ;)

[Gravedigger]

I enjoyed DAGON, Gordon's second best film in my opinion. But it did have some poor CG effects, as well as underwater shots. But overall, a creepy and haunting film, including some pretty cool gore effects too!!!

Try these:
THE UNNAMABLE.
THE HAUNTED PALACE.
RE-ANIMATOR.
FROM BEYOND.
CASTLE FREAK.<--(Lovecraft inspired)
IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS.<--(Lovecraft inspired)
LURKING FEAR.
NECRONOMICAN.
THE DUNWICH HORROR.
DIE, MONSTER, DIE.
THE CURSE.
THE RESURRECTED.
THE BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR.

[frogmonkey]

I would personally recomend staying away from his novellas (At the Mountains of Madness and the Case of Charles Dexter Ward) for beginners...even though they are relatively short he is not a very good writer beyond short story length. Also I am not a particular fan of his dream cycle stories (The Dreamquest of Unkown Kadath et al.)--they just aren't as interesting to me.

Personal recomendation: start off with The Lurking Fear and other tales and go from there...or maybe his "Best of" one but that is a bit expensive unless you know you dig his stuff.

oh, and avoid The Loved Dead, it is made up of rewrites he did for other writers. There is some okay stuff but most is crap. And the racist angle is played up even more in those (if you can beleive that).

ps...beware the cheesy suprise endings in italics, ther be aplenty.

[the night watchman]

Well, the thing to remember about Lovecraft is that his narratives serve atmosphere and a sense of the uncanny and the unearthly rather than plot, character, action, etc. The best way to read HPL in my opinion is in solitude with no distractions, reading very slowly, focusing on the prose and opening your mind to the abstractions. Lovecraft is definitely more Edgar Allan Poe than Richard Layman. It might take some getting used to, if you're used to page-turners, but the rewards are definitely worth the effort.