Friday
Dec042009
The Call of Cthulhu film review
The works of H.P. Lovecraft do not exactly lend themselves well to adaptation. His tales tend to focus more on characters becoming aware of unimaginable horrors than any sort of adventure. The monsters themselves are rarely even described more than just unfathomable beings beyond our comprehension. This creates a problem for those intending to show the creature. It is hard to deliver on showing a creature that lives up to being indescribably horrid. The artists for Rue-Morgue have spent their entire lives trying to do such a thing with the result being cheesy horror art. This raises the question of whether or not the monster should even be shown in the film, when the mystery of it was such a key element in the original story. There are plenty of interesting comics, films, and books that make use of Lovecraftian (cool word than I try to fit in my speech as often as possible) elements in original settings. However, straight adaptations have a reputation for being disastrous. Also a large part of the appeal of Lovecraft is his writing style. His plots, removed from his writing, are not always particularly memorable. It is the eerie and incredible descriptions that are a large part of the draw to Lovecraft. There is nothing particularly exciting about hearing a bunch of cultists chant around the fire, and cannot compare to reading the line “There are vocal qualities peculiar to men, and vocal qualities peculiar to beasts; and it is terrible to hear the one when the source should yield the other”.
The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society had quite a challenge and a history of failed attempts by others to overcome when they decided to create their own film of Lovecraft’s most famous and influential story- The Call of Cthulhu.
I want a poster of this next to my Metropolis poster.
The entire production is filmed to resemble an early horror/science fiction film along the line of Metropolis, Faust, and The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari. The film is silent and black and white (plus sepia). There are the usual black screens with text for the dialogue, which allows for easy translation. The DVD has 24 language options. The black and white looks great with overblown highlights and perfectly captures the vintage feel, including screen flicker and noise. The settings and effects fit the time period, with real sets and claymation and minimal use of greenscreen. There are absolutely no CG effects in the entire creation. The creators coined a new term for their filming process called “Mythoscope” (I don’t know how, but I’ll be fitting this term into everyday settings as well) that combines modern and vintage filming technique. Also utilized was “Mythophone” which converts the high fidelity audio into sounding proper for the time.
This is not a B-movie. The effects may be cheesy at times, but the directing is very impressive. The tone is intense and suspenseful. The cinematography is fantastic and creates an appropriate atmosphere and horror mood. The symphonic score fits right in and works to effectively complete the overall ambiance. The actors play their part skillfully, and accurately portray that feeling of “unspeakable terror and dread”. There is no over-the-top, silly acting that one may associate with the era. The workmanship here is very faithful to the source material and in keeping it in line with the vintage feel.
The Call of Cthulhu runs for 47 minutes- a perfect length to portray the short story and not linger on past its welcome. Because of the nature of Lovecraft’s writing, I don’t see the story making an effective full-length film with lots of dialogue. There was more suspense and build-up than you might expect for its short length, but it was effective all around. I would have liked a more vague conclusion than showing what they did, but I can accept it. I learned from this film that even removed from his writing, the feeling of suspense and wonder of Lovecraft’s stories can be presented, just in a different way. It isn’t the same appeal as his writing, but a different and effective appeal.
I want to mention that I really recommend this for after reading Lovecraft’s original short story. No one writes as beautifully about everything horrid, and this cannot be captured in film. I wouldn’t want people to watch the film and then read the story with previous knowledge of the conclusion. The story will lose some appeal that way, while the film will only be more enjoyable to established fans of the story. So, read Call of Cthulhu and then watch the movie. It is in the public domain and can be read (along with tons of other HPL stories) right here.
A very fun watch- I highly recommend it. It is also nice to see just how much care was put into this fan project. The making-of feature is required viewing.
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I really like the idea of combining modern and vintage filming technique. The Call of Cthulhu mostly relies on imitation of archaic technique and technology. I would like to see a similar process, but with more modern elements for a truly anachronistic feel. I would like to something similar, but in wide-screen or perhaps an ambient-electronic soundtrack. There a lot of interesting directions this could go. I would like to see some experimentation in the future with this style.
The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society had quite a challenge and a history of failed attempts by others to overcome when they decided to create their own film of Lovecraft’s most famous and influential story- The Call of Cthulhu.
I want a poster of this next to my Metropolis poster.The entire production is filmed to resemble an early horror/science fiction film along the line of Metropolis, Faust, and The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari. The film is silent and black and white (plus sepia). There are the usual black screens with text for the dialogue, which allows for easy translation. The DVD has 24 language options. The black and white looks great with overblown highlights and perfectly captures the vintage feel, including screen flicker and noise. The settings and effects fit the time period, with real sets and claymation and minimal use of greenscreen. There are absolutely no CG effects in the entire creation. The creators coined a new term for their filming process called “Mythoscope” (I don’t know how, but I’ll be fitting this term into everyday settings as well) that combines modern and vintage filming technique. Also utilized was “Mythophone” which converts the high fidelity audio into sounding proper for the time.
This is not a B-movie. The effects may be cheesy at times, but the directing is very impressive. The tone is intense and suspenseful. The cinematography is fantastic and creates an appropriate atmosphere and horror mood. The symphonic score fits right in and works to effectively complete the overall ambiance. The actors play their part skillfully, and accurately portray that feeling of “unspeakable terror and dread”. There is no over-the-top, silly acting that one may associate with the era. The workmanship here is very faithful to the source material and in keeping it in line with the vintage feel.
The Call of Cthulhu runs for 47 minutes- a perfect length to portray the short story and not linger on past its welcome. Because of the nature of Lovecraft’s writing, I don’t see the story making an effective full-length film with lots of dialogue. There was more suspense and build-up than you might expect for its short length, but it was effective all around. I would have liked a more vague conclusion than showing what they did, but I can accept it. I learned from this film that even removed from his writing, the feeling of suspense and wonder of Lovecraft’s stories can be presented, just in a different way. It isn’t the same appeal as his writing, but a different and effective appeal.
I want to mention that I really recommend this for after reading Lovecraft’s original short story. No one writes as beautifully about everything horrid, and this cannot be captured in film. I wouldn’t want people to watch the film and then read the story with previous knowledge of the conclusion. The story will lose some appeal that way, while the film will only be more enjoyable to established fans of the story. So, read Call of Cthulhu and then watch the movie. It is in the public domain and can be read (along with tons of other HPL stories) right here.
A very fun watch- I highly recommend it. It is also nice to see just how much care was put into this fan project. The making-of feature is required viewing.
---
I really like the idea of combining modern and vintage filming technique. The Call of Cthulhu mostly relies on imitation of archaic technique and technology. I would like to see a similar process, but with more modern elements for a truly anachronistic feel. I would like to something similar, but in wide-screen or perhaps an ambient-electronic soundtrack. There a lot of interesting directions this could go. I would like to see some experimentation in the future with this style.
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Reader Comments (1)
Sounds really interesting, I'll check it out sometime.