Death May Die: 4 Adaptations That Put The “Love” In Lovecraft
By Giallo Julian & Monster Mike
Gorehounds. Blood Babes. Fright Fiends. Everything else that goes bump in the night. We all’ve heard of H.P. Lovecraft, right? I mean, there’s an entire sub-genre dedicated to the guy.
A prolific writer that paved the way for Eldritch-style horror stories for many years to come, surely… unfortunately, he’s also known for not being that great of a person. Hell, some of his stories even reflect those aspects about him. Yikes.
But I’m not here to give the man’s biography. No, I want to talk about his bibliography… or, rather, other people’s interpretations of it. Films, in particular!
Lovecraft’s tales have been modified for cinema since the ’60s, with The Haunted Palace (based on The Case of Charles Dexter Ward) being the first acknowledged adaptation. That’s a Roger Corman flick, by the way, bringing the amount of Corman references I’ve made in these articles to about 1,993.
Related Article: A Tentacle Emerges in Our Exclusive Clip from H.P. LOVECRAFT’S THE DEEP ONES
There’s been some good ones, some bad ones, and some better than the material they were based upon. Depending on who you ask, that may or may not be hard to do.
However, venturing into the unknown to obtain cursed relics can be dangerous (surprising, I know), so I’m not going alone! Michael Mirande of Monster Mike Reviews has volunteered to join me on this journey. Between the two of us, I’m sure we can stave off the creeping madness that’ll try to set root in our feeble human minds!
Don your explorer outfit, load your gun (as much good it’ll do), and open up to page t̶͚̖̔u̵̠̤͑r̸̦͚̯͚̪̓̓̕ñ̵̨͈̖̀̏ ̴̨̬͆b̷̨̦̱̫̞̰̃͑à̶̟̗͕̯̟̀̿͐̒ç̸̜͕̠͖͉̀̇̎͝k̶̪͍̱̦͚̖̻̀ ̴͓͙̝͎̭̔̔̓̋̋̕͝ņ̴̘̝̬̋̂̄̀͋̏o̴̧̰̔́̿͗ẁ̶̧̫̫͓ ̶̢̼̾͗̎͆c̴̲̀͛͠͠l̵̯̟̄͛̄ö̶͎̹̭͙͓́̀s̸̛̲̠̿̔̂e̵̜̜̮̟̅́ͅ ̴̧̩̏̾̐̅́̃̚t̸̬̓̽ĥ̵͍̂̚ė̴̛̦͙̌͛̈ ̵̡̄̔̆̎b̷̢̹͋ó̶̮͉̺̱͑ò̷̱͎̪̻̱̘́ǩ̸̰̿̓̓ of your Necronomicon, because things are about to get a lil’ crazy in here!
Mike’s Pick #1
Re-Animator (Directed by Stuart Gordan; Starring Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton; 1985)
“After an odd new medical student arrives on campus, a dedicated local and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue.”
H.P. Lovecraft is a name that’s become synonymous with horror. There’s something simultaneously magical and horrifying about his creations. They manage to gross us out and mystify us at the same time. We can’t look away from the screen and we yearn to see more, more, more of the unknown. Several of his stories have become hugely successful horror movies and quite a few rank highly for me. Most notably, though, would be Re-Animator.
Re-Animator is the first Lovecraft movie I’d ever seen and you know what, I wouldn’t have it any other way. At the time I was very much into zombies and it was one of the few zombie movies I’d yet to see. Though what I got didn’t really fit my criteria for a zombie movie (they should never talk, in my humble opinion), I ended up loving it just the same.
The dark comedy was funny and the gore was incredible, but what really stood out to me was Jeffrey Combs as Dr. Herbert West. Easily one of the best anti-hero characters in all of horror. Easily.
Related Article: DREAD’s Lovecraftian Shocker SACRIFICE Starring Barbara Crampton is Now Available to Own on Blu-ray!
From the explosive intro to the gut-busting ending, this movie is cinematic gold and any self-respecting horror fan should hold it in high regard.
You can watch it digitally here or pick it up physically here.
Giallo’s Pick #1
The Resurrected (Directed by Dan O’Bannon; Starring John Terry, Jane Sibbett, Chris Sarandon; 1991)
“Charles Dexter Ward’s wife enlists the help of a private detective to find out what her husband is up to in a remote cabin owned by his family for centuries.” – via IMDB.
I recently talked about another Dan O’ Bannon flick in my last article… and by “another”, I mean the only other film he ever directed. That being said, for flicks made by someone who’s only sat in the director’s chair twice, both are pretty damn killer. Being a seasoned screenwriter probably helped a bit.
The plot is classic Lovecraft, following a Private Investigator (John Terry) as he uncovers what his client’s husband is up to. I mean, he left without a word, hasn’t contacted his wife at all, was caught smuggling human remains, and his new place is starting to reek from the copious amount of butcher’s meat/blood he’s been ordering on a weekly basis. Surely he’s not up to anything nefarious, right?
The Resurrected retells the story of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, which details an investigation into one Charles Ward and the significant personality changes he’s going through. Being Lovecraft, you can bet that arcane science and magic is involved. The film, with a bit of O’Bannon’s flair, includes blood, flesh, and body horror beasts that hunger for blood/flesh. Oh yeah, all done practically, too.
Jerry Dandridge himself portrays Mr. Ward (Chris Sarandon), and if you guessed he knocked it off the shoulders, you’d be right. I mean, it’s freakin’ Jack Skeleton. Prince Humperdinck. The one guy from Bordello of Blood! Whenever he shows up on the screen, his presence brings a movie up an entire letter grade. The other actors do a good job as well, not a bad performance to be had.
What stands out most, though, is the practical FX scenes of gruesome body horror. A mixture of animatronics, suits, and stop-motion animation that’s sure to satisfy any gorehound out there. Granted, they are few and far between, but what’s there is good stuff. I seriously feel there’s a lack of stop-motion gore effects. Sure, it’s an outdated art and not nearly as realistic as dousing some pig guts in fake blood, but damn if they aren’t so much fun to watch. To soak in. To admire with the knowledge it probably took weeks (if not months) to shoot a 30 second scene of a viscera-covered monster… but I digress.
This flick is probably, dare I say, my favorite Lovecraft adaptation as of yet. It’s faithful to the source material, appropriately eerie, and keeps that Lovecraft narrative going throughout the runtime. Definitely worth a watch!
I can’t find it anywhere to watch digitally, but you can buy it physically here.
Mike’s Pick #2
Color Out of Space (Directed by Richard Stanley; Starring Nicolas Cage, Joely Richardson, Madeleine Arthur; 2019)
“A secluded farm is struck by a strange meteorite which has apocalyptic consequences for the family living there and possibly the world.”
Color Out of Space is the most recent Lovecraft adaptation to hit the big screen, and supposedly one of the most faithful to the source material. Like Re-Animator, there’s a lot to love here. From an unhinged Nicholas Cage and a spaced-out Tommy Chong, to the big dramatic score and beautiful use of color, this is a big hit for me.
The body horror here is worth a special mentioning because some of the creations are quite disturbing. There’s no denying that there’s nothing else like it and it’s an absolute must-watch piece of Lovecraft cinema.
The reach of H.P. Lovecraft expands far and wide. There isn’t much his legendary grasp hasn’t touched. Inspiring a plethora of movies, music, TV shows and even video games, his twisted, tentacled creations burrow into the deepest, darkest recesses of our minds. He introduced us to fears we never knew we had and dimensions we never knew existed, populated by monsters we couldn’t begin to fathom.
You can watch it digitally here or buy it physically here.
Giallo’s Pick #2
The Whisperer in Darkness (Directed by Sean Branney; Starring Stephen Blackehart, P.J. King, Annie Abrams; 2011)
“Based on the H. P. Lovecraft story of the same name, a folklorist investigates reports of unusual creatures in Vermont only to uncover more than he bargained for…” – via IMDB.
Speaking of faithful adaptations, no one does it quite like the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society. Their first foray into bringing Lovecraft to film was The Call of Cthulhu, painstakingly made to resemble a 1920’s silent picture (complete with stop motion effects). However, I think The Whisperer in Darkness overshadows it just a smidge.
The novella’s plot follows a Miskatonic University professor going down to Vermont to check out the claims of strange creatures plaguing the area. He meets up with his informant and discovers the man has had a change of heart. Instead of declaring that the otherworldly beings are menacingly evil, he now talks about how the creatures are actually peaceful and want to share their knowledge with all humanity. To say something seems amiss would be an understatement.
Overall, this adaptation is quite faithful to the original story, much like HPLHS’s previous venture, except this time making the film resemble a 1930’s talkie. It hit all the marks, being probably the most faithful Lovecraft flick I’ve seen… save for the ending. Now, the short story didn’t have much of one, inspiring the filmmakers to come up with their own climatic third act, which works well for the most part. In my opinion, it’s the better of the two finales.
The only gripe I have is the usage of CGI for the creatures and effects. It’s not a deal-breaker or anything, it just detracts from the whole “1930’s film” angle it goes for. It is an indie production, so the low budget does mean concessions needed to be made, so I’m not counting off too many points. And it does help that the CGI is decent.
I feel like it’s one of the lesser-known Lovecraft adaptions out there, which is a shame because I think it should be held in high regard among the cosmic horror community if it isn’t already.
I don’t know where you can watch it digitally, but you can own it physically here.
Iä! By the watchful eyes of Yog Sothoth, we’ve made it to the end! Many thanks to Monster Mike for assisting in this venture down the spasming, nigh-bottomless gullet of eldritch terror! Most of our sanity remains intact, just a little compulsive chanting every now and then, though I’m sure that’ll change the next time we visit the hidden planes of the dreamscapes. Cthulhu fhtagn!
Until next time…
Ciao, friends!
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