Delve Deeper

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

HPLFF LA ticket info...


For Immediate Release:

Tickets for the first H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Los Angeles go on sale tonight a minute after midnight! The festival, which takes place at the
Warner Grand Theater (478 West 6th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731), will screen six of the best movies that have played at the original HPLFF
in Portland, Oregon, from the past 14 years.

Doors open at 2 PM, after party at 10 PM at the
Whale & Ale Pub (327 West 7th Street, two blocks from theater).

Films scheduled to appear:


Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown (2008) - An award-winning documentary about the man who created the Cthulhu Mythos, H.P. Lovecraft. Directed by Frank H. Woodward. (90 minutes)

Cool Air (1999) - "Never underestimate the power of the human will." Jack Donner (Transformers 3, ST:TOS) stars in this powerful period adaptation of the classic Lovecraft tale about a man who will do ANYTHING to survive. Masterfully filmed in Los Angeles on a shoestring budget, directed by and also starring Bryan Moore. (50 minutes)

AM 1200 (2008) - Eric Lange (Lost), John Billingsley (True Blood), and Ray Wise (Reaper, Twin Peaks) star in this taut supernatural thriller about a man on the run who flees into a far worse Hell than the one he left. A modern Lovecraft-inspired tale directed by David Prior. (40 minutes)

The Music of Erich Zann (1980) - One of the earliest versions of one of Lovecraft's most popular stories. A boarder is drawn into the web of his mysterious old musician neighbor, who plays haunting music for an unseen audience. Directed by John Strysik. (17 minutes)

The Call of Cthulhu (2005) - Filmed in Mythoscope, this black and white film was made as if it were produced in 1926, the year Lovecraft wrote his definitive tale about a worldwide cult bent on raising their obscene god from the depths of the ocean floor. Expertly crafted by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, this is the most faithful Lovecraft story adaption to date. Winner of many awards. Directed by Andrew Leman. (47 minutes)

Re-Animator (1985) - This extreme 80's horror movie spawned many filmmakers to follow in its footsteps. Starring Jeffrey Combs (Star Trek, The Frighteners) as Herbert West, a scientist obsessed with curing death. 2010 is the 25th anniversary of this outrageous horror-comedy. Directed by Stuart Gordon. (86 minutes)

Click
here for ticket information...


(Thanks to Aaron Vanek)

Chuck and Dexter screening at CONvergance...


Spooky Spooky Scary Scary, the latest film featuring those madcap Cthulhu cultists Chuck and Dexter, will screen at Cinema Rex on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. as part of CONvergance! Tim Uren, who plays chuck, will be in attendance...

Click here for details, and visit the official film site for more...



(Thanks to Tim Uren)

New image from The Island...


A new behind-the-scenes image from Gonzo Entertainment's latest offering, The Island, has been released and can be seen below! The film, said to contain several Lovecraftian elements and references, is their follow-up to Beyond the Wall of Sleep...


(Thanks to Nathan Fisher)

Enter the Dimension of Madness...


For Immediate Release:

The Cthulhu Key: Legacy

The debut horror film from Jason Heath is in production with a scheduled Fall 2010 release.

Horror film favorite Bianca Barnett (
Albino Farm, Toybox) stars as Kharma Jones, a woman who must unlock the mystery of The Codicil Coetus, an ancient alien text before a bloodthirsty cult can open a gateway to a dimension of madness that will consume the world.

The Cthulhu Key: Legacy is a dark and chilling film inspired by the works of H.P Lovecraft. A fast paced, pulp influenced film, The Cthulhu Key: Legacy is a fast paced decent into madness as the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

Joshua Moreno (
Death Rattle) stars as Castro, leader of an enigmatic cult that exists only to bring an ancient evil back to Earth. Angela Owens is Angell, the chaotic cultist with a thirst for blood. Kristen Hall (Toybox, Possum Walk) plays the Entity, a shape shifting horror from the beginning of time. Amy Echols High plays the evil Tenebris, an evil alien priestess with her own agenda. Rapper 10 Million makes his screen debut as Cutter, crazed cultist with a gift for pain.

Standing against them are Jarod Warren as Trent, a battle scarred veteran who has seen a lifetime of pain. Stephanie Kelley (Playboy.com) is Dr Dyer, mysterious agent of the Occult Advisory Corps. Grady Mack is Director Alberts, a beleaguered manager pushing to keep everything together. Brandon Noack plays Noah, electronic specialist, and Floyd Miller plays Mill, an expert in the Occult. Sarah Songer plays Clara, a girl with a remarkable ability, one that could lead to life or death.

Rounding out the cast is Horror Queen Monique Dupree, appearing in a very special role, and Kitsie Duncan as network news anchor Judi Nance. The film also features Duane Frazier, Jonathan Winsor, Christie Nickels, Doris Ireland and Abbie Black Jouette.

Musician and composer JK Swopes from soundsandgear.com brings a dark urban style to the soundtrack score, while Oakree from Propnomicon delivers amazing Cthulhu Mythos art and props. Mark Walker created the
Codicil Coetus, a book of unspeakable evil as old as time itself.

Check out some of the amazing concept art and an early teaser trailer below...









(Thanks to Jason Heath)

Dreams in the Witch House animated...


Check out the following student produced adaptation of Dreams in the Witch House found by the always awesome Grim Reviews blog! The short was created using a mix of stop-motion and computer animation...



(Thanks to Grim Reviews)

Thing on the Doorstep synopsis online...


It's been awhile since we have mentioned Stuart Gordon's long rumored adaptation of The Thing on the Doorstep, so when I stumbled across the full synopsis, I thought it would be a good opportunity to bring the project to the attention of our new readers...

Said to be in "pre-production", the film was written by long-time Gordon collaborator Dennis Paoli, and will be produced by Robert Katz and Etchie Stroh (for Moonstone Entertainment), but there seems to be no timetable for getting the film in production...


Check out the full synopsis below:



Edward Derby's life is fairly ordinary. All that changes when the seductive and troubled Asenath Waite enters his office. Obviously suffering from severe psychological problems, she claims her debilitated grandfather Ephraim is trying to take over her body…literally.

Edward is unable to resist the intense sexual chemistry between them. When Edward and Asenath make passionate love, Edward feels his soul forcibly ripped from his body. While staring back into his own eyes, he realizes this woman's diagnosis won’t be found in any medical textbook.

After taking over Asenath's body and destroying her soul, Ephraim sets his sights on Edward's body as his next host.


Edward must find a way to destroy Ephraim before he loses his own body and soul.


(Thanks to Moonstone Entertainment)

Friday, June 18, 2010

Upcoming items of interest in books and games

Avatar Press will be releasing a new Lovecraft inspired comic by Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows called Neonomicon. It's a sequel of sorts to The Courtyard, a short story he wrote for the Starry Wisdom tribute book which has also been adapted as a comic by Avatar. Speaking of which both it and Yuggoth Cultures are being reprinted for the Neonomicon's release.


Speaking of the Starry Wisdom it has a sequel coming out: Songs of the Black Worm Gism: Starry Wisdom Part 2. It's also by Alan Moore, fans should be aware that in reviews on Amazon it says that it has more in common with transgressive fiction than the Mythos (it also contains some adult content).

Other books set for release soon (or which have recently come out) include What to do When you Met Cthulhu: A Guide to Surviving the Mythos, Cthulhu's Reign, Ancient Shadows, The Lovecraft Necronomicon Primer: A Guide to the Cthulhu Mythos, Cthulhu's Dark Cults, Lovecraft Unbound, and Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom.


In gaming, Steve Jackson Games will shortly be unleashing Cthulhu Munchkin 4: Crazed Caverns. It will add Portal and Dungeon rules to Cthulhu Minchkin.

Privateer Pres will be producing the Monsterpocalypse Battle Miniatures Game, which has two full armies and a battle map culled from their Monsterpocalypse collectible minis game. All the pictures of it show the Lords of Cthul, so hopefully their Mythos inspired army will be one of the to factions in the game.

Cubicle 7 Entertainment will be publishing Cthulhu Britannica, which is a Call of Cthulhu setting in 1930's or Arthurian Britain.

Also coming out will finally be a physical version of Monsters and Other Childish Things, a humorous game in which you play a child with an invisible friend that happens to be an unnameable soul devouring monstrosity from an alternate dimension.

Gaming T Shirt publisher Split Reason has a new Cthulhu T Shirt.

For a few bucks you can now get your own Yarn based Cthulhu critter.

And Craig pointed out to me a Cthulhu based RPG I missed called Yellow Dawn. Think Post Apocalypse with a little Mythos and Zombies sprinkled in. As if Post Apocalyptic worlds weren't disquieting enough.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Seance

Seance is an award winning horror short from first time Czech director Robin Kasparik, who says his next project is an official adaptation of Stephen King's "I Am the Doorway". Starring famous Czech actors Klara Jandova, Zdenek Julina, and Pavel Novy, what appears at first to be a traditional ghost story starts with a quote from Lovecraft. While he is still currently a student in film school, Kasparik has achieved quite the coup in getting King's permission to do a short film adaptation of his fiction as well as getting professional actors in his films.

The Burrowers invade the HPLFF...


Writer/director J.T. Petty's feature, The Burrowers, will screen as part of the 2010 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, Oregon! Starring Clancy Brown, William Mapother and Laura Leighton, the Western themed horror film revolves around a rescue party that sets out to find a family of settlers who have vanished from their home under mysterious circumstances...

In 2007, J.T. Petty wrote and directed a seven-part series, with the same title, that chronicles the events leading up to the 2008 feature. A short film, titled
Blood Red Earth, also takes place in the same universe...

Check out
Blood Red Earth here, and watch The Burrowers trailer below...



(Thanks to hplfilmfestival.com)

Celebrating 120 Years of Eldritch Paranoia with a Cthulhu-riffic Cabaret...


For Immediate Release:

the Right Reverend Johnny Landotter (Esoteric Order of Dagon, Landlocked Rocky Mountain Division)

in association with

Pimp My Shoggoth Productions

presents

LOVECRAFT'S BIRTHDAY!

Friday August 20th is the 120th birthday of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. What's that you say? The paranoid, xenophobic old bastard has been dead since 1937, from a combination of cancer and Bright's Disease? Well of course he has, but why let a little thing like that get in the way of a birthday party?! Have a little vision!

We have. We've had visions aplenty. Appalling visions! Visions of a Cthulhu-riffic cabaret the likes of which this town has never seen! After all, Lovecraft IS the father of modern horror; he deserves no less, we think you'll agree. Yes, a hideous spectacle of spoken word, a phantasmagoria of poetry, music and comedy to drive you mad with glee! A loathsome yet hilarious parade of shambling horrors and general yog-sothery before your very eyes!

Also, birthday cake.

Performances by:
the diabolical Dave Morris
Plutonian Warlock Skawt Chonzz
the malevolent Missie Peters
Tindlosi Hound Wrangler GLuke Maynard
the khaotic Kimberleigh Roseblade
and many other diverse and terrible entities!

And if you haven't fled gibbering from the building after so much cosmic awesomeness, we will present an exclusive screening of director David Prior's award-winning Lovecraftian short film "AM1200" in the second half of the show!

Door prizes!
A thoroughly abominable HPL Trivia Contest!
Prizes for Best Costume!

FEEL THE CALL...
August 20th -- Solstice Cafe -- 529 Pandora Ave, Victoria
Doors Yawn Wide @ 7:30, Show @ 8
$10 at the door, $5 with costume

Sponsored by: Dark Horse Books, Legends Comics, AudioVideo Replay, Russell Books, Cherry Bomb Toys and The Turntable


(Thanks to Toren Atkinson)

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The Thing gets a date...


Universal Pictures announced yesterday that Matthijs van Heijningen's Thing prequel will hit theaters on April 29th, 2011...

About the film: Antarctica: an extraordinary continent of awesome beauty. It is also home to an isolated outpost where a discovery full of scientific possibility becomes a mission of survival when an alien is unearthed by a crew of international scientists. The shape-shifting creature, accidentally unleashed at this marooned colony, has the ability to turn itself into a perfect replica of any living being. It can look just like you or me, but inside, it remains inhuman. In the thriller The Thing, paranoia spreads like an epidemic among a group of researchers as they’re infected, one by one, by a mystery from another planet.

Paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has traveled to the desolate region for the expedition of her lifetime. Joining a Norwegian scientific team that has stumbled across an extraterrestrial ship buried in the ice, she discovers an organism that seems to have died in the crash eons ago. But it is about to wake up.

When a simple experiment frees the alien from its frozen prison, Kate must join the crew's pilot, Carter (Joel Edgerton), to keep it from killing them off one at a time. And in this vast, intense land, a parasite that can mimic anything it touches will pit human against human as it tries to survive and flourish.

The Thing serves as a prelude to John Carpenter's classic 1982 film of the same name.

(Thanks to Coy A. Lothrop and slashfilm.com)

HPLFF LA line-up confirmed...


The following films have been confirmed for the Southern California (LA) H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival! The festival takes place September 11th...

Block one (3pm-6pm):

Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown
Cool Air
AM 1200

Block two (7pm-10pm):

Music of Erich Zann
Call of Cthulhu
Re-Animator

More as we get it...

(Thanks to hplfilmfestival.com)

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Zann screening tomorrow...


For Immediate Release:

Jared M. Skolnick's The Music of Erich Zann will screen as part of the
Anthology Film Archives in NYC tomorrow night, June 16th...

Click here for details...


(Thanks to Jared M. Skolnick)

Unfilmable.com poll results...


The Unfilmable.com poll, What is your favorite game based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft?, is over and the results are in...

The results are as follow:

2 votes: Arkham Horror
9 votes: Call of Cthulhu
0 votes: CthulhuTech
1 vote: Delta Green
0 votes: GURPS Cthulhupunk
0 votes: The Hills Rise Wild
2 votes: other

Thanks again for voting...

Games of Cthulhu, Part Two


Time for part two of games based off of Lovecraft’s work. There’s plenty of stuff to peek at so no point mentioning what’s already in this months poll.

We’ll start with live action roleplaying. Cthulhu Live (http://www.skirmisher.com/clive.htm), is the first one, though it's likely most people here already know if it.

Wraith (http://www.wraithcthulhu.com/) is live action Mythos roleplaying set in WWII. Players are members of a British secret intelligence group opposing an equally shadowy group called Wraith.

Moving on to more traditional pen and paper RPG’s, we have Fallen Empires: Cyberthulhu Gaming (http://www.rpg.net/realm/cyber/), which adapts cyberpunk setting rules to Call of Cthulhu. It's downloadable free.

Speaking of adaptation, Cthulhu has been adapated to more game settings than the now out of print GURPS Cthulhupunk and D20 Cthulhu. Pelgrane Press (http://www.pelgranepress.com/site/?page_id=242) has adapted it to their GUMSHOE game system as Trail of Cthulhu. It’s also been adapted to the True 20 system as Shadows of Cthulhu (http://www.rpgobjects.com/index.php?c=product&o[p_id]=384). It’s also been adapted to the Savage Worlds System as Realms of Cthulhu (http://realityblurs.com/wordpress/?page_id=911).

If you want Cthulhu set in the future you have Cthulhu Rising (http://www.cthulhurising.co.uk/). Another site has Space Cthulhu (http://www.darkshire.net/jhkim/rpg/spacecthulhu/) which adapts the Mythos to a Space Opera setting.

There’s also various online games based on the Mythos. Cthulhu Nation (http://www.cthulhunation.co.uk/index.php?regcode=11711) is an MMORPG loosely based off of Lovecrafts work. You choose one of 4 professions and join “The Group”, a mysterious organization devoted to stopping the Old Ones.

The House on Sentinel Hill (http://www.freewebs.com/plowking/coc_testcode.html) is a single player browser based game. You play a typical average every day guy with an interest in the paranormal, in this case a very bad house…

The Necromicon (http://www.kongregate.com/games/GamesofCthulhu/the-necronomicon) which Craig mentioned in an earlier post, is a single player card game on Kongregates website. The updated version is on Newgrounds (http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/458568). You are a low level would be cultist fighting your betters to rise up in the ranks to challenge Cthulhu. As you gain more levels you unlock more powerful cards. On a side note some content on Newgrounds is nsfw.

Cthulhu Fhtagn! (http://www.cthulhugame.it/) is another MMORPG based off the Mythos. It has some neat links too.

Cthulhumud (http://www.cthulhumud.com/) is an online Cthulhu roleplaying game based on a MUD system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD). You can choose to play a human, Deep One, Mi-Go, Yithian, or Zoog.

(Thanks to Keith Lindsay)

Monday, June 14, 2010

Updated: UnfilmableFest update...


The Underground Horror Filmfest™ presents UnfilmableFest (sponsored by Unfilmable.com)! The Silver Key (a film by Gary Fierro and Conor Timmis), H.P. Lovecraft's The Book (a film by James Raynor), The Other Gods (a film by Mike Boas), At the Reefers of Madness (a film by Brian Clement), From Beyond (a film by Michael Granberry), Frank DanCoolo: Paranormal Drug Dealer (a film by Andrew Jones) and The Crimson Robe (a film by Russell Welch) are scheduled to screen, along with clips (House of Black Wings, Pickman's Muse), trailers (Lovecraft Paragraphs, Colour from the Dark, Dirt Dauber and The Terrible Old Tran) and teasers (The Seventh Shadow), all at The Marquee in Tulsa, Oklahoma, July 10th...

Click here for details...

Update: Added all the latest guest and film screening information to the UnfilmableFest page, which you can visit here...


(Thanks to Art Sunday)

Tales from the Abyss...


Inspired by At the Mountains of Madness, Terror from the Abyss is a 8 min. B&W 1920's style silent movie from the filmmakers who brought us Earthbound and the "untitled Yithian Stop-Motion Project", Daniel Lenneér and Richard Svensson...

Written, directed and starring Daniel Lenneér, the short is a combination of stop-motion and traditional animation and film (most of which was shot against a green screen), and revolves around an expedition from Miskatonic University that discovers the remains of an alien civilization in Antarctica, where they are attacked by a shoggoth...

Check out Richard Svensson's blog for a behind-the-scenes look at creating the shoggoth, and visit the official film site for a look at the production...

The film will be available on YouTube in July...


(Thanks to Richard Svensson)

Del Toro speaks of Madness...


Now that Guillermo del Toro has left The Hobbit films the debate over what will be his next project is heating up and numerous titles are being tossed around, one of which, is At the Mountains of Madness. Del Toro took time out to talk with Ain't It Cool News recently, and this is what he had to say...

"No, no, no. I have exactly the set of tools that I need to be brave on MOUNTAINS. It's just that when you see something that somebody else is doing that you would never do, you admire it, you know? But, no, MOUNTAINS is exactly the movie I would like to do; it would push buttons, and it's extreme in many areas. It's a hard R-rated, big production tentpole in the genre of horror.

What I love about tentpole horror - which is not done much anymore, if at all - is that there was a time when you could see something like ALIEN or THE SHINING or THE THING. Movies that came not as a B-movie product of a studio, but as an A, tentpole, big release, high-end production like THE EXORCIST, and so on and so forth. And what I would love with MOUNTAINS is for it to have all the luster and the scope of a tentpole horror movie, but be R-rated. Not because I want to do gore for gore's sake, but because it is a very adult movie, and the consequences of things are really deep and disturbing. Hopefully, one day, I will have the clout to do it. But no, I am equipped with the exact bravery to go crazy on all the movies I make."

- Guillermo del Toro

It's been said that the success of The Hobbit was what Del Toro needed to get AtMoM off the ground, so now that he's left the project, does that mean Madness will forever be just a dream...

Only time will tell...

(Thanks to www.aintitcool.com)

Updated: Closet Space DVD announced...


Mel House's 2009 Lovecraftian feature film, Closet Space, is coming to DVD October 10th! Directed by House, and written by Jason Stewart, the film stars Melanie Donihoo, James LaMarr, Jovan Jackson, Peyton Wetzel, Morgan McCarthy, Evan Scott and Tim Wrobel...

About the film:
Closet Space follows a group of university students who are seeking their lost professor. They soon learn that he has discovered an alternate universe, accessible through a closet in an old farmhouse, and they decide to rescue him. Little do they know, horrible creatures live in the darkness of his alternate reality - ready to consume anything that enters their world...

Details are forthcoming...

Update: The Closet Space DVD street date has been moved up to September 14th
...


(Thanks to Mel House)

House of Black Wings review...


Monsters and Critics review David Schmidt's wonderful Lovecraftian ghost story, House of Black Wings here...

"
Schmidt fills his composures with Lovecraftian references and horrific visions. He also explores the sometimes blurred line between artistic creativity and madness. Schmidt may well be familiar with that line as these productions are likely to drive one to the asylum. Rarely does such a "labor of love" come together and Schmidt's production shines in that aspect."

- Monsters and Critics


(Thanks to David Schmidt)

Will giant monsters attack...


The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision Blog reports that frequent Tim Burton collaborator John August is in talks with DreamWorks to write Monsterpocalypse, based on the collectible miniature game...

The game was created by Matt Wilson, who will co-produce the movie, and involves fast-moving, action-packed strategy played with high-quality collectible miniatures portraying the most fearsome giant monsters on Earth, including the Lords of Cthul, dark beings from another plane come to enslave the human race...

More as it becomes available...


(Thanks to Dread Central)

The invasion begins this June...


Production on Jason Heath's film, The Cthulhu Key: Legacy, is set to begin on June 25th! Cast auditions were held recently, so look for a full cast list and update to the official site soon...

About the film:
The Cthulhu Key: Legacy is an original horror film inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Bianca Barnett stars as a woman in a race against an evil sorceress to decipher an alien book before the Earth is invaded by beings from another dimension...


(Thanks to Jason Heath)

Adapting Lovecraft for the screen...


David Bertrand sends word that the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studios (which we first mentioned here), in conjunction with the Fantasia Film Festival, will be hosting a class on "Adapting Lovecraft for the Screen" with two names that are very familiar to Unfilmable.com readers, Stuart Gordon and Dennis Paoli! The class takes place Sunday, July 18th from 2pm to 4pm at the Blue Sunshine Screening Room in Montreal, Quebec...

Click here for further details, and check out fangoria.com's coverage here...


(Thanks to David Bertrand)

Lovecraft's Providence, From A Different Angle...


Greetings from Fullerton, California!

If you liked my original Flickr collection of over 800 photos I unveiled last year, "
Lovecraft’s Providence, From A Different Angle: Providence & Beyond at the Time of HPL’s Centennial, 1990," but were put off by the photos being in their original chronological shooting order, instead of by location order, then the new collection linked below may become the only way you ever look at the same photos again! Providence, Rhode Island: The Streets - A street by street guide to the photos in "Lovecraft's Providence, From A Different Angle," is now viewable (along with the original collection) at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cthulhuwho1/collections/

With 95 additional detail photos added to the original 803 for clarity; and possibly more to come when I begin working on the Boston and Cambridge photos after the Providence section is completed, this might be a great research tool for everyone looking for H.P. Lovecraft related photos or details.

Annotations, Descriptions, Details, and Tags are still being worked on; but it was necessary to get everything sorted properly to be able to apply all of the same information to the related photos.

This entire project is dedicated to H. P. Lovecraft's upcoming 120th birthday on 20-August-2010; and as a celebration of it being twenty years since all of these photos were taken during the H.P. Lovecraft Centennial in 1990.

I'm working as many hours on this as I can, so it will be as complete as possible by 20-August-2010; but I suspect I'll be tweaking everything here for several years to come.

As always, your comments, corrections, emails, encouragement, and jibes are more than welcome!

Yes, I know this collection pushes these photos to the overkill level!

And finally, a reminder: I always give everyone permission to use any of my photos, for any reason, commercial or private, with or without modifications, for free; with the only stipulation being that you give a Will Hart photo credit if you can.

Please collect them and share them too! Spread the word. Thank You for taking the time to look through my photos.

Will Hart
aka California Cthulhu
13-June-2010


(Thanks to Will Hart)

The Transition of Juliet and Romeo...


Writer/director Stuart Jamieson is in early pre-production on The Transition of Juliet and Romeo, inspired by the works of HPL and William Shakespeare. Produced by Teamgecko Production, and starring Alex Grant as Romeo, the film is a contemporary tale, where Juliet and Romeo are separated not by a family feud but by social strata...

Romeo is a humble mail clerk in Verona Legal Services and Juliet is the daughter of the CEO; when Juliet's father uses the Necronomicon to summon outer god Yog Sothoth all Hell is literally unleashed. Now our star crossed lovers must battle Fate, the forces of darkness, and parental disapproval so that they might spend eternity together...

With an aimed release date of April 2011, the producers are currently looking for funding, which you can learn more about here...

Watch this space for more...


(Thanks to Stuart Jamieson)

DanCoolo and the Necronomicon on Grim Reviews...


The always entertaining Grim Reviews blog reviews Andrew W. Jones' amazing short film Frank DanCoolo: Paranormal Drug Dealer here, and covers the release of a new Lovecraft inspired iPhone App, The Necronomicon Card Game here...



(Thanks to Grim Reviews)

The Monster of the Sea...


Head over to HorrorScope for an interview with filmmaker Stuart Simpson, whose latest film, El Monstro del Mar is inspired by HPL's The Call of Cthulhu, among other things...

About the film: Three gorgeous but deadly hired killers, Beretta, Blondie and Snowball, hole up in a small beachside community to keep a low profile. But this town has a dark secret. The local old sea baron, Joseph, tries desperately to warn them to never go into the water. But these crazy vixens listen to no one, especially no crazy assed old fool. So the Kraken awakes! Now, along with Joseph and his beautiful grand-daughter, Hannah, they must fight for their lives against this furious creature of the deep as the sea rises in a tidal wave of blood...

Check out the poster and trailer below, or visit the film's official site here...




(Thanks to ozhorrorscope.blogspot.com)

Cthulhu Chronicles: The Calling...


Boom! Studios will release a new Lovecraft-inspired comic called Cthulhu Chronicles: The Calling in July from writers Michael Alan Nelson and Johanna Stokes...

About the comic: A cruise ship comes to port, hundreds are aboard dead - but why? Clayton Diggs is a pharmaceuticals salesman who discovers his sister has committed herself to an insane asylum; she's checked herself in, fearing she'll hurt herself or someone else.


All across the world, ordinary people in an ordinary world find themselves drawn by fate to see darkness and despair unlike anything they ever could imagine. Meanwhile, a cult makes its move, believing that there is a great one sleeping that will hear...The Calling!


The first issue will be randomly shipped with one of the following covers shown below (by Sean Phillips and Federica Platti). Look for it July 28th...




(Thanks to Dread Central)

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Cthulhu Related Games

Hello all! This will be my first time posting. My name is Keith and I hope to bring you a few off beat links. Craig and company have films based on lovecrafts work covered pretty well, so I intend to concentrate on other Cthulhu related merchandise, or cosmic horror films not directly made from Lovecraft’s fiction. As this months poll is based on what everyone’s favorite game based off of Lovecraft’s work is, I thought I’d point out a few not mentioned so much. In the last decade or so his creations have been the inspiration for quite a few games out there.

We’ll start with Board Games. Everyone here probably knows Arkham Horror by Fantasy Flight Games, so normally I wouldn’t mention it. However, it will soon be getting a new expansion: The Lurker at the Threshold (http://store.fantasyflightgames.com/productdetails.cfm?sku=VA63 ) with 110 new Ancient One Cards. It also has new Gate markers designed to give Gates variety, and Relationship cards that will foster more cooperation among players. It should be out soon.

From Atlas Games you have Cults Across America (http://www.atlas-games.com/product_tables/AG1210.php ), a game for 2-6 players in which you play cults hellbent on world domination via tanks, Pope, Cthulhu, or some other method.

From Mayfair Games there is Witch of Salem (http://mayfairgames.com/game.php?id=83&stock=MFG3309&name=Witch+of+Salem), a game for 2-4 players who are the helpers of the master witch of Salem trying to locate and close portals to the other side that are letting minions of the Old Ones through.

Twilight Creations has 2 games. Cthulhu Rising (http://www.twilightcreationsinc.com/cthulhurising/) is a 2 player game where one player plays cultists trying to summon Cthulhu, and the other plays the investigators trying to shut them down. The other is Innsmouth Escape (http://www.twilightcreationsinc.com/innsmouthescape/) where 1 player plays a victim trying to escape Innsmouth, and the other 1-4 players are in charge of groups of Deep Ones trying to catch him.

Next up are card games of which seem to be quite popular with Mythos inspired game designers:

First up is Atlas Games’ Cthulhu 500 (http://www.atlas-games.com/product_tables/AG1260.php) a card game for 3 to 8 players, it allows you to choose one of several Mythos inspired racing vehicles, drivers, and pit crew before you tear off on a race across space/time to the finish line while trying to annihilate the competition.

Over at Steve Jackson games The Stars Are Right (http://www.sjgames.com/starsareright/) is the American translation of a German card game for 2-4 players. Its artwork is done by Goomi of The Unspeakable Vault of Doom

(http://www.goominet.com/unspeakable-vault/vault/295/). Players try to manipulate the patterns of the sky to summon the Old Ones and their minions.

They also have Chez Cthulhu (http://www.sjgames.com/chezcthulhu/) which is based off their popular line of Chez Geek card games, this particular one being inspired by the Mythos. Your goal as usual is to accumulate Slack by performing various activities, some of which are quite disturbing…

Their third card game Munchkin Cthulhu (http://www.worldofmunchkin.com/munchkincthulhu/) follows the usual Munchkin formula of kick open a door, fight monster, take it’s stuff. It has three sequels, one of which is also drawn by Goomi.

Toy Vault has Do You Worship Cthulhu (http://www.toyvault.com/cthulhugame/main.htm) a party game for 5-30 people in which one or more of the players is secretly a cultist and everyone attempts to convince each other the cultist is anyone but themselves.

Fantasy Flight Games has the Call of Cthulhu Living Card Game (http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=11&enmi=Call%20of%20Cthulhu%20LCG) which allows one player to portray the evils of the Mythos whilst another represents the Investigators trying to stop them.

Playroom Entertainment has Unspeakable Words (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UC8BPE?ie=UTF8&tag=purplepawn-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000UC8BPE) a card game for 2-6 players in which you win by forming ever more complicated words in the R’lyehian tongue. The more complicated the more points there worth, but the more likely you go crazy (sorry about the Amazon link I couldn’t find an official site link).

Third World Games has The Testimony of Jacob Hollow (http://www.thirdworldgames.com/html/tojh/index.jsp) a game for 2-6 players trying to solve the mystery of the destruction of Castle Bay.

Steve Jackson Games also has a Dice Based game called Cthulhu Dice (http://www.sjgames.com/dice/cthulhudice/). It’s a game for 2-5 players where in the players roll the dice and try to avoid Cthulhu showing up and draining their sanity.

Several sites also have downloadable games based on the Mythos, usually for free, sometimes in the playtesting stage:

Book Ranger has the Cthulhu Boardgame (http://www.bookranger.co.uk/Cthulhu/CthulhuHexAndCounter.htm), a downloadable print and play wargame that lets one player be the investigators and the other one be the monsters.

Warpspawn Games has Cthulhu Skirmish (http://www.angelfire.com/games2/warpspawn/CS.html), a board/card game for download in which two players assume the role of one of eight factions within Lovecraft’s universe fighting one another for whatever reason.

At Board Game Geek there are links to download and play Cthulhu: Tora! Tora! Tora! (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/39780/cthulhu-tora-tora-tora), a two-player board game pitting kamikaze pilots against Cthulhu. Pity the fighter pilots…

Invisible City productions has Cthul-B-Q (http://www.invisible-city.com/bulletins/494/cthul-b-que-game-of-the-month-for-september-08), a bizarre hybrid of the Mythos and Iron Chef in which you attempt to summon and then cook various extra-dimensional critters.

The Island of Wak Wak has Cthulhu Miniatures (http://www.island-of-wak-wak.com/) combat rules downloadable for playtesting.

S-P-O-N-G-E has their own Fight the Evil card game (http://www.s-p-o-n-g-e.com/cardgame.php) downloadable for play.

Several of the gaming sites also have various Cthulhu related goodies for sale along with their games.

Atlas Games also carries Where the Deep Ones Are (http://www.atlas-games.com/product_tables/AG2703.php). It’s a retelling of The Shadow over Innsmouth, but done as a children’s story (obviously given the parody inherent in it’s name).

Steve Jackson Games has their Cthulhu Dice Bag (http://sjgames.com/cthulhudicebag/) and a line of Chibithulhu plushies (http://www.worldofmunchkin.com/toys/chibithulhu/).

Q Workshop has custom dice for Arkham Horror, Call of Cthulhu, and Munchkin Cthulhu (http://q-workshop.com/main.php?lang=EN&sell_type=DETAL).

There are also a few Role Playing games.

Pelgrane Press has Trail of Cthulhu (http://www.pelgranepress.com/) which offers a slightly different take on the genre.

1KM1KT has Apathy: The Calling (http://www.1km1kt.net/rpg/apathy-the-calling), a bizarre take on the Mythos wherein slacker youth confront the minions of the Old Ones with inertia and boredom.

There are more RPG adaptations of the Mythos as well as many online games but those will wait for a future article. Let me know if you want to see more.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

The Sleeping Deep NEW 30-second teaser

The new 30-second promotional teaser for the award-winning screenplay The Sleeping Deep is now LIVE on YouTube.

Get your deep on...



Music by Shawn P. Russell

You can also watch the 1-minute version at TheSleepingDeep.com

Cheers,

Jeff