Online Viewing - The Shadow Out of Time

H P Lovecraft's The Shadow Out of Time

Here at Unfilmable.com we are always scouring the web for new and interesting films, short films and videos. If you haven't yet seen this, it is well worth a look. Put together with great care, this productions shows what can be accomplished with a little budget and a lot of time.

Meanwhile...elsewhere

Rick Lai at the Lovecraft eZine has put together one of the best writeups on the Dark Shadows "Leviathans" storyline that we've ever read. Be warned, this is a pretty in-depth look, and isn't something to casually glance over. At a touch over 14 pages of text, this covers all of the storyline, including the appearance of the Leviathans in the licensed storytelling of Big Finish productions.

Trust us, you REALLY don't want to miss this.

The Collinsport Horror: Dark Shadows and the Cthulhu Mythos

Shameless Plug!

Unfilmable.com founder Craig Mullins has been away. He's been hard at work on a number of writing projects. Well, the next of those project's will be released in January, from Strange House Books.

"Here's the cover for our first release of 2014, Craig Mullins and Drew Von Dred Ozkenel's Re-Animated States of America! With Cover art by Drew Von Dred and Jesse Reid Wheeler, edited by Sean Ferrari! Available January 6th from StrangeHouseBooks.com!"

Announced: The Dreamlands (Die Traumlande)

Having won multiple awards for his first foray into Lovecraft Country, The Color Out of Space (Die Farbe) Writer/Director Huan Vu once again channels the gentleman from Providence with his new film project, the Dreamlands (Die Traumlande). Attempting to make the first ever, feature-length, film focusing on Lovecraft's Dreamlands.  

The film is to center around Roland, an orphaned boy with a troubled past who finds himself led into another world by a mysterious old man. That world is one that has been created by the great dreamers of mankind in their sleep during the preceding thousands of years.  There the old man rules as a king and he wants to educate Roland to be his successor. But Roland is unable to overcome the dark shadow that weighs on him, and he must decide whether he wants to use his abilities to further expand the Dreamlands, or to destroy what others have built.

Having first come to fan prominence after the internet leak of his first project, Damnatus, Mr. Vu's first commercially available film took the Lovecraft community by storm and created a great deal of blood. For his latest project, he once again teams up with producer  Jan Roth and Director of Photography Martin Vincent Kolbert in an effort to recapture the mythos-magic of Die Farbe.

We had a chance to catch up with Mr. Vu and ask him a few questions about the forthcoming production.

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Unfilmable: Because you were born in Vietnam, and grew up in a divided Germany, you have said that "borders and limits have always been something to be probed, pushed and contested." With those feelings in mind, do you think that your background might give you a special view and insight into Lovecraft's Dream Cycle?

Huan Vu: Hmm, don't know if I can answer that question... you know it's just a "story", has to be read as tongue in cheek I don't think my background does really give me a special view on Lovecraft's writings I'm just a guy who obviously loves to seek out great challenges, wherever that came from, I don't know.

Unfilmable: This film reunited you with producer Jan Roth and Director of Photography Martin Vincent Kolbert. Obviously, having worked with them before, your existing relationships can certainly give you a head start. How much of an advantage is it that the three of you last worked on another Lovecraft film?

Huan Vu: It was really important for me to team up with large parts of the former Farbe crew again, it just makes sense And since "Die Farbe" received much praise for its beautiful and special cinematography it was out of question not to ask Martin if he would be interested. I have to admit though that he was a bit reluctant in the beginning, since he's not that much into fantasy films, but when he had read my first treatment he could see, that this won't be a sword & sorcerer type of film.

Unfilmable: The plan is to shoot this film in varied locations such as Iceland, Croatia, Turkey with an English-speaking cast. Do you feel that this is going to create any special challenges for the production?

Huan Vu: Those locations are possible destinations, we have seen other film productions like "Game of Thrones" going there to get special landscape shots and so we're considering to spread out and look for suiting locations for our story as well. Iceland has wonderful ash deserts and volcanos, in Croatia you get rocky beaches, in Turkey there are many ruins of Roman, Greek and Byzantine times. It would be awesome to be able to go out and capture those real environments. 

It certainly will be a new challenge for us, since we haven't yet shot anything on a larger scale outside of Germany. But I think with thorough preparation it will be manageable. And we're not planning to go there for months and shooting lots of scenes with lots of actors - just a couple with a small cast and crew.

Unfilmable: If budget and technical constraints were no obstacle, what story would you most like to bring to the screen? What is the "dream project" from the writer of the Dreamlands?

Huan Vu: Perhaps you already know that my first feature film was a Warhammer 40,000 fan film ("DAMNATUS")? - I would really love to go back to that universe and tell a huge sci-fi epic with vast space battles, giant daemons and Gothic cityscapes.

Unfilmable: As a Lovecraft fan, who is your preferred cult-film star? Mark Kinsey Stevenson as "Randolph Carter" or Jeffrey Combs as "Herbert West"?

Huan Vu: Oh, that's a question for co-producer Jan Roth, I think he has watched anything that has "Lovecraft" written on the cover. I know that both films are cult classics, but I still haven't found time to watch them.

<after checking with Jan Roth> 'definitely Jeffrey Combs'.

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To fund this ambitious project, Mr. Vu is reaching out to Lovecraft fans with a crowd-funding effort that is scheduled to begin in March of 2014.

More information about the project, as it becomes available, can be found at the film's website http://www.the-dreamlands.com/

Check out this special teaser from the production blog at http://www.the-dreamlands.com/the-awakening/

Review - Beyond Re-Animator (2003) R

Thirteen years had passed since Bride of Re-Animator. Enough time for people to forgive how bad that movie was, and long enough for them to long for the return of Jeffery Combs in his signature role. In many ways, it was worth the wait.

The opening minutes prior to the credits could almost stand alone as a short, showing how other people were affected by the events in "Bride of Re-Animator". Dark and nicely done, it sets up the rest of the movie nicely for now Dr. West is behind bars.

As the film progresses the largest disappointment is the absence of Bruce Abbott as Dan Cain. The only mention of the character is when Dr. West tells his new partner that, "My last partner turned state's evidence against me." I'm not alone in missing Bruce Abbott's presence in the movie and I certainly hope that Dan Cain returns if there is indeed a fourth installment of the series.

Still, the movie actually succeeds at being rather creepy at times. A wonderfully over the top performance by Simón Andreu as the Warden carries on the tradition of the late David Gale's character, Doctor Carl Hill. The Warden carries with him a dark air of S&M/D&S that is disturbing on several levels. While this is a much more minor role that Dr. Hill, it seems a bit more realistic and less cartoonish (for the most part - by the end all bets are off).

The story itself does continue the progression of Dr. West's work fairly well and introduces us to a new substance, a bio-electric plasma that may very well be the soul (though West would never admit as much). Based on the old wives tale of the body losing weight at death, this energy allows for some interesting behavioral imprinting towards the end of the movie and also provides for the film's newest Re-Animation effect, the shimmering yellow energy that is used in conjunction with the now famous re-agent.

Of course, some portions of the movie are so cliché that you can see them coming from a mile away. This is a Re-Animator movie and so there must be loads of zombies, there are. The villain must be among the zombies, he is. This is a "Prison" movie and so there must be a riot, there is. Certainly, parts of the movie are weak. Not only is this a Re-Animator movie, but it is a Re-Animator prison movie. Yet despite a fairly weak script, the movie is well paced and fun ("Fun" being the operative word here, because this isn't a "good" movie).

That is really the key to the Re-Animator series, even among many Lovecraft purists, the dirty little secret, and the guilty pleasure that is Jeffery Combs as Herbert West. With a cult following that nearly rivals Bruce Campbell's "Ash" (though a bit more sane) Comb's Dr. West has carried the series and, if more films are made, will continue to carry them.

There are a few moments that were wholly unnecessary, including the kung-fu battle between a re-animated rat and a re-animated penis that runs during the credits. This really didn't need to be done...really. Actually, all of the unnecessary scenes are, as one would expect from Yuzna, sexually inclined. The Warden’s severed penis and the chewing of Nurse Vanessa’s breast just point to the adolescent humor that plagued Bride of Re-Animator. Fortunately, this time there is far less and the film survives despite this.

Overall, the movie is worth watching. Still I'm disappointed (again) with the extras on the DVD. There are only two extras. The first is a music video for a dance song called "Move Your Dead Bones" which, while interesting, is not a song that even appears in the movie.

Secondly there is a making of special that is mostly in Spanish. Still, it gives a bit of insight into Yuzna's thinking, which makes it interesting. That's it though, no other extras. In a time when extras are the driving force of a DVD, to find that a newly released film has so little is just plain disappointing.

Review © Bob Brinkman 2005

Review - The Unnamable II:The Statement of Randolph Carter (1993) R

Filmed during the Lovecraft renaissance of the early 90's and set immediately following the first Unnamable film, the Unnamable II does manage to incorporate portions of the "Statement of Randolph Carter" into its storyline. Unlike other, more mainstream, productions, this movie doesn't rely on blood and gore. While it does have its share of gore, is doesn't go over the top the way the Re-Animator series does. Instead it relies on story to drive it along.

The idea is simple, after separating the Demon from its host Randolph Carter must try to destroy the demon. It is that very simplicity that gives this movie some of its charm. The movie relies on its locations and characters to tell a fast paced, if simple, story. Indeed, one could almost imagine the scenario playing out this way very easily and the majority of the film has a very realistic flow.

The casting for the movie is rather interesting. In a time before Lovecraft porn began to appear, adult movie star Julie Strain put on the costume of the creature for this movie. Interestingly enough, this may be the first movie where she didn't bare all for the cameras. Another interesting bit of casting is John Rhys-Davies as Professor Warren.

Now, I have said that Jeffrey Combs as "Herbert West" is the guilty pleasure of Lovecraft cinema. If this is true then Mark Kinsey Stephenson as Randolph Carter is Lovecraft cinema's hidden gem. Stephenson's Carter is witty, charming and fun. He also is quite adept at pointing out the obvious that most people would like to overlook.

Howard - Do we have to do this at night?
Carter - Do you really think it would be any safer in the daytime?

Word is that a third installment of this series is to begin shooting summer 2005, twelve years after the release of this movie. I can only hope that Stephenson returns in the title role, the character won't be the same without him.

Of course, the DVD release of this movie hits on my biggest pet peeve, not a single bonus feature. No director commentary, no preview trailer or even a stills gallery. Equally disturbing is the fact that while the Unnamable II is available on DVD, the original film the Unnamable isn't. Hopefully someone will fix this eventually as I would love to have both in my collection of DVDs. I think that not releasing them together as a two disc set was a missed opportunity. Of course, in the UK there is exactly what I would want, a pack with both movies, loaded with extras, for £16.99. Hopefully Lions Gate films will get the hint.

Review © Bob Brinkman 2005

That is not dead, which can eternal lie

Things have been quiet around here for the last five months, perhaps it is time to explain why.

Craig Mullins, the founder of Unfilmable.com stepped down from the site to focus on other projects. His writing has recently appeared in the anthologies Strange-Versus-Lovecraft and Strange Sex. He continues writing and has quite a bit more in the pipe as it were.

Lady Lovecraft stepped in during the initial interim. I think we were all hoping that Craig would return to the site, and there was a general sense of disbelief that he was truly leaving. Six months ago, Lady Lovecraft went silent. She too is busy working on a number of things, and she keeps up an active social media presence.

July 10th, the site went quiet. Since that time, the original domain of Unfilmable.com has expired and this blog became a little harder to find. But tonight, it stirs in its sleep and begins to awaken.

Unfilmable has always been THE place to go to learn about Lovecraftian cinema projects and we're starting to get that back n track. We have some announcements coming in the next few weeks that are really interesting and we plan on reclaiming our throne.

For now, we'll start with reposting some reviews from the original site, content thought lost to time which, like ourselves is just no beginning to resurface.

The Venture Brothers Head to Dunwich

...Dunwich Asylum that is.

The Venture Brothers (a cartoon on Adult Swim for those unfamiliar) has never shied away from mentioning the mythos. Prior episodes have included an "Evil Dead" style Necronomicon and an appearance by Cthulhu himself. The latest episode, having aired Sunday, July 7th, has the boys intentionally having themselves to Dunwich Asylum.

The avoidance of the name "Arkham" is possibly to avoid confusion with (or lawsuits stemming from) the DC comics Asylum of the same name. Regardless of the reasoning, the name drop is always pleasant to see.

Lovecraft eZine: Mike Davis' List of Recommended Lovecraftian Movies

(c) via the Lovecraft eZine:

Below is a list of Lovecraftian-themed movies that I recommend — what I consider to be the best of the best.  Note that I did not say that this is a list of movies based on Lovecraft’s stories.  Some movies on this list are adaptations of Lovecraft’s work, to be sure; but there are plenty that are not.  That’s not important.  What isimportant is that the movie makes good use of Lovecraftian themes, whether it’s an adaptation or not.

For example, you won’t find The Dunwich Horror on this list, but youwill find Dagon (a Lovecraft adaptation) and Absentia (not a Lovecraft adaptation).  Why?  Because tentacles and adaptations don’t make movies Lovecraftian.

What does make a movie Lovecraftian, in my opinion?  Wikipedia writes that “the hallmark of Lovecraft’s work was the sense that ordinary life was a thin shell over a reality which was so alien and abstract in comparison that merely contemplating it would damage the sanity of the ordinary person.”  I agree wholeheartedly with that definition, and I put together this movie list with that in mind.

Also, this is a personal list; it’s movies that I think are very good to great and that use Lovecraftian themes.  If you disagree, fair enough; your comments are welcome.  If you think I’ve forgotten a movie that should be here, please let me know.

I’ll be adding to this list from time to time.  To stay in the loop, sign up for email notifications at the top right side of this page.

Long story short: If you enjoy reading new stories of Lovecraftian horror like the ones found in The Lovecraft eZine, then you will probably enjoy the movies below.  So grab the popcorn and turn down the lights — here’s the list!

ABSENTIA [streaming, DVD] Tricia’s husband has been missing for seven years. Her younger sister Callie comes to live with her as the pressure mounts to finally declare him ‘dead in absentia.’ As Tricia sifts through the wreckage and tries to move on with her life, Callie finds herself drawn to an ominous tunnel near the house. As she begins to link it to other mysterious disappearances, she comes to the realization that his presumed death might be anything but ‘natural.’ Soon it becomes clear that the ghostly force at work in the tunnel might have set its sights on Callie and Tricia too.

ALIEN [streaming, DVD] On their voyage home, the crew of the deepspace tug Nostromo investigate an alien distress signal, inadvertently picking up and bringing aboard an extraterrestrial life form with violent and lethal survival instincts.

THE BURROWERS [streaming, DVD] The Dakota Territories. 1879. A handful of brave pioneers maintain isolated settlements in the badlands beyond civilization. Irish immigrant Fergus Coffey is near to winning the hand of his beloved Maryanne when she is suddenly taken from him, her family brutally abducted in a nighttime attack on their homestead. Suspicion falls immediately on hostile Indians. Experienced Indian fighters Will Parcher and John Clay form a posse and set out to rescue the kidnapped settlers, taking along a naive teenager hoping to prove himself a man, an ex-slave looking for his place, and their ranch hand, Coffey. But as men vanish in the night, and horrific evidence accumulates with the dead and dying, the group discovers that their prey is far more terrifying than anything human, and their prospects are far more terrible than death.

CABIN IN THE WOODS [streaming, DVD] Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.

THE CALL OF CTHULHU [streaming, DVD] Written in 1926, just before the advent of “talking” pictures, The Call of Cthulhu is one of the most famous and influential tales of H.P. Lovecraft, the father of gothic horror. Now the story is brought richly to life in the style of a classic 1920s silent movie, with a haunting original symphonic score. Using the “Mythoscope” process – a mix of modern and vintage techniques, the HPLHS has worked to create the most authentic and faithful screen adaptation of a Lovecraft story yet attempted. From the cultists of the Louisana bayous to the man-eating non-euclidean geometry of R’lyeh, the HPLHS brings Cthulhu to the screen as it was meant to be seen. Eighteen months of production and a cast of more than 50 actors went into making this film a period spectacle that must seen to be believed. The DVD includes The Call of Cthulhu (47 minutes, black and white), the high-fidelity and “Mythophonic” soundtracks, a 25 minute “making-of” documentary featurette, two slide shows, deleted footage, a prop PDF of the Sydney Bulletin and more.

CTHULHU [DVD] The H.P. Lovecraft story “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” gets a contemporary reworking in this eerie film following a gay college professor (Jason Cottle) as he arrives at his Oregon hometown to preside over the estate of his deceased mother. Finding both his father and the community at large involved in a strange cult, the young man confronts his ultimate destiny with an icy dread.

CLOVERFIELD [streaming, DVD] Told from the vertiginous point-of-view of a camcorder-wielding group of friends, Cloverfield begins like a primetime television soap opera about young Manhattanites coping with changes in their personal lives. Rob is leaving New York to take an executive job at a company in Japan. At his goodbye party in a crowded loft, Rob’s brother Jason hands a camcorder to best friend Hud, who proceeds to tape the proceedings over old footage of Rob’s ex-girlfriend, Beth–images shot during happy times in that now-defunct relationship. Naturally, Beth shows up at the party with a new beau, bumming Rob out completely. Just before one’s eyes glaze over from all this heartbreaking stuff (captured by Hud, who’s something of a doofus, in laughably shaky camerawork), the unexpected happens: New York is suddenly under attack from a Godzilla-like monster stomping through midtown and destroying everything and everybody in sight. Rob and company hit the streets, but rather than run with other evacuees, they head toward the center of the storm so that Rob can rescue an injured Beth. There are casualties along the way, but the journey into fear is fascinating and immediate if emotionally remote–a consequence of seeing these proceedings through the singular, subjective perspective of a camcorder and of a story that intentionally leaves major questions unanswered: Who or what is this monster? Where did it come from?

THE CORRIDOR [streaming, DVD] Five friends spend a weekend in a cabin in the woods to catch up on old times.  Recently, one of them was released from a mental hospital.  Apparently, he and his mother saw and heard some strange things that started driving them crazy.  What happens in the woods that weekend is an example of a creature from another reality revealing itself to people in this one, and how it affects their mental stability.

DAGON [DVD] Based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, the undisputed master of macabre.  Paul and his girlfriend Barbara are celebrating the success of their new company on a yacht off the coast of Spain, when a sudden storm smashes their boat on a reef.  Barbara and Paul swim to the nearest town for help.  The decrepit fishing village of Imboca at first seems to be deserted, but unblinking eyes peer out from boarded-up houses. The strange inhabitants offer little help to the stranded couple. By nightfall Barbara is missing and Paul finds himself pursued by the entire town… but a town of what?

DIE FARBE [DVD] Arkham, 1975: Jonathan Davis’ father has disappeared. His tracks lead to Germany, to the Swabian-Franconian Forest where he was stationed after the Second World War. Jonathan sets out to find him and bring him home, but deep in the woods he discovers a dark mystery from the past. Based on H.P. Lovecraft’s short novel “The Colour Out of Space”.

DIRT DAUBER [DVD] In this disturbing Lovecraftian fairytale, a man awakes naked and confused in an isolated mountainous region. He soon encounters a strange local who offers to help him. The stranger recounts local folklore that speaks of a murderous religious cult, and an insect-like fertility god that is said to dwell deep within the mountain. The two men go underground in search of the truth and soon find themselves in a stygian black temple of horror…

DREAMS IN THE WITCH HOUSE [streaming, DVD] A graduate student questions his sanity after he rents a room in an old boarding house which was the residence of a 17th Century witch, and he figures out that the evil forces still roam within the walls.

EVENT HORIZON [streaming, DVD] The year is 2047. Years earlier, the pioneering research vessel Event Horizon vanished without a trace. Now a signal from it has been detected, and the United States Aerospace Command responds. Hurtling toward the signal’s source are a fearless captain (Laurence Fishburne), his elite crew and the lost ship’s designer (Sam Neill). Their mission: find and salvage the state-of-the-art spacecraft. What they find is state-of-the-art interstellar terror.

IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS [streaming, DVD] The mind-bending worlds of author H.P. Lovecraft have long interested horror directors, but the films have rarely successfully captured his nightmarish mix of madness and mythology. John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness is not directly based on Lovecraft’s work, but screenwriter Michael De Luca draws his inspiration from Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythology and then adds his own ingenious twists. John Trent (Sam Neill), an insurance investigator recently fitted for a straightjacket, tells his story to a psychiatrist. Hired to track down the missing pop-horror phenomena Sutter Cane, a Stephen King-like author whose fans are literally made for his books, Trent finds the supposedly fictional Hobb’s End. He watches the town collapse into madness, murder, and monstrous transformations: the fantastic horrors of Cane’s novels played out in front of his eyes. “Reality isn’t what it used to be,” deadpans one zombielike townsperson. In fact, it is how Cane writes it–but is he Devil, dark oracle, or simply a preacher in the service of an evil that grows stronger with every soul his books convert? The script never quite gets a grip on the blurry relationship between fact and fiction, but those details fade in the face of Carpenter’s demented imagery, shiver-inducing twists, and dark wit. It’s more eerie mind game than straight-out horror, a portrait of a world gone mad, and Carpenter relishes every hallucinatory moment.

THE LAST WINTER [DVD] In the Arctic region of Northern Alaska, an oil company’s advance team struggles to establish a drilling base that will forever alter the pristine land. After one team member is found dead, a disorientation slowly claims the sanity of the others as each of them succumbs to a mysterious fear…

THE MIST [streaming, DVD] After a mysterious mist envelopes a small New England town, a group of locals trapped in a supermarket must battle a siege of otherworldly creatures…and the fears that threaten to tear them apart.

THE NEW DAUGHTER [streaming, DVD] Muddy footprints and straw dolls betray the presence of an ancient evil in The New Daughter. Author John James (Kevin Costner) has brought his innocent young son Sam and sullen teenage daughter Louisa  to a new home to start their lives over after James’s wife abandoned them. The house, of course, is huge and in the middle of an overgrown forest–and the discovery of a strange mound nearby doesn’t make things any less spooky. Louisa’s adolescent hormones practically beg for supernatural possession, and before long she’s covered in mud, breaking out in a prickly rash, and pushing girls down the stairway at school. There’s nothing unexpected in The New Daughter, but that doesn’t mean it’s ineffective; Spanish director Luis Berdejo makes good use of ambient sound, well-timed jolts, and Baquero’s porcelain-doll features. Costner seems a little out of his element, but when he’s faced with some horrible choices, he captures the torment of a father who fears he can’t save his children. As is often the case, the more we see, the less scary it is, so it’s good that Berdejo holds back on the creepy-crawlies for as long as he can. Horror fans will find much to enjoy in The New Daughter.

PICKMAN’S MUSE [DVD] A stellar adaption of “The Haunter of the Dark”.  An artist, Robert Pickman, becomes obsessed by visions of unworldly horror, revealed to him through an ancient artifact discovered in an abandoned church.

PONTYPOOL [streaming, DVD] In the small town of Pontypool, Ontario, former shock jock turned radio announcer Grant Mazzy drives through a blizzard on his way to work. When poor visibility forces him to stop his car, an underdressed woman appears on the road, startling him. Grant calls out to her, but she disappears into the storm, ominously repeating his words and visibly disturbing him. Grant eventually arrives at the radio station, where he works with technical assistant Laurel-Ann Drummond and station manager Sydney Briar.  As the morning proceeds, they get a report from their weather and traffic helicopter reporter Ken Loney about a possible riot at the office of Doctor Mendez in Pontypool. He describes a scene of chaos and carnage that results in numerous deaths, immediately grabbing Grant’s attention. After Ken is unexpectedly cut off, the group tries to confirm his report, but their witnesses are disconnected before they can get them on the airwaves. Ken calls back and reports that he has found the “infected” son of a well-known Pontypool citizen nearby, mumbling to himself…

PRINCE OF DARKNESS [streaming, DVD] A research team finds a mysterious cylinder in a deserted church. If opened, it could mean the end of the world.

THE RESURRECTED [DVD] 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. The husband is a chemical engineer, and the smells from his experiments (and the delivery of what appear to be human remains at all hours) are beginning to arouse the attention of neighbors and local law enforcement officials. When the detective and wife find a diary of the husband’s ancestor from 1771, and reports of gruesome murders in the area begin to surface, they begin to suspect that some very unnatural experiments are being conducted in the old house.

THE SHRINE [DVD] A blood-curdling tale of sacrificial cults, demonic possession and ancient evil. After a young American backpacker vanishes in Europe, three journalists trace his disappearance to a mysterious Polish village. They travel there hoping to get the story, but instead find a grotesque, fog-shrouded shrine and hostile locals hell-bent on serving up for their next ritualistic human sacrifice.

THE THING [streaming, DVD] Researchers in the remote Antarctic dig up the remains of a spacecraft that has long been frozen in the ice. But the alien life unthaws and infects the living (not only humans but sled dogs too), living and gestating inside them.  This Thing is chilling in every sense of the word, with plenty of terrifying, adrenaline-pumping moments that build it to a powerful and shockingly nihilistic conclusion. It’s a harsh and uncompromising movie (hewing more closely to the original 1930s story “Who Goes There?”)–so much so that it probably never would have been given a green-light by any studio in the more cautious and doggedly upbeat 1990s.

THE WHISPERER IN DARKNESS [DVD] Written in 1931, H.P. Lovecraft’s iconic genre-bending tale of suspense and alien terrors is brought to life in the style of the classic horror films of the 1930s like Frankenstein, Dracula and King Kong. Using its MythoscopeTM process – a mix of vintage and modern techniques – the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society expands on Lovecraft’s original tale while still bringing you unparalleled authenticity. Horror and science fiction collide in the adventure of Albert Wilmarth, a folklore professor at Miskatonic University, as he investigates legends of strange creatures rumored to dwell in the most remote mountains of Vermont. Wilmarth’s investigation leads him to a discovery of horrors quite beyond anything he ever imagined, and ends in a desperate attempt to escape the remote New England hills with his life and sanity intact. The studio that brought you The Call of Cthulhu now presents one of Lovecraft’s weirdest tales as a feature-length talkie starring Matt Foyer as the intrepid folklorist, Albert Wilmarth. Celebrated television and stage star Barry Lynch plays Henry Akeley, supported by an ensemble of outstanding actors. Shot on location in New England and in Hollywood, The Whisperer in Darkness brings Lovecraft’s intense imagination to vivid life in the style of the 1930s.

That’s it… for now.  Keep checking back because I’ll be adding to this list as needed.  (Stay informed: You can subscribe via email at the top right side of this page, follow me on Twitter, and LIKE this ezine on Facebook.)  I hope you enjoy the movies.  And hey, after you watch them, please comment below.

Mike Davis
Editor, Lovecraft eZine