Halloween Part 3: Hi-jinks Ensue!!

We're back again already!
And, I've got a title this time!

So, I guess I'll retroactively give the last 2 years titles....

1. Happy Halloween!!!! (Hell yeah, ya fuckin boogins!!!!)
2. Halloween Part 2: All the drugs in me, all the bugs in me!

And, here's this year's compilation.....

• Halloween Three!!!
• Masters Of Horror! (Stephen King, Part 1)
• Masters Of Horror! (Stephen King, Part 2)
• Masters Of Horror! (John Carpenter)
• Masters Of Horror! (Wes Craven)
• Masters Of Horror! (George Romero)
• Masters Of Horror! (Clive Barker)
• Masters Of Horror! (Tobe Hooper)
• Masters Of Horror! (Tom Savini)
• Masters Of Horror! (Tom Holland)
• Masters Of Horror! (Stanley Kubrick)
• Masters Of Horror! (Thomas Harris)
• Masters Of Horror! (John Landis)
• Masters Of Horror! (Sam Raimi)
• Masters Of Horror! (John Mcnaughton)
• Masters Of Horror! (Tom Six)
• Masters Of Horror! (The Soska Sisters)
• Masters Of Horror! (Robert Kirkman)
• Masters Of Horror! (Vince Gilligan)
• Masters Of Horror! (Dan O'Bannon)
• Masters Of Horror! (Don Coscarelli)
• Masters Of Horror! (Stuart Gordon)
• Masters Of Horror! (Anne Rice)
• Masters Of Horror! (Lloyd Kaufman)
• Masters Of Horror! (David Cronenberg)
• Masters Of Horror! (Guillermo Del Toro)
• Masters Of Horror! (Ridley Scott)
• Masters Of Horror! (Peter Jackson)
• Masters Of Horror! (Joe Dante)
• Masters Of Horror! (David Lynch)
• Masters Of Horror! (Brian Yuzna)
• Masters Of Horror! (Ken Russell)
• Masters Of Horror! (Larry Cohen)
• Masters Of Horror! (Rick Baker)
• Masters Of Horror! (Stan Winston)
• Masters Of Horror! (Robert Kurtzman)
• Masters Of Horror! (Roger Corman)
• Masters Of Horror! (Vincent Price)
• Masters Of Horror! (Bela Lugosi)
• Masters Of Horror! (Boris Karloff)
• Masters Of Horror! (Tod Browning)
• Masters Of Horror! (James Whale)
• Masters Of Horror! (Terence Fisher)
• Masters Of Horror! (Alfred Hitchcock)
• Masters Of Horror! (Edgar Allan Poe)
• Masters Of Horror! (H.P. Lovecraft)
• Masters Of Horror! (Masters Of Horror)
• Universal Monsters, Part 2.
• I REDO the Jasons!
• Slasher mashes!

Phew, another thick beefy tome for the ages.
(:-P


What else do I do?
Oh, yeah, Halloween songs....
Shit, I snagged all the good ones the last couple years...

Um....

Ah, screw it, here's the Cthulhu song again.






And, as always...

Merry Deathmas!
And a happy new candy! :-D


Next year, "Based On A True Story".

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Slasher mashes!

From here, two Mondays ago.

Chock full of horror stars, this is what I'd call a "slasher mash".

Hmm...compiling slasher mashes would be a fun post...stay tuned.

So, here it is!


Waxwork (1988)

See here, here, and here.

Also has David Warner, Patrick Macnee, and Miles O'Keeffe, as Dracula.


Waxwork II (1992)

Ditto the links above.

Did I mention it has Bruce Campbell?
Okay.


Body Bags (1993)

See here, and here.


Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings (1994)

See here, and here.

Seen it now.
Oh, man, bad.

Terrible lighting, and camera work, the Pumpkinhead monster is too visible, and moves like a guy in a Godzilla suit, and just looks awful.
No, the guy who played Godzilla was a pro, more like a Power Rangers monster.

Anyway, it's really only neat to see all the guest stars.
As a straight ahead horror flick, it's kind of ass.
Not "The Curse", bad, but...meh.


Wishmaster (1997)

See here.


Freddy vs Jason (2003)

See here, and here.


2001 Maniacs (2005)

See here, and here.


Behind The Mask: 
The Rise Of Leslie Vernon (2006)

See here.


Hatchet (2006)

See here.


Brutal Massacre: A Comedy (2007)

See here.

Hey, even though I thought it stunk, I liked the people involved.


Hatchet II (2010)

See here.


Hatchet III (2013)

See here.

So, this came out in June, and I didn't even know it....d'oh.

Seen it, and it's a blast.
It's got Zach Galligan (Billy From 'Gremlins', guy from 'Waxwork'), Danielle Harris ('Halloween 5'), Caroline Williams (Stretch from 'Texas Chainsaw 2'), Derek Mears (remake Jason), and Kane Hodder (classic Jason).

Only complaint?
Not enough Danielle Harris.
We get her naked for a bit, and she has some amusing lines, but she isn't quite the action princess she was in 2.

We get a lot more of Carolne Williams though.

Overall, decent little flick, but the cliffhanger leading toward 4 is a lot more interesting.


And, there, that little OCD chore is done.

Tomorrow, Halloween!

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I REDO the Jasons!

Promised to do this one way back at the Tom Holland review.
And had "Crystal Lake Memories", ordered way back at the Tom Savini review, and received it at the Tom Holland review.
I also mentioned this post as upcoming in the Robert Kurtzman review.
So, it's been awhile coming.
But, I always get there in the end.
Its been on the list.
I always finish a list.

So, here we go, at last, the promised sequel to "I "meh", the Jasons".

Crystal Lake Memories (2013)

Whelp, to dig into the documentary is to dig into the films themselves, so, here's my re-appraisal.


Friday the 13th (1980)

They finally come right out, and admit they ripped off "Halloween".
They changed "the venue", gave it a higher body count, increased the gore, but, yeah.
Oh, and they made the identity of the killer a "whodunnit?".
But, I happen to think that's enough changes to make it unique, and along with 4, and 6, I think it's one of the best ones.
My appraisal of this one hasn't really changed.


Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

A deliberate cash-grab from the first one, and they acknowledge it, and make no apologies.
Tom Savini was among the many from the crew of the first one to be un-enthused, and not join up.

My appraisal of this one as an unoriginal rehash hasn't changed either.


Friday the 13th Part III (1982)

My respect for this one shot up some.

They really put a lot of heart, and work into this one to make it stand out from the last two.
And from this one onward, they always tried to have a gimmick that made it different from the last.
Fans DID complain about 2 being a rehash, even though they coughed up their money.
The creators DID listen.

Anyway, the gimmick was 3-D, and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into using the technology.
And, it wasn't cheap red/blue 3-D either, it was the good stuff.
I didn't know they had it back then.
They did, but you had to pay a pretty penny for it.
That's why most opted for the cheap shit.

They say, home video doesn't do it justice, you HAVE to see it film projected with the old glasses.

There STILL isn't the tech to pull off how it looked back then.
That's why its always been so unimpressive to me.
Lost a lot on the translation.

Many in the documentary claim it's one of the best 3-D movies ever.
Given that its competition is "Avatar", and "Gravity", I'm willing to believe it.

Also, this is where Jason gets his mask, so it's where Jason truly becomes Jason.

So, yeah, this is more special than I gave it credit for.
I'll bump it up a couple points.


Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

Again, this is one of my favorites, and it's easily the best of the original ones where Jason is a non-zombie.
Nothing changed for me here.

Tom Savini hated the idea of Jason, who was a kid, and dead, and a dream, in the first one being alive, and running around in 2, but, he was willing to come back for this one to kill him off.
Heeheehee! )B-)


Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)

My respect for this one shot up too.
This might now be tied with 4 for one of my favorites on re-assessment.

Well, one thing, I now know why this one had the highest titty count, the director, Danny Steinmann, came right out of porno.
He's my hero!
Lol!

Anyway, the film, well, I listed the high points in the old version, the acting on adult Tommy is the best, the secondary characters are actually pretty good, and again, the high titty count.

And, a high body count, this one really went for the gusto, and got away with a lot.

Also, and I can't believe this didn't register all these years, it loops back to the first one, the killer's identity is another "whodunnit?", and it turns out to be another grief-stricken parent, like Pamela Voorhees.

So, they were deliberately respecting the series.
It just turned out to be a sequence of creative choices that pissed the fans off.

I like it a lot better, I don't dislike it all anymore.
I really dig it.
Very under-appreciated film.

The way I look at the series now, is this way.
The events of 1-5 "really", happened.
No supernatural bullshit, so it could happen.

6-11, are the legend of Jason as told around the campfire, growing, and growing, and the tale getting taller with the telling.

12 is the Reader's Digest version of the original events.


Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)

My assessment hasn't changed.

I appreciate more and more how Jason becomes a re-incarnation of the Universal Frankenstein, and how that was a deliberate choice, and a nod to horror history, and yadda yadda.
But, it never raises or lowers the amount of stars I give it.
Just behind 4.


Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)

My assessment of the final product doesn't waver, but I have a lot more sympathy and respect for it now.

This one had a lot going against it.

The MPAA assholes made it no secret that they hated this series, and were always out for blood, and this one was the worst victim of their butchery.

They also had a woman line producer who hated the series, and horror in general, and neutered a lot of stuff right on the set, and everyone hated her guts.

Oh, and that part explains the weird ending with the dead dad coming up out of the water grabbing Jason!
He was supposed to be a zombie too!
They even shot it that way, with him in full makeup, but the dumb bitch didn't like it, and didn't explain why, so they shot it the other way, with him as a human, just covered with branches, and some mud, and it makes no fucking sense.

Also, this one was up against "A Nightmare On Elm Street 4", right at the ultimate peak of Freddy-mania.
So it would have gotten its ass trounced if it were GOOD.

And finally, in the late 90's or so, Paramount just up and fucking destroyed all the cut footage, so there'll never be a special edition fix to this.
The shitty cut is what we're stuck with.

So, I genuinely mourn the movie we were supposed to have.

The documentary guys rescued a bunch of grainy videotape dailies to show us what the cut stuff sorta looked like, but, that's all we get.

The director, John Carl Buechler, is just fucking heartbroken.

Oh, interesting factoid before I close this one out, the evil shrink is/was Bernie in "Weekend At Bernies".


Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

Budget constraints assfucked this one right out of the gate.

The writer/director, Rob Heddon, totally wanted to give us the movie hinted at in the title, the poster, and in the trailer.
Jason actually in New York, doing stuff in Times Square, meeting celebrity guests, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, all of that stuff.
Everything you can imagine, he had planned.
Nope, no money for it.
New York asks for the sky to shoot, and Jason is a low-budget operation.

So, we got "Jason On A Boat".
And in Canada.
But just the alleyways.
Pppt!

Also, the MPAA was pulling their usual corporate puritan thug bullshit.

Like 7, I sympathize, but it does no good to explain that a dog turd used to be the finest grass fed filet mignon before the dog ate it, it's still a dog turd.
*Shrug*


Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)

As hinted at in the Robert Kurtzman review, I like this one better.

Its finally grown on me.

You've got gorier kills, Creighton Duke has grown on me more as a character, the self referential humor looks better with age, and hey, Erin Grey!

Between the documentary, and AMC replaying this a lot, I enjoy this one now.

Nostalgia magnifies the nostalgia that was already there.
This was for 30-somethings that were teenagers during the first one, and now I'm a thirty-something, so it clicks better.

I think the grief I gave this one stemmed solely from my frustration of the wait for "Freddy vs. Jason".
That, and the whole "the real Jason is only at the beginning, and the end", thing, which, they do acknowledge pissed people off in the doc.

I'd rank this..oh...just after 4-5 (those being tied), yeah, between 4-5, and 6.


Jason X (2001)

My original review was buried in "I "meh", the 00's!! (Part 2!!)", and it's about the same.
Pretty good, but not great.

But, again, I gave it inordinate grief because of my trauma from waiting for "Freddy vs. Jason", year after year.
Really, that wasn't a passive "whenever it happens", thing, I was actually watching the calender.
That was truly painful.

So, I enjoy this one when it comes on TV, I'm a lot easier on it, I watch 'em all with nostalgia.
Hell, even 8.

Only thing I really learned, is the documentary jogged my memory on the bullshit of new New Line heads coming in, not caring about the series, and letting it sit on a shelf for 2 fucking years, then it got pirated like crazy on Pirate Bay, cuz fans thought it would never get released, then when it did come out, people had already seen how weak it was, and didn't give a shit enough to pay for it.

Allegedly, the scripted version was darker than the almost comedy version we ended up with.
Screw it, I liked it for what it was.
It's self aware of its goofiness.
It's a fun little flick.


Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

*Holds hand to ear*

*The stadium crowd roars "all the drugs in meee! All the bugs in meee! How can III liive without youuu!!?".*

Goddamned right. ;-)

Okay, for the doc, they mostly recycled footage from the interviews on "Never Sleep Again", and for the new footage, they hemmed, and hawed, and nitpicked, and came down on the side that it doesn't hold up, but they can kiss my ass.

The one thing I did agree on, was it was shitty how Kane Hodder was kicked out of it.
The studio gave all these bullshit rationalizations about how they wanted a "fresh take", on the character, and none of it held up.
Kane said he watched it expecting to to see the scene that would jump out, and make him go "ohhh THAT'S why", but there wasn't anything in that movie he couldn't have done.
Yeah, that was pretty shitty.


Friday The 13th (2009)

My estimation hasn't changed at all from this updated review.

AMC has started playing the Freddy and Jason remakes, and....it's all the same.
They don't get any better.

The only real factoid I got out of the documentary, is that the "Freddy vs. Jason", guys also wrote this one.
But, they claim their original vision was messed with.
See my closing remarks on part 8.


Friday The 13th The Series (1987-1990)

I loved it.
Year after year, I like many a fan, kept waiting for them to do an episode whee they have to collect the cursed Jason hockey mask as an item to tie it in to the movies, but it never happened.
But, the promise of that episode tricked me into watching a good show.

This was the opposite of "Freddy's Nightmares".
Freddy had the better movies, but had the shitty show, Jason had mediocre movies, and an excellent spinoff show.

This has kind of re-incarnated as "Warehouse 13".
They even note the similarities in the documentary.

What killed this one, was moron affiliates playing it in slots where kids could see it, and drawing in the ire of the churchy assholes.

Course, look at what TV gets away with now.
"Hannibal", "Walking Dead".
We truly are in a golden age of horror on TV.
Enjoy it while it lasts.
There's always another social-conservative backlash waiting to strike.

Okay, now, the doc overall....

Excellent, exhaustive,....tiring.

"Never Sleep Again", is four hours that feel like an hour and a half, but there's no getting around that you FEEL 7 hours, no matter how engaging.

I was thoroughly killed when it was done.
Then, there was still the commentary, and bonus disk.
I saved that for the next day, after a well deserved 10 hours of sleep.

The bonus disk was worth the race for the deadline.
Snagged it just in time.

It not only had bonus interviews, but comedy skits, and a video from the band of the guy who played child-Jason in part 1.
Man, he can shred!
Entertaining stuff all around.

Both the documentary, and the bonus disk, contain everything in the main body, there's no left-over remainders split off like on "Never Sleep Again".

They discuss the music, the video game, the toys, everything, right there.
It's all crammed in.

I don't know which I like better.
I kind of like having the spinoff stuff from the films on the bonus disk of "Never Sleep Again", where I can find it easier.
But, having the main body of the doc "feel complete", has its appeal too.

I'll definitely be marathon-ing  this in rotation with "Never sleep Again", and "I am Nancy", in the coming years.
For sure.

Will I collect the films?
Nah. :-)
Doc is good enough.
I'm still a Freddy guy.


Sometime tonight, one last treat.

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Universal Monsters, Part 2.

"Welcome to the monster cluuub!", of course, being part 1.

All right, so, last year, I of course covered, Dracula, Frankenstein, and Wolfman.

Then, in the monster club post, I filled in the gaps, and did Hunchback, Phantom Of The Opera, Jekyll/Hyde, Mummy, Invisible Man, Creature From The Black Lagoon, then, brought it all the way up to Norman Bates ("Psycho"), the shark(s) from "Jaws", the dinosaurs from "Jurassic Park", and Chucky.

Well, I left some out.

That post really, really, burnt me out, and I really, really, wanted it over with, so, I thought Chucky was a good enough note to end it on.

But, finally, here's the rest.

The Leech Woman (1960)

Really? The whole "women drain you of your essence", myth?

Yeah, a misogyny fable, no wonder that one didn't become a beloved classic...

Although, it was used as MST3K fodder.

The Birds (1963)

See here.

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

See here, and here.

The Thing (1982)

See here, and here.

Darkman trilogy (1990-1996)

See here.

Tremors (1990)

See here.

Army of Darkness (1993)

See here.

Hulk (2003)

See here, and here.

Yes!!

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

See here.

King Kong (2005)

See here.

People have always lumped him in, now it's official.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

See here.

And, now, to bookend it, and update Drac n' Frank...

Previous updates here, and here.

Dracula: The Dark Prince (2013)

Straight to video.

Jon Voight's the only celebrity.

I, Frankenstein (2014)

The Monster is immortal, and has made it up to modern day, and is a monster slayer.

Done up all slick, and hip, by the people who did "Underworld".

Ehhh...

Oh, and Roberto Orci says here, that Universal is keen to not only reboot the monsters, but put them together in new monster-mashes, and compares it to "The Avengers".

I kind of half-predicted it by jokingly comparing them here.

And...not Universal, but, fuck it, I don't want to do a separate post...

Godzilla (2014)

So, I guess this also picks up from "Godzilla-gala 3".

And, the trailer's out there, but keeps getting pulled, so, no point in linking it.

But, it's fucking jaw dropping, and goosebump raising.

Find it.

And there, all up to date as of 2013.

Up next, more treats.

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Masters Of Horror! (Masters Of Horror)

So, in 2002, Mick Garris got an informal dinner together of fellow directors, John Carpenter, Larry Cohen, Don Coscarelli, Joe Dante, Guillermo Del Toro, Stuart Gordon, Tobe Hooper, John Landis, and Bill Malone.

At that dinner, Del Toro informally half-jokingly named the group "The Masters Of Horror".

It went so well, Garris organized other dinners, including the likes of Dario Argento, Eli Roth, David Cronenberg, Tim Sullivan, Rob Zombie, Bryan Singer, William Lustig, Lucky McKee, Ernest Dickerson, Kat O’ Shea, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, James Gunn, Mary Lambert, Tom Holland, Peter Medak, Ti West, Lloyd Kaufman, Ken Russel, and more.

In 2005, Garris created an anthology show, featuring the writing and/or directing of many of the Masters, called "Masters Of Horror", making the name official.

Of the ones I've covered, the ones on the show have been Don Coscarelli, Stuart Gordon, Tobe Hooper, Joe Dante, John Landis, John Carpenter, Larry Cohen, John McNaughton, and Tom Holland.

Two episodes were based on Clive Barker stories, one on Edgar Allen Poe, and one on H.P. Lovecraft.

Then, Showtime pulled out of it, so, they moved it to NBC, and renamed it "Fear Itself".

Of the directors on that one, I only recognize John Landis, Stuart Gordon, and Ronnny Yu (Freddy vs Jason).

Then, that spun off into "Masters Of Science Fiction", and the only recognizable director there at all is Jonathan Frakes.

They did adapt Robert A. Heinlein, and Harlan Ellison though.
So, at least the material was good.

Aaand, then it all sputtered out.

But, it's like that old Dr. Seuss quote "don't be sad it ended, be glad it happened".
I try to live my life by that.

Anyhoo, the individual episodes are out there as feature releases.
Track them down if you like.

Stuart Gordon's Poe episode has Jeffrey Combs as Poe.
Hey, there ya go.

And, there, that ties this year's theme all together...

Up next, more treats.

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Masters Of Horror! (H.P. Lovecraft)

Lovecraft...let's just sum him up by saying he's been...influential.
To understate it astronomically.

So, to update the chronology from last time, it goes Mary Shelly, Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, then H.P Lovecraft.

Then...I guess Ray Bradbury, Shirley Jackson, Robert Bloch, and Richard Matheson fill the gap up to Stephen King.

And, fuck, I should have done chapters on them.
Ah, well....

So, to get you up to speed, this parody of a Jack Chick tract boils down everything you'll ever need to know about the Lovecraft-verse.

That's been out on the internet forever, if you haven't seen it, where were ya?

Also, THIS!

Awwww!!!!
I want one!

Ahem...
Now, to the flicks...


The Haunted Palace (1963) 

See here, here, and here.

Actually, an adaptation of Lovecraft's "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward".

Die, Monster, Die! (1965) 

See here.

An adaptation of  "The Colour Out of Space".
Remember that name, it'll come up again.


The Shuttered Room (1967)

A.K.A. "Blood Island".

Distrustful superstitious townsfolk, a cursed mill, and "aaaa! don't go in the attic!".


The Dunwich Horror (1970) 

See here.


Alien saga (1979-2012)

See here, here, here, and here.

The Engineers very closely resemble the elder gods.
Definitely some inspiration going on there.


Call Of Cthulhu (1981)

Okay, breaking normal format to mention this.

A game.
One of the most beloved old-style RPGs ever.
Second only to Dungeons & Dragons.

You can't win, everyone dies, and everyone ends up insane, the closest thing to winning is surviving the longest.

No discussion of Lovecraft is complete without acknowledging this.
The resource book alone will give you a molecular level dissection of everything Lovecraft.


The Evil Deads (1981-2013)

See here.

The Necronomicon, natch.


The Re-Animators (1985-2003)

See here, here, and here.

Adapted from "Herbert West: Re-Animator".
The stories are right in the first link!


From Beyond (1986)

See here, and here.


The Twilight Zone: Gramma (1986)

From the 80's revival of the show.
By Stephen King.

Adapted from one of his short stories in "The Skeleton Crew", it's 100% faithful.
And majorly fucked up.

Lovecraft encouraged other writers to play in his universe, and continue it after his death, so, things like this are in a canon grey area.
Me, I include every scrap of it.

Anyway, a little boy is left alone with his bed-ridden, deformed, crazy, morbidly obese grandmother.
Nice parents...

He finds his grandmother's copy of the Necronomicon, and hears her chant incantations, including the name of Cthulhu, and surmises she's a witch.
Smart lad.

Gramma calls out for him to bring her some tea, and things go downhill from there.

There were rumors a couple years ago that there'd be a feature-length R rated film of this.
Hey, bring it on!


The Curse (1987)

Adapted from "The Colour Out of Space".
Yeah, that one again.
Toldja.

This is another one of those ones I always saw on the shelves at Nicely's, and never rented.

I've seen it recently for this, and...wow, it's utter shit.
"Troll 2", level bad, but without the funny.
Ho-ly shit.

A meteor crashes in a farm town, melts away to slime, and soaks into the ground, then causes the crops and livestock to mutate, and rot, and everyone who eats them goes batshit crazy, and mutates into a sorta-Deadite.

Acting, makeup, effects, film quality, and video quality are all utter dogshit.
A post "Stand By Me", Wil Wheaton is in it,
Again, ho-ly shit.
Avoid this turd like the meteor in the story.

"Die, Monster, Die!", just HAS to be better than this.


The Real Ghostbusters: Collect Call of Cathulhu (1987)

I dunno why they changed the spelling of Cthulhu, Lovecraft is public domain, they could have just gone for it.
Anyway...
Watched the episode online today to refresh myself, and it's GREAT!

Exactly what you'd want out of a Ghostbusters/Cthulhu crossover.
Both myhtologies are served, it touches on all the key points of the Lovecraft-verse, Necronomicon, Cthulhu cult, Cthulhu rises from the sea...then Ghostbusters use pseudo-science babble to win.
And Venkman cracks wise, and flirts with a girl all the way through.

Great stuff.
I gotta get these DVDs.


The Unnamable (1988)

A creepy gothic house, family secrets, a female demon-child, the Necronomicon, and a body count of stock characters.

*Skims IMDB*
It has its defenders.


Cast A Deadly Spell (1991)

Starring Fred Ward (Remo Williams, Timerider).
Also, David Warner, and Julienne Moore.

A neo-noir set in a world where magic is real, almost everyone uses it, and it's chock full of Lovecraft references, right down to the name of the main character (Phillip Lovecraft).

*Skims IMDB again*
Holy shit, people love this thing!
Okay, another one for the list...


The Unnamable II: 
The Statement of Randolph Carter (1993)

More of the same from the first one, but this time with David Warner, and John Rhys-Davies.

DVD is out of print.


In the Mouth of Madness (1994)

See here.

An homage to the Lovecraft-verse by John Carpenter.

One of the best, if not the best, Lovecraft films ever.
As far as nailing the mythology, and atmosphere goes.
IMHO.


H.P. Lovecraft's: Necronomicon (1994)

See here.


The Lurking Fear (1994)

Oh, boy, another Full Moon...
(See Puppetmaster)

Unlikable characters vs. mole-men.
Pppt.


Freakazoid: Statuesque (1996)

A nutcase builds a watch that turns people into stone, and summons Vorn The Unspeakable (voiced by Richard Moll) with a book titled "How To Summon Monsters The E-Z Way".

Vorn is a dead-ringer for Cthulhu, and is clearly intended to be a reference to him, and Lovecraft-verse in general.

Cute episode, but the kids who saw this in the 90's would be blissfully oblivious to the Lovecraft connection.

At least The Ghostbusters one laid out the backstory pretty well for the uninitiated.


Cool Air (1999)

With Jack Donner!
The character of Randolph Carter, from the "Unnamable", flicks is the protagonist.


Justice League Unlimited: 
The Terror Beyond (2003)

Superman, Wonder Woman, Hawk Girl, Dr. Fate, Aquaman, and Solomon Grundy infiltrate the realm of, and fight "Icthultu".
Come on, we know who it is.
Like I said in the Ghostbusters one, come on, it's public domain, just go for it.


Hellboy (2004)

See here.

The thing Hellboy fights at the end is CLEARLY Cthulhu.
There's no way in hell it's NOT Cthulhu.


Alone In The Dark (2005)

See here.

A shitty video game flick that's Lovecraft-adjacent.
It becomes pretty clear, pretty quick, that decent Lovecraft productions are the exception, not the rule.


The Call of Cthulhu (2005)

A black & white silent film to reproduce the period the story was written in.

It has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes! Wow!

Check out the trailer here.


The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy:
Prank Call Of Cthulhu (2006)

Excellent!
Like the Ghostbusters one, hits all the notes of the Lovecraft-verse, but it's even more hilarious.
Damn, but this was a great show!


Army of Darkness vs. Re-Animator (2006)

See here, and here.

So, that ties those two universes together.
Cthulhu, and the ghost of H.P. Lovecraft also make appearances.


Cthulhu (2007)

Based on "The Shadow Over Innsmouth".
For artsy fartsy reasons, has a gay protagonist.
Has a 62% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so, it doesn't suck.
Maybe.

Only famous person in it is Tori Spelling.


The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu (2009)

A horror comedy that's clearly trying to be a Lovecraftian "Shaun Of The Dead".

Does it succeed?
Ehhh.


South Park: Coon & Friends (2010)

This clip says it all.





Scooby Doo-Mystery Incorporated:
The Shrieking Madness (2011)

Has an author named H. P. Hatecraft, and a monster called Char Gar Gothakon, which is yet another Cthulhu clone.

Of course, I'll always know it as "the one with Harlan Ellison". ;-)


The Whisperer in Darkness (2011)

Filmed to resemble 1930's films, like Dracula, and Frankenstein.
Geez, 80% at Rotten Tomatoes.

Made by the same folks who did "The Call Of Cthulhu".
What the heck, have another trailer.


Infestation 2 (2012)

See here, here, and here.


And...holy shit, I'm done!

I'M DONE!!!! (8-D


Tomorrow, an assorted bag of treats.


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