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.