The Call of Cthulhu

I've been a big H. P. Lovecraft fan for a long time. I spent years scouring used bookstores for each and every book, only to feel foolish later when his work was rediscovered and mass-produced. Much like Phillip K. Dick. It's been awhile since I've read any Lovecraft -- I started with his work in high school, and there's only some many times one can re-read the entire canon -- but I'll always have a high regard for his tales of unearthly horror, often in near reach, that can shatter men's minds.

"The Call of Cthulhu" is not my favorite of his stories, and is probably overrated, but certainly lends itself well to cinematic adaptation. This half-length (45 min) black-and-white silent feature (filmed in MythoScope!) does not disappoint: the pacing, the props, the silent-era acting style all contribute to a unique, creepy-paranoid feel.

The story is simple and true to formula: man meets elder god, man loses mind, another man meets elder god. Everything is predictable, which is expected as the film is an adapatation rather than a new work inspired by the original mythos. I was at first disappointed with the cyclopean city set, expecting the 'weird geometry' to be more indicative of 4-plus dimensional space, but when guys started be swallowed up by corners I was greatly impressed.

The only disappointment in this movie is Cthulhu himself. While the directors rightly decided to use obvious stop-motion effects, they should have made his form much more difficult to discern, more shadowy. A better design artist and a better animator would bat the movie's climax right out of the bark.

A very good film, much better than any other Lovecraft adaptation and inspiration out there (with the possible exception of Cast a Deadly Spell). Let's hope the team behind this decide to team up with Giger and Svankmajer to do a full-length, modern-style Lovecraft movie that drives our brains screeching and keening right back down the stem to hide shivering at the base of our spines. Dare to dream, eh?

* * * R A T I N G * * *
The Call of Cthulhu (IMDB)

Wince : [***__] (** for the cultists, * for Cthulhu)
Flinch : [*____]
Retch : [*____]
Gape : [**___]

Beerequisite : [*____]
Pornability : [_____]
Obscurity : [**___]
Explicability : [****_]

Scene I'd watch on endless loop: The crew exploring and fleeing Kong^H^H^H^H Cthulhu Island.

Memories I want to erase: The boat hitting Cthulhu's stomach.

What I would do different: Replace the Cthulhu model with Little Otik and bad lighting.