The Call of Cthulhu Reviews

Adapted from one of H.P. Lovecraft's most famous and celebrated short stories, The Call of Cthulhu is a story I thought could never really be filmed properly. When I first heard it was being made, I just knew they were going to ruin one of my favorite Lovecraft stories. However, there was some hope for it since it was being produced by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society (a collective of dedicated Lovecraft fans). I was impressed with the promo trailer; and when I finally saw the finished product, it actually exceeded my expectations. This is by far the most faithful Lovecraft adaptation I've ever seen. What makes the film work for me is the concept behind it. Lovecraft wrote The Call of Cthulhu in 1926; and what the filmmakers did was shoot it as a silent black & white film with title cards, as though it was made in 1926. It was the only way to make the film with the small budget they had, and it comes off beautifully. The make-up, the lighting, the props, the period clothing, the stop-motion Cthulhu FX, the silent-era style of acting, and the symphonic music score all add to the authenticity and atmosphere of the film. Plus they developed a post-production process called "Mythoscope", which added film grain and other aging artifacts you would find in a silent-era film. The set construction for the sunken city of R'lyeh was impressive (especially considering that the bulk of it was cardboard). It's a mix of surrealism combined with the expressionistic set design of certain silent horror classics. The swamp scene was also memorable. The fog rolling through the trees as the inspector and his agents trek through the swamp with lanterns to discover the Cthulhu cultists in the middle of an infernal ritual. I've mentioned the pros of the film, now for some cons. The low budget necessitated shooting it on digital video, and you can tell its video, but the "Mythoscope" process I mentioned earlier helps give it somewhat of a film-look. This is a minor thing, and it doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the movie. Some may feel a bit under-whelmed when Cthulhu appears. Anyone who's read The Call of Cthulhu already has their own idea of what Cthulhu looks like in their imagination. I understand what the filmmakers were going for here - a stop-motion creature that would be authentic to a '20s-era silent film; and I think they succeeded in doing that (even though I imagined Cthulhu being a bit more gargantuan and rotund than he appears here). This film should certainly appeal to fans of Lovecraft's fiction, who've been yearning for an accurate film adaptation of his stories, as well as to fans of silent horror cinema. If you're not that keen on Lovecraft and not that fond of silent films, then this movie will probably bore you to death. Now I can't wait to see the HPLHS' next project, THE WHISPERER IN DARKNESS, currently in production. It's going to be set in the same time period the story was written; and since that was 1931, this film will be a "talkie".