HP Lovecraft

[Spider-Who?]

This guys stories are absolutely amazing; The Statement of Randolph Carter; Call of Ctuthulu, Whisperer in the Darkness - pure terror and unhinging of the human mind.

Any of his stories would (IMO) make amazing movies - which of his stories would you like to see adapt them? Which director would you want to helm it? Actors? Effects companies?

 

[Figs]

The ones that have already been adapted are The Reanimator, Dagon and From Beyond. Although some HP Lovecraft fans don't like any of those I still found them enjoyable aside from what changes were made.

There has been rumours that Del Toro was wanting to make At The Mountains Of Madness.

Oh yeah, in one of the earlier "Masters of Horror" spots, Dreams In The Witch-House was made.

 

[Rac]

The ones that have already been adapted are The Reanimator, Dagon and From Beyond. Although some HP Lovecraft fans don't like any of those I still found them enjoyable aside from what changes were made.

There has been rumours that Del Toro was wanting to make At The Mountains Of Madness.

Oh yeah, in one of the earlier "Masters of Horror" spots, Dreams In The Witch-House was made.

There are lots of more of his stories adapted into movies. Not just those.

 

[Spider-Who?]

I havent seen the Masters of Horror version yet. Its on my to do list.

However, any of the movies that I have seen "based" on his stories are well, terrible. Very little to do with the actual stories themselves, not made with love and respect of the source material.

I'm talking about a full fledged LOTR-level of love/respect adaptation of his work.

 

[Figs]

There are lots of more of his stories adapted into movies. Not just those.

Which? I know there was a silent film or it might have just been in black and white that was based on The Call of Cthulu.

Oh yeah, also forgot in the 90's they made "The Necronomicon(sp?)" which had some of his stories as well.

 

[The Guard]

Anything with Cthulu and the Old Ones would be amazing.

 

[Arcturus]

I would love to see a big-screen adaptation of "At the Mountains of Madness".

 

[The Lizard]

I know there was a silent film or it might have just been in black and white that was based on The Call of Cthulu.

I actually saw Call of Cthulhu (made in 2005), and it really wasn't bad. Now, you have to keep in mind that it's a 45 minute-long amateur film, but I think it pretty much succeeded in what it tried to do.

It is indeed silent and black & white, and it recreates the type of sets, effects, and cinematography you would see in a 1920s thriller like Nosferatu or The Cabinet of Dr. Calagari. There are a few places were the digital greenscreen effects looked pretty bad, particularly when the sailors are walking around on the island of R'leyeh, but the stop-motion Cthulhu looked good enough to fit into the 1920's feel of the movie.

I'd definitely recommend that any Lovecraft fan Netflix it, just to see how a Lovecraft movie is presented by true fans of Lovecraft.

 

[Victarion]

I haven't finished it yet, and while it is a game, Dark Corners of the Earth would translate to film really well, I think. I particularly like The Dunwich Horror and would be eager to see a real adaption with a real Yog-Sothoth, not King Ghidora.

 

[Lighthouse]

Hehe, I'm so glad someone finally made this thread.

 

[CrimsonMist]

the same people who did "The Call of Cthulhu" are working an adaptation of "The Whisperer in Darkness", which will again be black & white, but this will be a "talkie" made to look like a 30's film, as opposed to the silent film look of "The Call of Cthulhu".

Stuart Gordon also adapted "The Outsider", albeit loosely, as "Castle Freak". His "Dagon" adaptation originally started out as "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" and for some reason, despite being more faithful to that story than "Dagon", they decided to call it "Dagon".

He's currently, or is about to start, working on his adaptation of "The Thing On The Doorstep", which should be cool.

i think the first film version of a Lovecraft story was "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward", which was filmed by Roger Corman, with Vincent Price and Lon Chaney Jr, as "The Haunted Castle"

I was really looking forward to Del Toro's "At The Mountains of Madness" but that's not happening, which blows.

And if and when i finally get to it, i really want to do an adaptation of "The Shunned House", as i think that's a pretty cool story.

 

[Lighthouse]

I have a problem with Stuart Gordon's adaptations cause they are always cheesy gorefests instead of creepy, brooding horror. Its an incredible disappointment that Del Toro won't make Mountains of Madness, because I'm sure it would be amazing.

I was also really hoping the Cloverfield monster would be Cthulhu. Just imagine this guy rampaging New York City.

 

[Arcturus]

HP Lovecraft is one of my all-time favorite writers. His works are truly haunting and terrifying.

 

[CrimsonMist]

I have a problem with Stuart Gordon's adaptations cause they are always cheesy gorefests instead of creepy, brooding horror. Its an incredible disappointment that Del Toro won't make Mountains of Madness, because I'm sure it would be amazing.

I was also really hoping the Cloverfield monster would be Cthulhu. Just imagine this guy rampaging New York City.

Well, Re-Animator and From Beyond were cheesy gorefests, but i thought Dagon and Dreams In The Witch-House were a notch up. They were gory, yea, but they weren't as "tongue in cheek". Re-Animator is one of my favorite horror movies because of that. That said though, i wouldn't mind seeing a black & white(with green tint for the re-agent) remake as a period piece. I think that's how Gordon originally wanted to do it, but Brian Yuzna convinced him to do it in color, and with color, comes the vibrant bloody gore. That's probably the ONLY remake, if you want to call it that, that i'd ever want to see.

I too was hoping Cloverfield would have been Cthulhu. But the movie would be like 20 minutes long.

-Cthulhu appears in New York
-Everyone sees Cthulhu and their minds cannot comprehend what they see
-Everyone goes crazy and kills themselves
-Cthulhu takes over the world
-The End

would have been a great 20 minutes though! t:

 

[Arcturus]

Please forgive my ignorance; is Guillermo del Toro going to direct At the Mountains of Madness or not? I haven't been keeping up too much with Hollywood news lately.

 

[CrimsonMist]

Please forgive my ignorance; is Guillermo del Toro going to direct At the Mountains of Madness or not? I haven't been keeping up too much with Hollywood news lately.

unfortunately, No.

 

[Arcturus]

Oh no...oh no no no!



Well, I hope they get someone good.

 

[CrimsonMist]

Oh no...oh no no no!



Well, I hope they get someone good.

i dont think Hollywood is making it at all. At first WB(i think it was WB) didn't want to do it, as it was too expensive(i think), there was no happy ending, and there was no love interest.

Then WB said they would do it.

Then WB said they wouldn't. and that's where we are currently.

 

[Arcturus]

At the Mountains of Madness would make an epic film! I don't understand why we get sequel after sequel of American Pies, but we can't get a true masterpiece? I'll never understand the thought process behind Hollywood. So what if there is no happy ending or love interest! The story doesn't call for it.

 

[Victarion]

Oh no...oh no no no!



Well, I hope they get someone good.

Del Toro just seemed like the man for this movie. I recall a fansite (I don't have the link, you'll have to take my word here) that had some info regarding the movie's preproduction. WB was skeptical in regards to the movie due to a lack of love interest. Del Toro told them Lovecraft didn't see the need for one, and neither did he.

That, my fellows, is the mark of a man with respect to the source material.

Cloverfield's monster actually had a Diet Cthulhu effect on me. The creature's geometry just seemed...wrong, once it was fully revealed. Nothing insanity inducing to me (different for Rob and the others, I'd wager), but still slightly disturbing.

 

[Lighthouse]

At the Mountains of Madness would make an epic film! I don't understand why we get sequel after sequel of American Pies, but we can't get a true masterpiece? I'll never understand the thought process behind Hollywood. So what if there is no happy ending or love interest! The story doesn't call for it.

Tis true. Imagine if they'd kept I Am Legend's real ending.

 

[CrimsonMist]

Tis true. Imagine if they'd kept I Am Legend's real ending.

Would have been amazing, i'd say. The effect the ending had on me when reading the book was overwhelming, and i loved it.

Regarding that though, i've been reading that this "controversial" ending for the 2 Disc edition DVD is simply an even happier ending than what we got:

Spoiler

Neville lives, and with the woman and kid, drive off to save humanity

. That's probably why it's "controversial". A real ending would have been the book ending.

Anyway, At The Mountains of Madness would be pure atmosphere. The minute the screen takes you to Antarctica, you shouldn't be able to move in your seat. And you should be driven insane by the film's end.

But no. Hollywood sucks.

 

[Rac]

Which? I know there was a silent film or it might have just been in black and white that was based on The Call of Cthulu.

Just start from the 60's.

 

[The Lizard]

I too was hoping Cloverfield would have been Cthulhu. But the movie would be like 20 minutes long.

-Cthulhu appears in New York
-Everyone sees Cthulhu and their minds cannot comprehend what they see
-Everyone goes crazy and kills themselves
-Cthulhu takes over the world
-The End

would have been a great 20 minutes though! t:

Exactly. Cthulhu isn't supposed to be just another giant rampaging monster, he's an evil, insanity-inducing god from another dimension.

Although I always wonder how the boat in Call of Cthulhu managed to get away from him if he's so all-powerful. He must have still been sleepy after just waking up or something. t:

 

[The Guard]

Yeah, I don't really see Chtulhu being the "rampaging" type.