The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society's production of The Whisperer in the Darkness is Salon's 'pick of the week'.
I purchased and watched The Whisperer in the Darkness a few months ago. Overall, I quite liked it. But it definitely was not in the same league, in my judgement, as the HPLHS's production of The Call of Cthulhu. The final, 'action-filled' act of the 'Whisperer' film is entirely new, whereas 'Cthulhu' cleaves loyally to the original tale.
I can understand why the film-makers wanted more 'action' than was provided by Lovecraft's original story. But if this is so, it seems that there are a number of other more appropriate Lovecraft tales, The Shadow Over Innsmouth to name just one.
Nonetheless, the film puts to shame 98% of Hollywood 'horror' films. I would recommend it to any fan of the Cthulhu Mythos, albeit with a warning to expect some significant differences from the original story.
it does seem odd when you look at how faithfully they stuck to CoC, a movie that really should be unfilmable. Still, I'll give it a shot.
ReplyDeleteI have seen Die, Monster, Die!, Re-Animator, From Beyond, Dagon, and In the Mouth of Madness. (Shocking! you will no doubt say …).
ReplyDeleteDMD! is, well, old. And not much of an adaptation. Re-Animator and From Beyond are great fun, and though take liberties, they are surprisingly faithful where it counts. Dagon is more of a true horror movie, and a pretty decent adaptation of Shadows over Innsmouth though alters the ending … a little. In the Mouth is indeed a “mash up”, but a pretty fun freakout. I hesitate, though, to recommend anything given what my friends think of my “taste” in movies. But they’re all fun romps and if you like Lovecraft and horror, are worth a watch. (Re-Animator is regarded as a classic of the 80s comic-horror sub-genre. And it is somewhat comic … if you like your humour as black as a Shoggoth.)
Thanks for your input on these films, Marcus!
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