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How my film addiction started - and no, I'm not seeking help

- November 01, 2024

When did you start getting into film seriously? I think I was practically born a movie nerd. My mother introduced me to James Whale’s Frankenstein when I was five. Before that, among my earliest memories was the rerelease of Pinocchio , Jason and the Argonauts (both at the Village Theater in Houston). And I remember the utter terror of those goddamn flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz as it played on a small black and white set on our enclosed back porch. As a kidding the single digits, I came to be in awe of these giant dreams projected on screens or in the little box where I’d also see Johnny Quest , The Flinstones , I Love Lucy and the Ed Sullivan Show . But movies were special. They were long-form stories and far more engaging. I had to pay attention. Cartoons were usually short and to the point. Variety shows allowed for zoning out or dialing in as the situation merited. But movies? This was a different world, a different way of telling stories. Horror, or r

Last Call for Lovecraft Halloween! The Call of Cthulhu (2005)

- October 31, 2024

Okay, one last quick recommendation. From the H.P. Lovecraft Society comes this gem. It’s a short feature at 45 minutes, but so worth it. You can purchase it directly from the HPLHS or watch it on Tubi. There is more information and trailers here . It follows Lovecraft’s story to a T and uses silent film as the medium to excellent effect. This might be not only the most accurate adaptation of a Lovecraft piece but also, frankly, one of the best. Please do check out the HPLHS if you’re not familiar with their fine work. And do check out this wonderful little film!

It’s a Lovecraft Halloween! Freon Beyond (1986)

- October 31, 2024

Not quite as highly regarded as his adaptation of Herbert West, Re-Animator , Gordon’s next Lovecraft work is still pretty solid. The fact is, it’s still pretty damned good! Gordon and his team took a reasonably representative short work by HPL, fleshed it out (so to speak), and updated it to the 1980s to stunning effect. Along with his producing partner Brian Yuzna and screenplay writer Dennis Paoli, Gordon gives us a directly unsettling, funny, and occasionally gross story. Crawford Tillinghast (Jeffrey Combs) is second banana in the lab to Dr. Pretorius (Ted Sorel having a field day hamming it up!) as opposed to being the primary and sole investigator/scientist. That’s a cast expansion of the source material right off the bat (and the first cheeky character name). Crawford is assisting Pretorius in an experiment to expand the capacity of the pineal gland to expand the mind and sensory possibilities. Of course, this being Lovecraft-based, this has to go tits up, but quick. And does i

‘Tis the Season: Lovecraft! The Dunwich Horror (1969)

- October 30, 2024

Daniel Haller directed Die, Monster, Die! , the second feature adaptation of a Lovecratt work, with variable results. What came out was a fairly standard creature feature that in moments, proved there might be more to it. It didn’t exactly herald a rush to devlop more Lovecraft films. That said, four years later, Haller returned to direct after Mario Bava proved unavailable, with a script co-written by Curtis Hanson and starring Dean Stockwell, Sandra Dee, Ed Begley (his last role), and Sam Jaffa. It, too, is a mixed bag, but a more dynamic and exciting one (if still clunky at times0. The film departs from HPL’s story in some telling, and perhaps, cecessary, ways. Wilbur Whately is portrayed by a young and handsome Stockwell, as opposed to being the “goatish” creature of the story. There’s less emphasis on his procuring the Necronomicon here than in Lovecraft’s tale and his brother doesn’t play quite the same role. Oh, and there’s sex and, if I”m being completely up front, date rape.

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