I never thought one could make Cthulhu lame...

[Umbran]

I just unfortunatley read the thread title...

"I never thought one could make Cthulhu lamé..."

Which is really, something else entirely. Very, very 70s...

 

[JRR_Talking]

not read any books or played the game to any extent,

could it be that the books/stories just dont translate well to the big screen?

are the tales thrilling /scarey / exciting enough for a modern audience?

John

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

are the tales thrilling /scarey / exciting enough for a modern audience?

There are some aspects that are unconventional and are difficult to translate into film. A movie that is primarily flashbacks to characters who die, for instance.

HPL had quite obvious bigotted beliefs, not unusual for his era, about class (and even racial at times) superiority that often played into the the climax of stories... someone violating his heritage/destiny for eldritch knowledge doomed to corrupt his very flesh/mind. How do you show someone going insane over the course of years of study? Packed a bigger bang for an audience of an earlier era. His prose is also very lurid and over the top to modern eyes.

Still there are some stories that can terrify. In college my wife participated in a group reading of some of his short stories, each taking turns reading one story. The Outsider and The Rats in the Walls read that night still give her nightmares more than a decade later. She's easily susceptible to nightmares though.

 

[D.Shaffer]

That and a big component of Lovecraft critters is that he doesnt really describe them in detail. When a movie tries to portray one of these critters, it inevitably comes out as looking cheesy. They compound the problem by showing us the monster in all its bright lit glory.

Another issue is the monster is often the climax of Lovecraft's work. Movie adaptions seem to want to make it the focus, turning any adaptions into yet another monster movie.

 

[Templetroll]

not read any books or played the game to any extent,

could it be that the books/stories just dont translate well to the big screen?

are the tales thrilling /scarey / exciting enough for a modern audience?

John

The stories are great but you need to be able to deal with Lovecraft's style of writing. They are not action packed nor do they have anywhere near the amount of sex that is always tossed into the films.

It is mind-boggling to think folks who were not familiar with horror, did not respect the genre, would decide to make a horror movie. It sounds like the potential for suckitude that only Tori Spelling should be associated with. I fully expect that Tara Reid will get a bit part in it, maybe as the librarian at Miskatonic U.

 

[Templetroll]

That and a big component of Lovecraft critters is that he doesnt really describe them in detail. When a movie tries to portray one of these critters, it inevitably comes out as looking cheesy. They compound the problem by showing us the monster in all its bright lit glory.

Another issue is the monster is often the climax of Lovecraft's work. Movie adaptions seem to want to make it the focus, turning any adaptions into yet another monster movie.

Correct, Lovecraft's style is exactly what made Jaws and Alien great. Slow build of suspence, see what the monster did, not the monster. You didn't see the BBM until the last part of the movie.

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

Is this flick ever going anywhere? I mean the trailer is more than a year old. Has there been any movement on this front?

 

[D.Shaffer]

Correct, Lovecraft's style is exactly what made Jaws and Alien great. Slow build of suspence, see what the monster did, not the monster. You didn't see the BBM until the last part of the movie.

Heh. I was originally going to mention Alien but decided to cut the comment.

That said, there's a wonderful example in Alien that demonstrates the problem with showing the monster out in the open. There's a scene they filmed that has the alien attacking someone in a VERY bright lit room. The creep, scary alien is quite clearly shown to be a man in a silly looking rubber suit, completely ruining any surprise or horror. Quite wisely, they cut the scene out.

 

[Aaron L]

TThe Outsider and The Rats in the Walls read that night still give her nightmares more than a decade later. She's easily susceptible to nightmares though.

I think The Rats in the Walls is my favorite Lovecraft story.

 

[jaerdaph]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478988/

I just met Andrew Leman, who went to college with one of my friends, about a month ago when he screened this version of Call of Cthulhu at the Hunter College international film festival. Extremely well done as a silent 1920s movie - I highly recommend it:

http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/bts.html

Andrew also runs the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society:
http://www.cthulhulives.org