1)Re-animator-1985-Stuart Gordon
Based on the story : Herbert West
Re-Animator
This is not only the finest of the
Lovecraft flicks it's also on par with greats like the Evil dead
trilogy. The story focuses on Dr. Herbert West (Jeffery Combs) A
disgraced scientist uses experiments with the dead and a serum
injection that bring them back to life. Dan Cain (Bruce Abbot) a
medical students life slowly begins to fall apart when he rents a
room to West where he once again begins to run his experiments with
the serum. Stewart Gordon directs a movie that has a great sense of
Gory 80's humor like Evil Dead, Dead Alive, and Evil Ed. It also
spawned a sequel and a third both directed by Brain Yuzna.Bride of
Re-Animator being the second is just as fun as the first. Beyond
Re-Animator being the third is still fun and gory but lacks something
the first two do.
2)From Beyond-1986-Stuart Gordon
Based on the story : From Beyond
This the lesser known but still just as
great Stuart Gordon Lovecraft adaptation. It delves more into science
fiction then horror although Don t think Gordon skimps on the gore.
Various monsters with Lovecraft written all over them devour people
In the slimiest and just plain disgusting kinds of ways.
Crawford Tillinghast (Jeffery Combs) And
Edward Pretorius (Ed Sorel) build a machine called the Resonator
which expands glands in the human brain and allows us to see into
another dimension filled with almost aquatic nightmare creatures and
that’s where the fun begins. An accident Leaving everyone to think
that Edward Pretorius is dead and Crawford Tillinghast in a mental
asylum for his murder.
It's there Crawford in introduced to Dr
Katherine Mcmichaels A therapist of some sort who with an ex football
player turned cop Named Bubba take Crawford back to the house where
the resonator is to basically prove his innocence by fixing the
machine and showing them it works.
3)The Call Of Cthulhu-2005-Andrew Leman
Based on the story : The Call of
Cthulhu
This is an indieish Lovecraft film that
surprised me cause I went into it with low expectations. It turned
out to not only be one of the best Lovecraft films but one of the
most original indies I've seen in a while. Shot in the style of a
silent film from the 20's the film tells the story of The Call of
Cthulhu. Cthulhu is probably one of the widely known Lovecraft
creatures. The film tells three stories one of a young man organizing
the affairs of his deceased uncle. What he finds is vast conspiracy
all pointing to an ancient evil power from the depths of the ocean
said to one day return. The second is an account from a police
officer who encounter cult activities in the swamp devoted to the
dark lord Cthulhu. The third story tells an account of a group of
sailors who end up on a uncharted island. There they find dark and
ancient evil and the beast Cthulhu itself. I can't recommend this
movie enough towards the end its art design almost takes on a Tim
Burton style.
4)Castle Freak-1995-Stuart Gordon
Based on the story : The Outsider
A family trying to recoup from an
accident that left there son dead and daughter blind try to get away
from it all on a vacation to Italy at a 16th century
castle in Italy. But all is not right when the family hears strange noises and
other disturbances late at night. When people start going missing and then are found dead in the Castle the father of the family John Reilly must uncover the whatever it is
that hides in in the darkness of the old estate to prove his own
innocence. I’m also a fan of Castle freak I feel it is more
atmospheric horror creepy figures and bumps in the night although it
still has some blood and gore to show just not as much as the other
Stewart Gordon Lovecraft flicks.
5)Necronomicon Book of the
Dead-1993-Christope Gans/Shusuke Kaneko/Brain Yuzna
Based on the stories:The Necronomicon ,Rats in the Walls,Cold Air,The Whisperer in the Darkness
Necronomicon Book of the Dead is an
anthology movie similar to Creep Show and Tales from the Dark Side.
The wrap around segment titled The Library has Jeffery Combs playing
Lovecraft himself who's come to a monk guarded library to read from
the Necronomicon. This is one of my favorite parts as they portray
Lovecraft as some kinda of Indiana Jones character. The first segment
The Drowned A man seeks to use the Necronomicon to bring back his
wide back to life. He travels to an inherited hotel where the book is
hidden. He then reads accounts he finds of a man in a similar
situation and how the results of using the book are never quite what
you asked for. The second segment Cold Air focuses on a young woman
who rents a room in an extremely cold house. She's helped by an ill
older gentlemen who lives upstairs named Dr. Madden who hides strange
experiments and a even sinister secret. The third segment called
Whispers follows a pretty shitty female cop who is chasing a serial
killer called The Butcher. Unfortunately for her what she finds is
actually worse then a serial killer. This one is particularly gory at
the end and maybe a little offensive with its pro life message which
is completely lost and in fact kinda mocked with its gallons of blood
slime and body parts.
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6)Dagon-2001-Stuart Gordon
Based on the story : Dagon & Shadow
Over Innsmouth
Dagon is the story of Paul Marsh Who
has just struck it big and goes on a boating vacation with his wife
and two friends. Paul finds out at sea he has strange nightmares of a
woman and strange creatures from the depths of the ocean. After a
storm crashes the boat and leaves there friends injured Paul and his
wife Barbra run to a near by village for help. Only things are not as
they seem and they slowly learn that the village belongs to a strange
and ancient cult who have plans for Paul and Barbra. This is one of
the better evil cult movies that I've seen simply because the cult doesn't worship the devil but some ancient sinister god Dagon. This
film doesn't have that fun sense of 80's gore but instead and some
gnarly torture scenes and some very cool creature effects. The only
down side is the unperfected CGI Although the film does keep it at a
minimum and most of the movie is practical effects which makes it
still quite entertaining.
7)The Resurrected-1992-Dan O' Bannon
Based on the story : The Case of
Charles Dexter Ward
The wife(Jane Sibbettt) of chemical
engineer Charles Dexter Ward (Chris Sarandon)hires a private
detective to find out what her husband has been doing in a decrepit
old cabin owned by his ancestors. The detective (John Terry)finds out
that Dr. Ward's experiments are anything but normal and delve into
alchemy. Strange smells come from the cabin as Ward tries to deter
the detective from further pursuing the mystery of his experiments
and the cabin. Although this film isn’t the most graphic Lovecraft
film there are some particularly cool creatures effects as well as
some really creepy scenes. Most of this film is build up to the big
reveals towards the end of the movie.
8)The Unnameable-1988-Jean Paul
Ouellette
Based on the story : The Unnamble &
The Statment of Randolph Carter
An 18th Centry House holds a
Dark Force That for Years had been contained.Fast forward to present
day (1988) and A couple college kids are at Arkham Miskatonic
University telling ghost stories. Randolph tells The story of Joshua
Winthorp and his demon daughter named Alyda Winthorp.
Randolphs buddy Joel concocts the idea
to stay the night in the old Winthorp place and well at this point I
bet you can how bad that that turns out. Some cool good old fashioned
1980's monster make up in this one.
