Little-known Horror / Suspense Movies with a Lovecraft-y Vibe


Movies

Liberty's Edge

I recently watched an obscure, low-budget, but very well-made horror film called Jug Face.

The plot line felt like the start of a Call of Cthulhu campaign.

It features a strange community of reclusive, backwoods moon-shiners, and an enigmatic, if nondescript hole in the ground called, The Pit.

Don't let the campy title fool you, it was pretty cool.

There was only one part of the movie that was, in my opinion, horribly hokey:

The spirit of the Shunned Boy looks goofy as hell, once he stays on screen for a lengthy period of time and starts talking to the main character.

I'd give it a four out five.

Any other obscure films out there that one might recommend?


Resolution and Absentia both kind of give me a Lovecraft vibe...


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Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

In the Mouth of Madness with Sam Neill is very heavily inspired by Lovecraft's work and is not bad at all.


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Its not really Lovecraft (In the Mouth of Madness is the one that nails that genre down tight for me...I think Neill's other one from that period, Event Horizon, packs some good suspense along with the 'gotcha' type scares, plus it has Lawrence Fishburne say three words with perfection! Though I will watch Jug Face next time I get a chance. Sounds creepy!), but one you need to see in a 'in your head'-type creepiness is BUG. There are several other movies with that title, but this one will get to you...just a little...scratch, scratch. :)

Scarab Sages

The low budget movie Dagon is a surprisingly good take on 'Shadows over Insmouth', and I think Session 9 has a Call of Cthulhu (game) feel.


"The Haunted Palace" - 1963

Vincent Price Film I like

Liberty's Edge

There is a movie based on The Case of Charles Dexter Ward called The Resurrected that is suprisingly good. The effects are a little dated, but the movie thankfully doesn't overly rely on them. The movie does a solid job of building up a mood of dread that captures the source material quite well. Plus it has the criminally underrated Chris Sarandon in it, and he's always a treat.


feytharn wrote:
Session 9 has a Call of Cthulhu (game) feel.

That was quite a tidy little film.

Liberty's Edge

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Feros wrote:
In the Mouth of Madness with Sam Neill is very heavily inspired by Lovecraft's work and is not bad at all.

Yep. In the Mouth and Madness and Event Horizon are two of the best examples of the genre that are not direct translations of Lovecraft's work. John Carpenter's body of work in general does a really good job of exuding a Lovecraft vibe. His Apocalypse Trilogy (The Thing, In the Mouth of Madness, and Prince of Darkness) all do a great job of building dread in a Lovecraftian sense, and I highly recommend all of them if you have not seen them yet.

Sovereign Court

drunken_nomad wrote:

Its not really Lovecraft (In the Mouth of Madness is the one that nails that genre down tight for me...I think Neill's other one from that period, Event Horizon, packs some good suspense along with the 'gotcha' type scares, plus it has Lawrence Fishburne say three words with perfection! Though I will watch Jug Face next time I get a chance. Sounds creepy!), but one you need to see in a 'in your head'-type creepiness is BUG. There are several other movies with that title, but this one will get to you...just a little...scratch, scratch. :)

Event horizon is considered a spiritual prequel to the Warhammer 40.000 universe.

I mean, the ship makes the jump through hyperspace(warp) and comes back wrong. The crew goes nuts, kills each other, plucks eyes out...stuff. I loved it. Plus it was the last film in which Lawrence Fishburne wasn't fat.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber

If Rod Serling and H.P. Lovecraft had a baby, it would probably look like Altitude.

Then there's childhood favorite of mine, Humanoids from the Deep, which resembles one of Lovecraft's science gone wrong stories (okay, so the actual film doesn't feature music by The Misfits, but that video is awesome.)

And given the paranoia and fear Lovecraft felt during his short time living in New York, I think he'd appreciate the ending of Midnight Meat Train.


Velcro Zipper wrote:

If Rod Serling and H.P. Lovecraft had a baby, it would probably look like Altitude.

Then there's childhood favorite of mine, Humanoids from the Deep, which resembles one of Lovecraft's science gone wrong stories (okay, so the actual film doesn't feature music by The Misfits, but that video is awesome.)

And given the paranoia and fear Lovecraft felt during his short time living in New York, I think he'd appreciate the ending of Midnight Meat Train.

Tonally, I would have to say Humanoids from the Deep is not very lovecraftian. It has fish humanoids which seek to breed with females, but they are pretty easily dealt with by the local rednecks, and they appear to be a bit on the stupid side to be much of a threat after they are discovered.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber

Yeah, but like I said, I think it fits more into the "science gone awry" category of Lovecraft stories. Stories like Cool Air and even Herbert West - Reanimator, don't even have any cosmic horror or strange otherworldly monsters, but they're still Lovecraft. I give Humanoids from the Deep the nod because the Deep One-like Humanoids are the result of weird science.

However, I realized later Humanoids from the Deep wasn't even the movie I was originally thinking of when I posted it. I was actually thinking of Zaat aka Blood Waters of Dr. Z, which is even more mad sciencey. It's got a classic mad scientist vs the world plot where an evil scientist wants to return people to the ocean by turning everyone into fish-human hybrids. I could easily picture this as the plot to a Call of Cthulhu scenario where the scientist is being compelled by the dreams of Cthulhu to prepare the chosen.


I've got to mention the HP Lovecraft Historical Society's adaptations of The Call of Cthulhu and The Whisperer In Darkness; both are filmed in black & white, using the film techniques of Lovecraft's era. The Call of Cthulhu is the shorter of the two, at 45 minutes and is done as a silent movie. I believe both are available on Netflix. See the links for the trailers on Youtube:

The Whisperer In Darkness http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_ee9K9hXtw

and The Call of Cthulhu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHuY2wXTd0o


Session 9 was such a let down to me. I loved the set up, and was fully invested in the story, really enjoying the mystery unfolding. Then the big reveal came and was a huge disappointment to me. It felt like such a cop-out.


The Curse is actually a surprisingly well-done and faithful adaptation of The Colour Out of Space. Most people seem to overlook it.

Grand Lodge

I have the Call of Cthulhu one on DVD. One of my favorites. Filmed in Mythoscope! :) The behind the scenes and sfx commentary are really fascinating, too.

Also, if you'd like to revisit some classic 80s flix that are peripherally related to H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu-verse:

Conan the Destroyer
Hellraiser II: Hellbound

Shadow Lodge

Vernon Fults wrote:

I've got to mention the HP Lovecraft Historical Society's adaptations of The Call of Cthulhu and The Whisperer In Darkness; both are filmed in black & white, using the film techniques of Lovecraft's era. The Call of Cthulhu is the shorter of the two, at 45 minutes and is done as a silent movie. I believe both are available on Netflix. See the links for the trailers on Youtube:

The Whisperer In Darkness http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_ee9K9hXtw

and The Call of Cthulhu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHuY2wXTd0o

They've also done adaptions of eight of his stories as radio dramas. Brilliant stuff, I have the first four, and plan to get the rest very soon.

Dark Archive

I liked the 'stare into the abyss and it also stares into you' vibe of From Beyond, even if it was a bit hammy and over the top at times. (And by 'at times' I mean, 'pretty much always').

Sovereign Court

Velcro Zipper wrote:

Yeah, but like I said, I think it fits more into the "science gone awry" category of Lovecraft stories. Stories like Cool Air and even Herbert West - Reanimator, don't even have any cosmic horror or strange otherworldly monsters, but they're still Lovecraft. I give Humanoids from the Deep the nod because the Deep One-like Humanoids are the result of weird science.

However, I realized later Humanoids from the Deep wasn't even the movie I was originally thinking of when I posted it. I was actually thinking of Zaat aka Blood Waters of Dr. Z, which is even more mad sciencey. It's got a classic mad scientist vs the world plot where an evil scientist wants to return people to the ocean by turning everyone into fish-human hybrids. I could easily picture this as the plot to a Call of Cthulhu scenario where the scientist is being compelled by the dreams of Cthulhu to prepare the chosen.

Here's the full film for you VZ:

Zaat

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber

Thanks, zylphryx. I found that last night and I almost watched it, but I have a feeling it won't hold the same magic as it did when I first viewed it from the safety of my monster-proof couch cushion fort.

Maybe I should buy a couch.

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