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A classic H.P. Lovecraft story is coming to the screen
Could be awesome. Could suck balls. One thing the article gets absolutely correct, the lack of "good and successful" adaptations of HPL's stories. Maybe if something like this can earn a decent bit of cash, it could revive hopes for Del Toro's At the Mountains of Madness.
There's already a cheaply made, but well done, German version of this story. While I too wish Del Toro would do At the Mountains of Madness any cheaparse Lovecraft adaption would have to be Blair Witch successful before Hollywood would greenlight an R rated big budget Lovecraft film. Maybe your dreams originate in the South Pacific?
I hope it is actually good but I am not getting my hopes up.
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And really, how do you do a movie, a visual medium, focused on a color outside the normal visual spectrum?
+1 on this question. Any Lovecraft adaptation is inherently problematic due to the nature of his horror, that relies on the reader feeling in the horrific details that he will only hint at, or just outright say couldn't be described. Color Out of Space is especially problematic.
Plus, the story is so much of a downer that I don't want to experience it again in any form, really. It's not bad, but the oppressive atmosphere it sets up and the truly unpleasant fates of some of the main characters don't exactly entice me to re-live it.
One day *someone* will make a serious At the Mountain Of Madness adaptation. That story is not only one of Lovecraft's best, but it also stands on it's own while still providing a memorable glimpse into the greater Lovecraft mythology (thus possibly setting up future films if it succeeds), and has a very solid combination of setting and plot.
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I want to say first that I would love a faithful adaptation of one of Lovecraft's tales. I'm a huge fan of his works. But, there is room in his universe to build new tales out of the many pieces of mythology that are merely hinted at. Expanding on things like; what 'lives' in the oldest crypts.. ghoul life and becoming them.. ape-like creatures living in the blackest jungles.. deep ones.. necromancers/alchemists/summoners/eldritch cultists... things like these. A story that while being new would still be faithful to the Lovecraft world at large. His Earth alone holds untold stories worth telling.. and that is without extending to either the dream world or dimensions beyond.
I also want to say down that From Beyond is also a film adaptation worth watching.
If you want to see some well-done cinematic Lovecraft and have no objection to fan-made works, you might check out the HP Lovecaft Historical Society's two films, The Call of Cthulhu and The Whisperer in Darkness. I've seen both and they're amazing, and done in a very 'period' style. CoC is done in silent German Expressionism style. Whisperer is more of a 30-40's Universal-style horror, with several changes from the original story.
Vendor - Fantasiapelit Tampere
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Die Färbe is pretty darn good adaption of the story. And it worked because the movie was in black and white so "new color" is much more played in reaction rather than visuals, although those play part as well.
Anyway, this is probably one of the trickiest adaptation to do. Mountains of Mdness would have made more sense, as other already have mentioned. But we'll see. Maybe it's good, maybe it's garbage.