At the Mountains of Madness starts filming in June! Which brings up a question: What’s your favorite Lovecraftian movie so far? Comment below — let us know which one(s), and why!
My favorites (so far) are:
The Call of Cthulhu – The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society presents its all new silent film of The Call of Cthulhu. The famed story is brought richly to life in the style of a classic 1920s silent movie, with a haunting original symphonic score. Using the “Mythoscope” process — a mix of modern and vintage techniques, the HPLHS has worked to create the most authentic and faithful screen adaptation of a Lovecraft story yet attempted.
Dagon – Dagon tells the story of Paul Marsh, a young man who discovers that the truth will not set him free instead it condemns him to a waking nightmare of unrelenting horror. A boating accident off the coast of Spain sends Paul and his girlfriend Barbara to the decrepit fishing village of Imboca looking for help. As night falls, people start to disappear and things not quite human start to appear. Paul finds himself pursued by the entire town. Running for his life, he uncovers Imboca’s dark secret: that they pray to Dagon, a monstrous god of the sea. And Dagon’s unholy offspring are freakish half-human creatures on the loose in Imboca.
The Resurrected – Charles Dexter Ward’s wife enlists the help of a private detective to find out what her husband is up to in a remote cabin owned by his family for centuries. The husband is a chemical engineer, and the smells from his experiments (and the delivery of what appear to be human remains at all hours) are beginning to arouse the attention of neighbors and local law enforcement officials. When the detective and wife find a diary of the husband’s ancestor from 1771, and reports of gruesome murders in the area begin to surface, they begin to suspect that some very unnatural experiments are being conducted in the old house.
What are your favorite Lovecraft movies?
.
.
The Lovecraft eZine 
Love the AIP “Dunwitch Horror.” And of course the Yuzna “From Beyond.” But have you seen “Dark Heritage” by McCormick? Or “The Unnamable” by Ouellette? Both very independent, low budget, but interesting.
LikeLike
If they do make At The Mountains Of Madness they will have to CGI and monster it up. The story and pace aren’t the ilk of most modern movie watchers. Too slow, too dry.
LikeLike
I’m partial to the Masters of Horror adaptation of Dreams in the Witch House, but I don’t think anyone’s properly captured H.P.’s fiction correctly yet. A close film for style if not story is Beyond the Walls of Sleep with William “Larry, Darrell and Darrell” Sanderson.
LikeLike
Yeah, I enjoyed most of the MoH stuff. Dreams in the Witch House and The Black Cat were probably the best of them all. Goes to show: works of genius always have legs.
LikeLike
’79? Crap…that should have been ’70.
Another that hasn’t been mentioned here but is great, The Haunted Palace, with Vincent Price as Charles Ward/Joseph Curwen.
LikeLike
This is out of left field but one of my favorite (not the most favorites, as they’ve been listed already) is the 1979 Dunwich Horror with Dean Stockwell as Wilbur Whately. Hippies as worshipers of the Old Ones, brilliant.
LikeLike
I’m torn between the silent movie Call Of Cthulhu and Reanimator.
LikeLike
It is my favourite Lovecraft (and Lovecraftian too) films:
1. From Beyond (imho, the best film of Stuart Gordon)
2. Dagon (it’s mostly like an original Lovecraft story)
3. Necronomicon (good movie)
4. The Thing (John Carpenter has created the one of the best horrors about Antarctica).
5. The Call of Chulhu (nice BnW-style picture of present time)
Now I am waiting for The Whisperer in Darkness in 2011 and At the Mountains of Madness in 2013.
LikeLike
Not a Lovecraft story, but definitely Lovecraftian: John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness.
Do you read Sutter Cane?
LikeLike
We must be on the same wavelength, Neal — I noticed today that IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS is now on Netflix instant.
LikeLike
My all-time favorite is “AM 1200”, which I saw at its world premier in 2008 at the Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland Oregon. Written, produced and directed by David Prior, it revolves around (following text swiped from the Festival web site) “…a fragment of a radio broadcast, that may or may not be a distress call” which lures the main character “to an isolated transmitting station and into a terrifying mystery of murder, madness and the insatiable hunger of a power beyond his comprehension.” I thought it was a hugely frightening vision stuffed into a small compact film, and I’ll never listen to late night radio in quite the same way ever again.
LikeLike
Wow, this DOES look good. Thanks for letting us know about it. Found the trailer:
LikeLike
I guess I never watched a good lovecraft movie. I do remember this one with I believe three different short stories playing while HPL broke in some weird place to steal a copy of the Necronomicon, and had to fight his way out using his sword cane… trippy.
LikeLike
That would be Necronomicon. That film has become the benchmark by which my group of friends judge bad movies. Not so-bad-they-are-good but so-bad-we’d-rather-forget bad movies.
LikeLike
My all-time favorite Lovecraft film is the Canadian feature, OUT OF MIND, starring Chris Heyerdahl, an actor who has been very active in various roles for the SyFy channel. His portrayal of H. P. Lovecraft in the film is simply outstanding. Chris came to the Lovecraft Film Festival and did a reading as Lovecraft that was spellbinding.
LikeLike
This is fantastic! I second the recommendation!
LikeLike
Forgot about OUT OF MIND, and I own it! Thanks for the recommendation, Wilum.
LikeLike