Many newer fans of Lovecraft often ask about movies based on his work, and I have previously posted a list of Lovecraftian movies currently on Netflix streaming.  But what about movies that do what this magazine does, which is explore Lovecraftian themes?  After all, as I write on the submissions page, including Cthulhu or the Necronomicon in a story doesn’t make it Lovecraftian.  So what does?

Wikipedia sums it up nicely on its Lovecraftian Horror page: The hallmark of Lovecraft’s work was the sense that ordinary life was a thin shell over a reality which was so alien and abstract in comparison that merely contemplating it would damage the sanity of the ordinary person.  (See also Wikipedia’s entry on cosmic horror.)

Which brings us to The New Daughter.

To reveal much about this movie would ruin it, but if you are a Lovecraft fan (and you probably are or you wouldn’t be reading this), you should definitely watch The New Daughter.  (It’s available currently on Netflix streaming!)  Kevin Costner stars as John, a newly divorced father who moves into a rural South Carolina home with his adolescent daughter Louisa and young son Sam.  Louisa and Sam discover a large mound on the property, and things go downhill from there (pun intended).  The movie does a great job building up the horror subtly, slowly making the viewer aware that things are not what they seem.

There is more I’d like to say, and I keep typing sentences and then erasing them because I don’t want to give too much away.  Perhaps I’ll post a spoiler discussion page in a few days.  In my opinion The New Daughter is a great example of Lovecraftian horror.  Watch it and I think you’ll agree.

By the way, The New Daughter is based on a story by John Connolly, and is available in his short story collection Nocturnes.  Nocturnes is one of my favorite books — the writing and the stories are first-rate.