The Mist was more a movie about infighting amongst people than people fighting monsters. You can't adapt stuff like Mountains of Madness like that because they're scientists amazed that there was sentient life on Earth before fricking insects were around, the focus is on the discovery. If they then get into an argument because one of them wants to go back and the other wants to keep going, you've lost the point and it's now a generic horror movie.
Fear of the unknown and what that does to the human mind is literally what Cthulhu is about. The mist is about that >The Mist was more a movie about infighting amongst people than people fighting monsters >than people fighting monsters
If that's your take about what HP Lovecraft works are about you clearly never read any of them
>protagonist is some rando in too deep >antagonist is a death cult trying to release an old one >first act is like the ninth gate and the first 2/3 of a cure for wellness >second act more like last 1/3 of cure for wellness and end of kill list >third act cthulhu is released and there's nowhere to run >the death cult all get killed in vain, no reward, in the worst way possible >it is implied that everyone on earth will die (after how many sequels? only time will tell...)
keep the story tight and mysterious and slowly ramp up the scope and action until the big blowout.
This. Lovecraft was all about hinting at things instead of showing/describing them and selling it with internal dialogues. The big twist at the end of Mountains of Madness is a vision that drives a guy insane that's never even described.
>Lovecraft was all about hinting at things instead of showing/describing them
You haven't read Lovecraft.
Lovecraft had absolutely no problem with describing thoroughly what he was envisioning. His novels have pages and pages of descriptions on what the various monsters of his mytho actually looked like, and for a lot of them Lovecraft made no secret of what these entities actually wanted either.
Like the example at the end of the MoM is practically the only thing in the whole book that remains a mystery. Like half of MoM is a goddamned history lesson.
I think he meant that Lovecraft doesn't describe the Elder Gods, I don't think anyone in its right mind is saying Lovevcaft isn't descriptive. But yeah I guess you could adapt Mountains, show everything up until the end where you pull a very good Birdbox.
Because filming the unknowable and undecipherable is near impossible. Any Cthulhu movie will inevitably be them fighting a giant octopus face monster or at best a birdbox type movie where the eldritch horrors are never shown
I usually hate loaded questions, but I think there's an actual answer so I'll bite. The entire point of Lovecraft's horror and why it's so different is that you can't show the big bad monster. Usually that's lazy, but Lovecraft got away with a lot of context dancing around the thing without ever describing it, but obviously that would not work well in a visual medium.
Birdbox example, eldritch shit abound but you never see any of it. Definitely some cool effects though. The loop bubbles or whatever, the guy in the tent, and the lore accurate invisible dunwhich horror are what I remember most vividly about it.
the whole idea is something that cannot be described or understood by human senses which doesn't really work in movies
also a lot of best lovercrafts ideas operate on underlining fear of human sexuality which people who make movies (all massive prostitutes/prostitutes) cannot understand
all of lovecraft is just indiana jones with horror. the reason it hasn't been done is because it costs a lot of money to film an action adventure movie and horror is low budget. you have a nice day in the foot trying to shoot a big budget horror movie.
https://vimeo.com/30798517
you can film lovecraft with animation (with good art direction) or live action (but pick a story without a lot of location changes)
the typical lovecraft story is: >a gentleman bachelor with an interest in natural sciences receives a mysterious package which is an invitation to investigate further >he gets drawn into a weird underworld filled with foreigners, strangers, exhibiting odd behavior, hinting at a greater mystery >haunted by surreal dreams during which an intelligence that dwarfs humanity reaches out to make contact >he explorers this new underworld by literally going underground, sewers, tunnels, caves, burial chambers, crypts, abandoned building with a subsystem >there he is confronted by a savage and inhuman trail, frozen in time, evidence that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that there are other weird and mutated creatures worshiping strange alien gods >he has a struggle with the savage humanoids, during which their god awakens and destroys them as sacrifice and favours our adventurer letting him escape with his tale >the story ends with the dreams returning, with terrible images and the chanting of brutal savages
lots of lovecraft movies exist >ninth gate >lair of the white worm >kill list >wicker man >midsommar >the thing >dagon >event horizon >in the mouth of madness >the lighthouse >underwater (kstew) >prince of darkness >hellraiser >monsters (2010)
lots and lots all of them capture some part of the mood i described above.
It's dark/unrelenting and not mass appealing, and to impart the feeling of dread from HPL it would take visual depictions of carnage and madness that go beyond average expectations or risk falling into a certain b-movie cliches/videogame gore.
Visually it would not just cost a lot but it could be argued that suitable effects are not yet technically possible
Never actually read any Lovecraft, maybe a couple of pages of Mountains of Madness aside. I played Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth and read Moore's Neonomicon. Which reminds me, how is that Necronomicon movie?
Dagon is good because it captures the action sequences a lot of the better Lovecraft stories have and that people tend to overlook. His escape from the hotel is an almost perfect adaption of the sequence from the story (Shadow over Innsmouth)
Because for some reason people can't take antiquated sci-fi-esque horror seriously. They double down too much on the pulp aspects and never focus enough on trying to make it actually scary.
I always thought it would be pretty easy if you had the right director and right team around him. I would just use the basic framework from the story, which is basically just a grimdark detective story told in fragments and uncommon ways, then just lead up to it and have the monster manifest at the end and make it as bleak as humanly possible. Stamping the fact that it is now the end of the world and there's nothing anyone can do about it.
The first half of the movie could follow similar contours that The Ninth Gate or S1 of True Detective did and so on, then just leading into absolute menace and horrifying spectacle at the end.
Only feasible way imo is spooky stop motion/animation without any dialogue, maybe with narration or intertitles. Same goes for Thomas Ligotti stories but even more so
What's that lovecraft story about the guy who collects books and he ends up getting one from this weird looking little guy who turns out to be an alien from another planet with a highly developed society. The book is some kind of trap and he comes in to contact with the elder gods or something. I read it years ago, I think it may have been a short story but I don't know what it was called. Any ideas?
You cluld adapt a lot of his stories like the whisperer in the dark or the case of charles dexter ward but the former had a supremely moronic protagonist and the latter would need a good director to make the long history lesson work
What would a good Cthulhu movie be like?
The mist
The Mist was more a movie about infighting amongst people than people fighting monsters. You can't adapt stuff like Mountains of Madness like that because they're scientists amazed that there was sentient life on Earth before fricking insects were around, the focus is on the discovery. If they then get into an argument because one of them wants to go back and the other wants to keep going, you've lost the point and it's now a generic horror movie.
Fear of the unknown and what that does to the human mind is literally what Cthulhu is about. The mist is about that
>The Mist was more a movie about infighting amongst people than people fighting monsters
>than people fighting monsters
If that's your take about what HP Lovecraft works are about you clearly never read any of them
>protagonist is some rando in too deep
>antagonist is a death cult trying to release an old one
>first act is like the ninth gate and the first 2/3 of a cure for wellness
>second act more like last 1/3 of cure for wellness and end of kill list
>third act cthulhu is released and there's nowhere to run
>the death cult all get killed in vain, no reward, in the worst way possible
>it is implied that everyone on earth will die (after how many sequels? only time will tell...)
keep the story tight and mysterious and slowly ramp up the scope and action until the big blowout.
Most of Call of Cthulhu is a guy talking to people and reading things and thinking "this is weird stuff." It's not very cinematic.
This. Lovecraft was all about hinting at things instead of showing/describing them and selling it with internal dialogues. The big twist at the end of Mountains of Madness is a vision that drives a guy insane that's never even described.
>Lovecraft was all about hinting at things instead of showing/describing them
You haven't read Lovecraft.
Lovecraft had absolutely no problem with describing thoroughly what he was envisioning. His novels have pages and pages of descriptions on what the various monsters of his mytho actually looked like, and for a lot of them Lovecraft made no secret of what these entities actually wanted either.
Like the example at the end of the MoM is practically the only thing in the whole book that remains a mystery. Like half of MoM is a goddamned history lesson.
I think he meant that Lovecraft doesn't describe the Elder Gods, I don't think anyone in its right mind is saying Lovevcaft isn't descriptive. But yeah I guess you could adapt Mountains, show everything up until the end where you pull a very good Birdbox.
And the ending is an anticlimax where Cthulhu gets concussed and goes back to sleep.
Because filming the unknowable and undecipherable is near impossible. Any Cthulhu movie will inevitably be them fighting a giant octopus face monster or at best a birdbox type movie where the eldritch horrors are never shown
pff, brainlet take. it can be done
I usually hate loaded questions, but I think there's an actual answer so I'll bite. The entire point of Lovecraft's horror and why it's so different is that you can't show the big bad monster. Usually that's lazy, but Lovecraft got away with a lot of context dancing around the thing without ever describing it, but obviously that would not work well in a visual medium.
>no
Solid argument anon.
my argument was
>yes
yours was
>no
dumbass
his newer stuff is good as well
I think it's a duo, two directors.
Birdbox example, eldritch shit abound but you never see any of it. Definitely some cool effects though. The loop bubbles or whatever, the guy in the tent, and the lore accurate invisible dunwhich horror are what I remember most vividly about it.
>this is evil and should be banned according to hollyjew
Source?
Hellboy (2004)
Thanks anons
First post is some AI with Mountain of Madness-related prompts
Bottom is Hellboy
It's too much like The Thing (1982)
because impossible angles.
the whole idea is something that cannot be described or understood by human senses which doesn't really work in movies
also a lot of best lovercrafts ideas operate on underlining fear of human sexuality which people who make movies (all massive prostitutes/prostitutes) cannot understand
>>also a lot of best lovercrafts ideas operate on underlining fear of human sexuality
lol???
read up about it, Lovercraft was terrified of sex especially womens sexuality, periods, pregnance etc.
ok and this translates into what you said how moron??? give an argument
He was also viscerally repulsed by seafood, which shares visual/olfactory/tactile similarities with pussy.
all of lovecraft is just indiana jones with horror. the reason it hasn't been done is because it costs a lot of money to film an action adventure movie and horror is low budget. you have a nice day in the foot trying to shoot a big budget horror movie.
https://vimeo.com/30798517
you can film lovecraft with animation (with good art direction) or live action (but pick a story without a lot of location changes)
the typical lovecraft story is:
>a gentleman bachelor with an interest in natural sciences receives a mysterious package which is an invitation to investigate further
>he gets drawn into a weird underworld filled with foreigners, strangers, exhibiting odd behavior, hinting at a greater mystery
>haunted by surreal dreams during which an intelligence that dwarfs humanity reaches out to make contact
>he explorers this new underworld by literally going underground, sewers, tunnels, caves, burial chambers, crypts, abandoned building with a subsystem
>there he is confronted by a savage and inhuman trail, frozen in time, evidence that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that there are other weird and mutated creatures worshiping strange alien gods
>he has a struggle with the savage humanoids, during which their god awakens and destroys them as sacrifice and favours our adventurer letting him escape with his tale
>the story ends with the dreams returning, with terrible images and the chanting of brutal savages
lots of lovecraft movies exist
>ninth gate
>lair of the white worm
>kill list
>wicker man
>midsommar
>the thing
>dagon
>event horizon
>in the mouth of madness
>the lighthouse
>underwater (kstew)
>prince of darkness
>hellraiser
>monsters (2010)
lots and lots all of them capture some part of the mood i described above.
man
completely 100% disagree and any argument you have to assert your opinion is already wrong
these movies are NOT Lovecraftian
simple as
>horror is low budget
>proceeds to list several big-budget horror movies including some action horror
Also you're leaving out how many of Lovecraft's stuff was Dude, miscegenation! and weird shit happening to people involving graveyards.
It's dark/unrelenting and not mass appealing, and to impart the feeling of dread from HPL it would take visual depictions of carnage and madness that go beyond average expectations or risk falling into a certain b-movie cliches/videogame gore.
Visually it would not just cost a lot but it could be argued that suitable effects are not yet technically possible
Dagon might work as a short film
Ironically, the movie (which is certified kino btw) actually follows the plot for Shadow Over Innsmouth
Never actually read any Lovecraft, maybe a couple of pages of Mountains of Madness aside. I played Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth and read Moore's Neonomicon. Which reminds me, how is that Necronomicon movie?
>how is that Necronomicon movie?
the 1993 one? It's okay.
This one? Still have to watch it, seems interesting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necronomicon_(film)
Yeah. Yuzna and Gans are usually quite good, but somehow I never got around to it.
It's an anthology with a wraparound story where Jeffrey Combs plays Lovecraft
imo 2 of the stories are good and 1 is lame and boring
Sounds worth watching
>how is that Necronomicon movie?
I liked it.
certified kino film
Dagon is good because it captures the action sequences a lot of the better Lovecraft stories have and that people tend to overlook. His escape from the hotel is an almost perfect adaption of the sequence from the story (Shadow over Innsmouth)
Is this the Mexican one?
Filmed in Spain by Stuart Gordon with an American/Spanish cast
Because for some reason people can't take antiquated sci-fi-esque horror seriously. They double down too much on the pulp aspects and never focus enough on trying to make it actually scary.
How do you depict the undepictable?
A lot of Lovecraft's stuff involve stuff that human minds can,t comprehend, you can't make a movie about that because humans would be making it.
what a fricking moron
>what if we're worthless animals, trapped in a universe beyond our understanding belonging to far superior beings?
>but I AM a worthless animal!
Jews
Because he is a little b***h who gets beaten by some dude ramming a small wooden boat into him.
I always thought it would be pretty easy if you had the right director and right team around him. I would just use the basic framework from the story, which is basically just a grimdark detective story told in fragments and uncommon ways, then just lead up to it and have the monster manifest at the end and make it as bleak as humanly possible. Stamping the fact that it is now the end of the world and there's nothing anyone can do about it.
The first half of the movie could follow similar contours that The Ninth Gate or S1 of True Detective did and so on, then just leading into absolute menace and horrifying spectacle at the end.
Only feasible way imo is spooky stop motion/animation without any dialogue, maybe with narration or intertitles. Same goes for Thomas Ligotti stories but even more so
What's that lovecraft story about the guy who collects books and he ends up getting one from this weird looking little guy who turns out to be an alien from another planet with a highly developed society. The book is some kind of trap and he comes in to contact with the elder gods or something. I read it years ago, I think it may have been a short story but I don't know what it was called. Any ideas?
You cluld adapt a lot of his stories like the whisperer in the dark or the case of charles dexter ward but the former had a supremely moronic protagonist and the latter would need a good director to make the long history lesson work
>scientifically accurate cthulhu!!!!!!!!!!
Suck my frick