THE CALL OF CTHULHU: THEY FILMED THE FILM THAT CAN'T BE FILMED! 
Hey, has anyone seen the new DVD of "The Call of Cthulhu" by the H.P Lovecraft Historical Society? Just picked it up at the Monster Mania Convention. This is an actual movie version of the Lovecraft story with a special twist: it's filmed in the exact style of a 1920's silent movie; right down to the stylish title cards. Now, the idea of modern filmmakers (amateur ones at that) making a new silent movie of "The Call of Cthulhu" in the style of films like "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and "Nosferatu" has the great potential to become tiresome after about 5 minutes. The truly startling thing is -- the movie is actual quite good! I would definitely recommend it to all Lovecraft and horror fans! The director (Andrew Leman) and photographer (David Robertson) of the film really captured the style and (more importantly) the FEEL of 20's silent horror films. It's really quite beautiful in places. The opening scene sets the mood right away: an overhead shot of Van Gogh's "Starry Night" painting slowly rotates to reveal it's a jigsaw puzzle. A hand goes to put the final puzzle piece in place, hesitates and then puts it down. It's a beautiful shot which SCREAMS 20's German silent movie! The filmmakers deliberately used effects that 20's filmmakers would have used; their are cardboard set flats (similar to "Caligari") and ocean waves are created by waving cloth covered with glitter. Shockingly, it works. The quality of the acting is also quite good; none of the "director's best friend" casting but people who can actually act their way outta a paper bag. The film even has a very nice musical score to accompany it. For the big finish, we actually get to SEE the Mighty Cthulhu! The big guy himself (courtesy of some charming stop motion). None of this "claw glove emerging from the shadows" cheating. We see Cthulhu quite clearly and he's quirky and nightmarish (and looks EXACTLY like he does on the DVD cover art -- which is ANOTHER first). So, check out the H.P Lovecraft Historical Society website and you'll get a look at the DVD cover (plus some info about it). Apparently, the film has just won an award as well. So, if you are at a convention and see the DVD, you might just wanna pick yourself up a copy
Hey, has anyone seen the new DVD of "The Call of Cthulhu" by the H.P Lovecraft Historical Society? Just picked it up at the Monster Mania Convention. This is an actual movie version of the Lovecraft story with a special twist: it's filmed in the exact style of a 1920's silent movie; right down to the stylish title cards. Now, the idea of modern filmmakers (amateur ones at that) making a new silent movie of "The Call of Cthulhu" in the style of films like "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and "Nosferatu" has the great potential to become tiresome after about 5 minutes. The truly startling thing is -- the movie is actual quite good! I would definitely recommend it to all Lovecraft and horror fans! The director (Andrew Leman) and photographer (David Robertson) of the film really captured the style and (more importantly) the FEEL of 20's silent horror films. It's really quite beautiful in places. The opening scene sets the mood right away: an overhead shot of Van Gogh's "Starry Night" painting slowly rotates to reveal it's a jigsaw puzzle. A hand goes to put the final puzzle piece in place, hesitates and then puts it down. It's a beautiful shot which SCREAMS 20's German silent movie! The filmmakers deliberately used effects that 20's filmmakers would have used; their are cardboard set flats (similar to "Caligari") and ocean waves are created by waving cloth covered with glitter. Shockingly, it works. The quality of the acting is also quite good; none of the "director's best friend" casting but people who can actually act their way outta a paper bag. The film even has a very nice musical score to accompany it. For the big finish, we actually get to SEE the Mighty Cthulhu! The big guy himself (courtesy of some charming stop motion). None of this "claw glove emerging from the shadows" cheating. We see Cthulhu quite clearly and he's quirky and nightmarish (and looks EXACTLY like he does on the DVD cover art -- which is ANOTHER first). So, check out the H.P Lovecraft Historical Society website and you'll get a look at the DVD cover (plus some info about it). Apparently, the film has just won an award as well. So, if you are at a convention and see the DVD, you might just wanna pick yourself up a copy
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