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- Jun 20, 2004
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- Richard W
Originally Posted by SWFF /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard--W /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I gather the Lovecraft adaptations were Daniel Haller's idea. Both very seductive-looking films with their emphasis on antique houses and furnishings hosting some kind of ancient and thinly veiled evil that's also natural and organic. I suspect Haller had a hand in designing the films as well as directing them. He captures Lovecraft's aesthetic very well, don't you think. Haller didn't direct many films. He was Roger Corman's production designer and he designed the early Poe films for Corman and AIP.
My only complaint about The Dunwich Horror is the "beings' from the other side look like a bunch of stoned hippies cavorting on Zuma Beach. I wish Haller & company had given more thought to how to depict the abnormal beings from the other side, or show less of them.
DIE, MONSTER, DIE, is Lovecraft by way of Poe. If you didn't know anything about Lovecraft, you'd swear you were watching another Poe adaptation. I just ordered THE CURSE/CURSE 2: THE BITE (Double Feature), mostly for THE BITE, but I'm gonna reevaluate THE CURSE, the second adaptation of Lovecraft's THE COLOUR OUT OF SPACE. Until then, DIE, MONSTER, DIE is my favorite cinematic version of that tale. I remember not liking THE CURSE when I saw it back in the day, maybe that's changed. I'll let you know.
As for THE DUNWICH HORROR, so far no movie has ever done Wilbur Whateley justice. He's a horribly deformed monster of a person in the tale, who's part human and part Elder thing, or, Outer Ones, or, I forget, I haven't read the tale in a while, exactly which of Lovecraft's Gods he's part of, but his other half is all tentacles and unnamable parts. I'm still waiting for someone, perhaps, Stuart Gordon, to do that character justice.
[COLOR= rgb(178, 34, 34)][SIZE= 9px]UPDATE: Just looked it up, Wilbur's "father" is supposed to be Yog-Sothoth, one of the Old Ones. [/COLOR][/SIZE]
You know about the Lovecraft forum, don't you?
I will PM you the link if you want it.