The Call of Cthulhu (2005) User Reviews

Essential viewing for Cthulhu fans

[trouvere_york · 7/10 · 9 January 2007]

The Call of Cthulhu is one of Lovecrafts superb horror short stories. The action is set in the 1920's and this film does not change any details of the plot (at least as far as I can tell).

Films based on Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos are nearly always terrible. This is because modern horror films rely on gruesome shocks and all too familiar plots. Lovecraft's tales tend to be non linear (e.g. told in dream sequences or as pages from a diary and so on), and the monsters rarely make appearances. Turning 'The Call of Cthulhu' into a film is certainly no easy prospect - especially on a low budget.

The makers of this film have made a virtue out of a necessity. The home made quality of the special effects are charming. The film is presented in black and white and with no dialogue. This all helps to maintain as professional a standard as possible in this small scale production. Captions are provided to accompany the storytelling and the film has quite a striking soundtrack.

Most horror fans will find this film tedious and the special effects jerky (and sometimes home made). I enjoyed the quirky and inexpensive approach to the special effects used in this film and felt that the production imitated the techniques that may have been used in a vintage film or in a stage production.

A must see film for all real HP Lovecraft fans. Not for fans of gore-fests, or slick, expensive horror films.

An amazing accomplishment

[El_Rey_De_Movies · 8/10 · 25 April 2007]

This is, hands down, the most faithful adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's writing ever made. It is also the best. Frankly, I don't know what movie people who've posted here saw, but it was either not "The Call of Cthulhu" or they were just too drunk/stoned/out of it to get it. I mean, I'm reading reviews complaining about the lousy CGI work and/or the dumb fight scenes…except that there are NO fights and NO CGI AT ALL used, it's all done via stop-motion animation. In one of those "stroke of genius" moves that were actually caused by budget limitations, it was decided to make it just as if a studio in the 1920's had decided to adapt HPL. Thus, it came out a silent movie, in black and white, and using (as much as possible) the techniques and technology of 1920's movie-making. Somehow, the old-fashioned technique, coupled with the filmmakers' adherence to HPL's dictum that the most important component in horror is atmosphere and not action, makes this little 47-minute film work very, very well.

The film is divided into three parts, with a wraparound story that connects them just enough to get the sense of world-wide, psychic weirdness that Lovecraft was so good at conjuring. The story begins with an unknown man, pale and drawn, working on an impressionistic crossword puzzle and pleading with another man to take a sheaf of manuscripts that are his life work and burn them…burn them all. The manuscripts tell three stories: the increasingly surreal and frightening dreams of a young Boston artist named Wilcox that culminate in an attack of "brain fever" that wipes out all memories of his dreams, the narrative of a New Orleans police inspector investigating reports of strange rituals and missing people in the swamps, and the deliriously bizarre narrative of the lone survivor of a ship that encountered a strange city of cyclopean masonry and bizarre non-Euclidean geometry in the South Pacific and the lone inhabitant they meet there…dread Cthulhu himself. As the young man is taken away in a wheelchair, he pleads with his interviewer one last time to burn it all. The film ends with the interviewer opening one of the manuscripts and reading two ominous paragraphs that are actually the very first paragraph of "The Call of Cthulhu".

The noirish lighting and naturalistic acting go a long way towards selling this movie. The score (presented in Mythophonic sound!) is also a crucial component in helping to maintain that sense of unfocused other-worldly dread, that there are things and events in motion that we are (almost) powerless to prevent because humanity is not much more than an after-thought in the plans and schemes of beings that are as far above us as we are from an amoeba. And that's where the horror lies, in the realization that if we could see how little we humans really matter in the grand cosmic scheme of things and how powerless we really are, we would run screaming from the light of knowledge to the security and safety of ignorance and a new dark age.

Here's to the people at the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society for a job well done. Let's hope that this is not their only attempt at filming Lovecraft…because when a ballplayer hits a home run on his first at-bat, you know you're seeing the start of a Hall-of-Fame career.

Nice retro-pastiche

[meira-2 · 8/10 · 18 May 2007]

I am a bit surprised by the terrible reviews Call of Cthulhu has received. While it is not perhaps the best movie ever, or chilling and/or gory like modern horror movies are, that's not the point of the movie.

What it is, and it succeeds in, is a very faithful adaptation of the original story, following also its non-linear storytelling and describing events around the globe. The movie is also atmospheric pastiche of the 20s impressionistic silent movies. As such, it is very much worth seeing, of you are interested in how Lovecraft's stories would have been filmed when they first were written, and/or are interested in 20s impressionism in general.

Not for everyone, but some will love it.

[moontos · 7/10 · 22 November 2007]

If you enjoyed the Real Ghostbusters episode "Collect Call of Cthulhu," the Bethesda video game "Dark Corners of the Earth" and were disappointed in "Dagon," then you'll probably enjoy this film. I enjoyed it greatly, but that's probably because I wanted to enjoy it. It's not a *GREAT FILM* by any stretch of the imagination, but it is different and interesting and fun.

If you've never read a Lovecraft story, are annoyed by low-budget special effects and find silent/black and white films pretentious and inaccessible, then you'll probably hate this. You'll hate this like cancer.

Watch the DVD if for no other reason than the behind-the-scenes footage of hairy, naked, fat, dirty cultists writhing around in front of a green screen. I know that sounds awful, but it's pretty funny.

This may be the most appropriate adaptation of an H. P. Lovecraft story ever!

[jmusser-1 · 9/10 · 27 April 2007]

This is my first review on IMDb. I was so pleasantly surprised (in such a twisted way) by this film that I felt almost obligated to comment on it.

I've always loved H. P. Lovecraft's stories and have read pretty much everything he produced. Unfortunately, his work must not translate well to film because most movies based on his stories are pretty regrettable. Many excellent and unique movies have incorporated elements and themes from his stories (The Ninth Gate, Cast a Deadly Spell, The Evil Dead movies, In The Mouth of Madness etc.), but many of those taken literally from his writings (The Dunwich Horror, Beyond The Wall of Sleep, The Curse, etc.) just don't work.

This film contains many elements that also generally don't work, at least for modern audiences. It's a silent movie filmed in black and white. The acting is consistent with old silent films or stage, with exaggerated expressions and movements and is even comical at times. It is clearly a very low budget affair with outmoded special effects. The strange thing is that all of this works very well with the story, making it perhaps the best screen adaptation of a Lovecraft story that I've seen to date.

Because of its format, TCOC takes a little patience but overall it's a lot of fun to watch and manages to build a fair amount of suspense and tension even as it amuses.

A Wonderfully Weird Experience

[osolis · 7 November 2005]

This movie could only have have been made without a major studio behind it. Afterall, what studio would have allowed a film to be made that was SILENT (with inter-titles, no less), Black and White, and feature obvious miniatures, complete with a stop-motion monster (er, god).

Not one and for that we have to be thankful. This is a fun, weird, ride that in the hands of any of the big studios would have been turned into a slick, soulless, non-faithful "adaptation" featuring a bunch of currently "hot" TV stars with a Paris Hilton tossed in for good measure.

Instead, this is a project that was done with obvious love and respect, not only for it's source material, but also for trying to recreate a movie style that doesn't exist anymore.

The acting is pretty damn good and the movie succeeds in creating an atmosphere of dread thanks to the photography, editing and directing as well as a wonderful score. This is in great part to the fact that the filmmakers refused to camp it up. This is not to say that it doesn't have some shortcomings, it does. Some of the composites are weak and a fight scene doesn't have the kick it needs to really sell it and another reviewer has mentioned the need for real water, but these are truly minor when measured against the whole.

The DVD has a making of documentary which consists of mostly talking heads, but, luckily, it's funny and breezy and a tribute to the ingenuity of the filmmakers who come off as modest and fun but dedicated to their dream. I actually wish it had been longer, but beyond that, I would recommend that beginning filmmakers check it out.

I recommend this movie. Get the DVD, heed the call.

Lovecraft Probably Would've Loved It

[fwomp · 7/10 · 23 November 2007]

H.P. Lovecraft is often credited with launching the true horror genre we know today. Many claim him as an inspiration, including the current master of dark dreams Stephen King. Difficulties in bringing his cerebral literary content to the silver screen have been mentioned time and again, and with good reason. How can you explain a man's dream experiences that even he can't explain?

When I learned that a society dedicated to Lovecraft's work decided to take on a movie version of his most famous story, THE CALL OF CTHULHU, I cringed. How could a small group of people do justice to such a magnificent piece of horror fiction?

Well the cast and crew do it justice even if the script fails a bit. The black-and-white silent picture theme went exceptionally well with the telling of a tale so old (1920s). The sets were equally impressive, especially the pivotal dreamscapes and the retelling of the Pacific Island that belonged to Cthulhu, this terrible being from the beginning of time.

Since not many of the cast were actually established actors, it was an excellent idea to do a homage to the silent film era, too. Undoubtedly, if forced to do a modern-style film of Lovecraft's story, they would've failed miserably. But as it stands here, this film pays homage and respect to both old filming styles and a Lovecraftian feel.

It's also a blessing and a curse that the film is only 47 minutes long. The blessing is that most movie watchers of today couldn't handle a 90 - 120 minute silent film (or at least few could). The curse is that the script jumps around a lot. We move back three time-frames at one point, each time adding confusion f the viewer ("Where are we again?"). I realize that the crew wanted to remain true to Lovecraft's work, but cinema often takes liberties with the written word, and I feel this film could've benefited from a bit of that as well.

Even so, this is a fresh piece of cinematic work that entertains and surprises. The special features on the DVD are also worth watching (except when the director is talking while eating a bag of potato chips), including commentaries from the cast and crew about this monumental undertaking from such a small band of dedicated Lovecraft lovers.

Best Lovecraft movie ever... and it's mute!

[agersomnia · 10/10 · 31 January 2008]

This is the best adaptation of any H.P. Lovecraft movie ever made, either by fans or big studio. It's a silent movie, done in a style that makes it look almost as if truly made long years ago.

The script comes directly from the Call of Cthulhu story, with virtually no alterations whatsoever.

It has been done to look as an old movie (from the times when Lovecraft was alive), so the F/X department are appropriately rudimentary or done in modern media to replicate the original ones.

Direct influences to the style are Metropolis, Faust, and Nosferatu; 3 great silent movies.

A Curate's egg..but a fun one!

[rowan_h · 6/10 · 15 December 2006]

A friend passed this on to me with a laconic "let me know what you think". I wasn't expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised. The silent b/w thing was great and just the right atmosphere for a Lovecraft film. I especially liked the real period feel of the title cards. The acting was surprisingly good, particularly the professor and the degenerate swamp dweller. Silent film acting is much more like stage acting, i.e. it has to be somewhat exaggerated or the audience will lose it. This film understood this and bravo. The production was far better than might be expected on something I suspect to have been low budget and the expressionist set of R'lyeh was fantastic! That said I have a few plaints. Firstly; costumes. Unfortunately they fall into an all too common trap of period film making. Don't assume you know, get someone who really does know, look at old photos or paintings very carefully. In the 1920s men wore suits and ties and hats but that doesn't mean if you put a man in a suit and a tie and a hat he will look like he stepped out of the 20s. The suits here were mostly the wrong cut and style. Henry Wilcox was wearing a pair of ridiculous knickers that looked cheap and ill made, in the 20s they would have been far baggier. The shape of the ties was very modern.In one flashback scene to 1908 they lost it all together with an array of modern jackets and a pathetic attempt at period look by everyone wearing the same wing collar...SOFT ATTACHED WING COLLARS!!!! How 1980s! a variety of stiff detached collars, please! I know I seem a pedant but what is the point in establishing a great period atmosphere if you can't get the clothes right? Some scenes fell very flat and this seemed to be down to underacting and bad direction e.g the archaeologists conference. The music was buzzing and highly annoying. There were definitely moments of drag and tedium and the pace could have been picked up or cuts made, frankly it was too long.

Despite this for what it was it was a valiant and amusing attempt to render a great story in an appropriate context. If you complain about the shoddiness of sets or the crap special effects then you are missing the point. THEY ARE MEANT TO BE! It wouldn't be as good otherwise but I accept some people just won't get the joke. This kind of thing is not for everyone but I'm glad they did it. Being involved to some degree in projects of a similar level I know that it's easy with modern technology to make crap look good. I think it's great that they did the opposite...If you love old movies and Gothic drama have a look at this, it's fun.

Atmospheric and close telling of Lovecraft's classic short story.

[flonesaw · 8/10 · 15 December 2006]

Wow! This is quite good.

This is a silent movie, with dialog cards rather than sound dialog. It has a quite good, atmospheric music soundtrack.

If you're a Lovecraft fan this film is a must see. It's not long, less than an hour, after all the original material is a short story, not a novel.

The film stays close to Lovecraft's material. Special effects are minimal, but workable. After all, we're talking H.P. Lovecraft Historic Society budget, not Hollywood.

All in all, this is a worthwhile little gem.

HPLHS is at www.cthulhulives.org.

Kiss me on, kiss me on the liptacles

[swdavis-1 · 7/10 · 2 October 2007]

They're going to try to capture the indescribably horrible Cthulhu on the screen? So one worries before seeing this film, but Lovecraft also contradicts himself by describing Cthulhu and a parade of other ineffable horribles. He means that one couldn't fully convey the horribleness of it. Cthulhu is, however weird, a part of the natural world, and when the movie finally reveals him fully, it's scary. What cannot be described is what it was like to be there when Cthulhu emerged, but we see this indirectly in people's reactions (e.g. in one person dropping dead from fright). The creature himself is a stop-motion triumph, and the city on the mysterious island reminds one of The Cabinet of Dr Caligari's amazing art direction. The movie is faithful to the story, as I remember it.

This long wished-for experience is marred only by a super-annoying fake aging effect--hairs and specks and holes in the "film." That is an incomprehensible lapse of taste in a scary and otherwise stylish movie. (I especially liked the authentic-looking period handwriting and printed documents--nice touches for a story in which much of the narrative action emerges through the act of reading.) These talented Lovecraft-lovers demonstrated the continuing vitality of black-and-white and silence as stylistic choices, by making a good BW silent movie. To hide their light under a bushel of fake digital pubic hairs (just guessing from the length) was a misstep, and had me looking for a "view movie with hair turned off" easter egg. Maybe in the next edition--and, let's hope, in their next "film."

Brilliant Small-Budget Adaptation

[t_mcbee · 9/10 · 26 March 2008]

A friend of mine received "Call of Cthulhu" as a Christmas gift a couple of years ago and called me a few days later feverishly insisting that I must have a go at it. As an avid reader of Lovecraft I wanted so badly for his lavish praises of the film to reveal themselves upon viewing. So many of us have seen the mediocre, sophomoric efforts that have defined the Lovecraft cinema genre and I feared this would be just one more in this long, sad line.

To my great surprise though, the film is a minor masterpiece. Making the work an homage to the great silent era of cinema is perhaps the best choice the filmmakers made. Since they were hamstrung with an obviously low-budget, the use of black and white and grainy effect allow for the use of cheaper special-effects without making the whole thing a cheap, campy affair.

The way in which these effects are employed provide both a conduit for suspense and create the "cyclopean" architecture of R'lyeh, the land from which Great Cthulhu ascends after a terrible storm exposes the terrible island from its dead sleep. A group of Norweigen sailors run aground on the island and we see the shadowy figure of Cthulhu emerge from his layer and terrify the sailors of the schooner, "Emma".

The scene at sea is probably the most dramatic but the film deftly utilizes these effects in the scene of the cult in the Louisiana Delta, and in its portrait of the Inuit Cult worshiping the same hideous figure that was found aboard the Emma.

It felt like everything in this film came together in such a manner to produce a truly genuine and truly masterful cinematic version of Lovecraft's classic of horror literature. I only hope now that Guillermo Del Toro will persevere in making "At The Mountains of Madness" and then perhaps we will have a big-budget Lovecraft masterpiece to complement the small-budget "Cthulhu".

Obviously, I found this film to be a triumph on the grounds that no big studio had anything to do with it and the budget was raised in a grass-roots type of effort.

From the vault of F.W. Murnau?

[ackstasis · 7/10 · 30 May 2008]

Is 'The Call of Cthulhu (2005)' the finest adaptation of a H.P. Lovecraft story to date? It's an interesting question, but unfortunately not one that I can answer, since he's an author whose name I'd never heard until I watched this film. From what I've been able to gather, Lovecraft (1890-1937) – a fellow with a particularly formidable glare, judging from his photograph – was an American author of horror, fantasy and science-fiction, collectively known as "weird fiction." His short story "The Call of Cthulhu" was first published in 1928, and was long deemed unfilmable, until first-time director Andrew Leman took up the challenge. In a moment of inspired genius, it was decided to film the story as though, indeed, it had been produced in the 1920s, as a black-and-white silent film, with more than just a hint of German Expressionism. This artistic decision successfully obscures the production's presumably-restricted budget, and, not only does it look great, but any apparent faults actually work in the film's favour, harking back to an era when imagination preceded realism.

Though Lovecraft's story doesn't really go anywhere, and is so terribly convoluted that once we're even treated to a flashback within a flashback within a flashback within a flashback, it is also consistently engaging, steadily uncoiling a thread of mystery and intrigue. When a man (Matt Foyer) uncovers the ill-fated research of his late uncle, he comes to learn of a dangerous and enigmatic cult, which worships a monstrous alien deity named Cthulhu. Through dreams, journals and historical documents, the man uncovers a baffling string of inexplicable coincidences, and uncovers the truth behind the disappearance of a ship's crew on an uncharted Pacific island. The narrative structure – perhaps modelled on the flashback framing device of 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)' – works better than it probably should, accumulating an assortment of seemingly-unrelated tales into a puzzle that slowly forms before our eyes, then ending with just as much uncertainty and ambiguity as we had to begin with. We get the sense that there's a lot more to this mystery than we've been told.

The films works most successfully as an affectionate and endearing homage to the Gothic horrors of the 1920s, most noticeably Robert Wiene's 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' and F.W. Murnau's 'Faust (1926).' All the stylistic elements – the emphatic overacting, the stodgy special effects, the distorted cardboard sets – contribute effectively towards evoking the desired atmosphere. The musical score adds a dramatic touch to the proceedings, and, against all logic, I actually found the ominous charge of Cthulhu to be quite a creepy spectacle. 'The Call of Cthulhu,' like all films, appears to have its fair share of dissenters, but I imagine the bulk of them to have had very little experience in silent cinema. If this is the case, it's understandable than many might have difficulty in understanding both the film's thematic and stylistic references. At only 47-minutes in length, Andrew Leman's entertaining Gothic thriller is very much worthwhile, and probably my favourite completely silent film since… well, let's just say it starred Charles Chaplin.

I understand the desire to make this movie, but i still don't see why it was made.

[benjamin22 · 4/10 · 10 November 2008]

Much like I imagine the filmmakers here to be, I am a fan of Lovecraft. Not a crazy, super-protective, strict by-the-book fan, but a fan none the less. I certainly have heard the call of the mighty Cthulhu. So I understand why one would want to make this film, I really do. Lovecraft's stories are so imaginative that they seem to cry out to be seen, literally, on screen.

The problem is that I don't think they can truly work in film.

See so much of what makes the stories work is the idea of things that cannot exist. The terror comes from imagining how paralyzingly horrifying these experiences would be if they happened to you personally. So by that token watching a filmmaker's version of the images will always fall short of what yr own mind makes happen when reading the story.

Additionally the actual prose is a huge part of what makes the stories good and obviously that is (due to the nature of the film medium) lost when watched on a screen. A character sitting in a room reading can be horrifying in a Lovecraft story, but it will not be that scary in a movie when you have to watch an actor sitting in a room looking distraught.

And on top of all of this the silent movie treatment turns the whole thing into a hokey exercise in nostalgia. No silent movie is as scary as a Lovecraft story can be. So why turn one of his best into a low-budget throw-back experiment? These guys obviously put a lot of time and work into this movie and I will not bash them for trying. If you like Lovecraft then maybe you should watch this, for fun. But if you are new to Lovecraft then don't let this be yr introduction.

I respect the effort but it doesn't result in a satisfying film.

Nice gimmick, but it can't completely carry the film

[The_Void · 6/10 · 13 February 2006]

This isn't the first movie to be made recently despite the fact that it utilises classic silent movie methods. Dracula: Pages From a Virgin's Diary is the only other one I've seen, but I'm sure there's more besides. This adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's classic story, The Call of Cthulhu is more faithful to the original works of the great writer than the likes of films such as Re-Animator and From Beyond; but cinematically, it just doesn't work as well. Don't get me wrong, I love many classic silent movies; but Lovecraft's work is too inventive to really be given a good adaptation in this style. The film follows the story of a man searching for a diabolical cult that worships the god 'Cthulhu'. The majority of the film, therefore, follows a man reading up on the cult, and it isn't until the end, when the god finally turns up, that the film really becomes exciting. I respect The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society immensely for having the drive to put this film together, as any kind of innovation in the modern horror genre is to be welcomed with open arms, but it's clear that the filmmakers didn't have enough budget, and the silent movie gimmick isn't enough to keep the entire film interesting - even if it is only 47 minutes long. This story would be better served with a modern adaptation, and I'm pleased to say that it's getting one in 2006. On the whole, this silent version is worth watching due to the fact that it's tried to do something different and adapt the master's work 'faithfully' - but it's not a great film.

True to the imaginative writing of H.P Lovecraft

[alexjevremovic · 10/10 · 21 July 2006]

Hollywood moguls pay attention, take a look at this film and see what you can do with on a shoestring budget and a heap of imagination. It is easier of course to create a film as remarkably stylish as this when you have superior source materials in the form of H.P.Lovecraft's original texts, the essence of which are 'beyond comprehension' architecture which can send you mad, indescribable monsters which are aeon's old. all this wrapped up in a truly captivating style of film making which Mr Lovecraft surely would have endorsed. if you liked this film, which is by far the best representation to have hit the screen based on his works, then grab a book, take the phone of the hook and prepare to have your wits extracted anally.

The Call of Cthulhu

[jfgibson73 · 6/10 · 10 June 2010]

Watching this movie was my introduction to the work of H.P. Lovecraft. I was curious to see what made his work so popular. This was a very well done movie and probably a good way to dive in to his mythos.

The Call of Cthulhu was a short story written almost 100 years ago, and this film is done in the style of a silent black and white movie of the early 20th Century. It does a pretty good job of maintaining the illusion. The structure of the story was a little confusing, as it seems to jump around in time and tells loosely related stories from different points of view. In each of the stories, different characters have experiences learning about an ancient menace that has followers waiting for its return. In the final sequence, a crew of sailors accidentally stumbles on the island where Cthulhu is resting and awakens him. This was the most rewarding sequence of the movie, as the attack sequence was very well done.

The ending basically suggests that Cthulhu is still somewhere on earth and waiting for the right day to come out again. Anyone who is interested can find plenty more movies and stories by this author and others (Alan Moore is one example of a contemporary writer who seems to be very much influenced by Lovecraft). My vote is 6 out of 10.

One of the best Lovecraft adaptations ever committed to film

[dbborroughs · 8/10 · 1 January 2006]

The story is classic Lovecraft, a man recounts how his discovery of secret knowledge has driven him over the edge and brought him close to death. Its the framework that Lovecraft used again and again to tell his stories of horror. Here the story is that of the cult of Cthulhu which he discovers upon the death of his Great Uncle, a man who was himself driven to the edge of madness and to death by the secrets he uncovered. Essentially a series of flashbacks and narratives this film builds a great deal of unease as bits of story and coincidence create an a narrative that has unpleasant implications. Its not the kind of think that will make you jump out of your seat, but it will make you want to turn the light back on.

Shot now (2005) but in the style of a 1926 silent film this movie manages to make what could be very silly seem very real and menacing. There is something about the black and white imagery that makes it all seem very possible. Many people have said the story was un-filmable because of its structure of multiple tales and because if not handled correctly the hysteria felt by some characters would just be silly, this film however has proved it can be done and in a very satisfying manner.

The film's flaws are mostly technical and except in one case minor. The film, which appears to have been shot on digital video for the most part looks good, though in sequence where fire is seen the film takes on an odd appearance. The films budget also has a some stark sets that seem more like a set than place. Still they are minor complaints. The one major complaint is Cthulhu himself, which is clearly a stop motion model. While its understandable that because of the nature of the beast this was probably the way to go (and probably close to how he might have looked in 1926 had he been put on screen back then), it still removes some degree of the horror that had been created prior to this point. Ultimately its a minor quibble because whats goes before and after makes up for it.

If you like classic horror and the writing of HP Lovecraft see this movie.(just remember its suppose to have been made in 1926, not now). 8 out of 10, one of the best Lovecraft films to get Lovecraft right.

The Thing That Should Not Be...

[azathothpwiggins · 29 June 2020]

The blasphemous idols have been found! The cult is gathering! Cthulhu is rising from the sea!

If you are a fan of H. P. Lovecraft, then you will love this 45 minute film version of THE CALL OF CTHULHU from HPLHS. Filmed as a 1920's-style silent, black and white film, it's a wonderful tribute to the author as well as his readers, who have waited so long for something like this!

Watching it is almost like seeing a lost film from the era in which Lovecraft wrote his stories. The tale is suitably dark, the characters are doomed, and The Great Old One is a stop-motion horror beyond description! Need any more be said?...

Great film with small issues, but definitely worth your time

[pipkecollin · 7/10 · 11 May 2019]

The style here is honestly the aspect that drew me in the most for this adaptation of the seminal literary classic "The Call of the Cthulhu". The black and white, while giving the film a clean look (almost unrealistic at points), does what it was meant to do in conveying THAT necessary tone for a story of this type. A nice added touch is that it is fully silent and for most in today's day and age, that would be enough to turn some off of it - at only 47 minutes though the director did a great job at keeping the viewers attention despite no audible dialogue.

Visual effects were not terrible and some of the set designs were very nouveau being reminiscent of the German expressionism found in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari by Robert Weine. Which I was enamored with as it both visually arresting and incomprehensible at the same time - lending itself to being unabashedly Cyclopian. A style of which is pure Lovercraft. Some of the cinematography was nausea-inducing at points though and the script cards in a handful of instances could have been on screen a few seconds longer. Those are just small, nitpicky things though that can come with more time doing of film of this type.

All in all, Call of Cthulhu does a decent job of bringing the story to life and is woth the 47 minutes of your time if you at all have an unquenchable thirst for Lovecraft adaptations.

Brilliant approach to Lovecraft's classic story

[Superunknovvn · 8/10 · 12 April 2006]

Making a story by H.P. Lovecraft into a silent film in 2005 may not have been the most obvious move, but it turned out to be a major artistic success. I was a little skeptic myself about this weird approach, but I have to say that Andrew Leman's "The Call Of Cthulhu" is the best Lovecraft adaptation I've seen so far.

The beautiful, dark pictures and the old-fashioned score along with the over the top acting and the make-up of clown-proportions - the whole ancient feel of a silent movie - create a haunting atmosphere. Not only does the viewer feel as if he himself was in the dark about the spooky ongoings, he seems to be taken back to an early age long before mankind could rely on science.

If you're familiar with Lovecraft's novella, you might think that it's impossible to make this rather complicated and possibly special effects demanding story into a silent movie with only 45 minutes running time. Leman somehow pulls it off, though, and proves that less is more. His characters only "say" the most important things we need to know to follow the storyline. A lot of it is explained by facial expressions, newspaper clippings or diary entries. Special effects wise, Leman stays true to the silent film genre without making Cthulhu look ridiculous. The monster is only hinted at in shadows and quick cuts. This may sound weird again, but you have to watch the movie to see how it works.

"The Call Of Cthulhu" remains faithful to both, the original Lovecraft story and the silent movie genre (one little complaint I have would be that the camera-work on the first boat scene looks a little too improved for a silent movie, but that's really being nitpicky). As old-fashioned and reduced as this movie might be, it's still spooky as hell and more effective than most modern popcorn horror flicks.

A for Effort...

[poe-48833 · 7/10 · 3 December 2015]

HERBERT WEST: REANIMATOR has often been singled out as one of the more watchable Lovecraft adaptations. I've never felt that way, myself: it's far too THEATRICAL for my tastes, eschewing the MOOD for which Lovecraft is so justifiably famous, and is so poorly written that it bears little resemblance to the story upon which it's based. In the words of Lovecraft himself (in THE CALL OF CTHULU): "Death would be a boon if only it could blot out the memories." To do the author justice, one would have to capture the mood of Carl Dreyer's VAMPYR and do it with the expertise of a Fritz Lang (M). THE CALL OF CTHULU is a commendable effort because it's a low budget short, done by fans of the writer; had it been turned out by some Hollywood hack at great cost, it would be laughable. The stop-motion animation is the highlight of this one and harks back to the tentacled terror in Dennis Muren's EQUINOX (1971), which was Lovecraftian itself in so many ways. Maybe one day we'll see a genuine adaptation by someone of the caliber of a John Carpenter. Until then, as HPL himself put it: "Who knows the end? What has risen may sink, and what has sunk may rise. Loathsomeness waits and dreams in the deep, and decay spreads over the tottering cities of man."

A faithful recreation of the story, as a silent movie

[ivorybow · 10/10 · 10 February 2006]

This movie is a little gem. The love, care and respect that went into its making, both for the story itself, and for the genre of silent film, makes "Call of the Cthulu" a triumph of honest artistic effort. The decision to make this a silent movie was a stroke of genius. The black and white silent format so well matches the dark and antique ambiance of H.P. Lovecraft stories. As far as I know, it is only available by order from the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society. We gathered a group of life long Lovecraft fans for the viewing, and we were all delighted by the film, and felt the movie did the story complete justice. There are some very nice extras on the DVD which explain the process of making the film, how a backyard was used to build sets, and what went into making a modern silent film hold true to the look and feel of the genre. Do yourself a favor, buy the movie, and watch it with friends. Priceless!

A wholehearted attempt to bring Cthulhu to the screen

[paul_haakonsen · 7/10 · 14 February 2010]

Despite this being a low budget movie, it is straight to the point. It is a really good shot at bringing Lovecraft's work to the screen.

As a fan of H.P. Lovecraft's written works, I just could not let this one pass me by, and I am glad that I didn't. This movie is thrilling and entertaining from start till end.

The feel you get from the images and the way it was put together really have that Lovecraftian feel to it. I am sure that had Lovecraft seen this himself he would approve of it. Sure all who read his work have their own mental images of his universe, his creatures and creations, but the people behind this movie made a real good attempt at bringing that universe to life.

This movie also goes to prove that in order to make a good movie, you don't need to have a triple digit million dollar budget or have a vast number of celebrities on the poster to lure in an audience. This movie is well put together, and have the brooding dread and suspense that you get in Lovecraft's written work.

I think many of the "regular" movie viewers will discredit this movie, maybe because it is black/white, or because it is a silent movie, but I think most Lovecraft fans will find it to be good. Of course it would be interesting to see the "Call of Cthulhu" story as interpreted through a million dollar production, but this version will always also have appeal.

Instead of the production values of The Artist, we get garage-style visuals.

[suite92 · 4/10 · 9 October 2013]

A Boston archaeologist sorts through his dead great-uncle's papers. He finds information about the Cthulhu Cult.

The great-uncle was a psychiatrist. One of his patients was a young man named Henry Wilcox. Wilcox reported dreams; the shrink asked that he record the dreams for discussion. When Wilcox failed to appear one day, the great-uncle tracks him down to a mental ward. Wilcox had lost his memory of his obsession.

The present day nephew skips to other parts of the great-uncle's stored papers, which included newspaper clippings, and visits to conferences. At one conference, a policeman presents an artifact to some scholars. One man had seen the same sort of piece in Greenland in Esquimaux (sic) territory. Another described odd goings-on in a swamp near New Orleans where children were disappearing. In both cases, there was a chant that named Cthulhu. A similar artifact was at the site of a cult fire dance where cannibalism was being practiced. The investigator came with police; the dance was dispersed; arrests were made.

The nephew keeps reading. This seems to be a common mistake made by actors in Cthulhu films.

He follows the notebooks, and goes to places described in the notebooks. He locates a Cthulu statue, and gains more information than what was in the notebooks.

The effort eventually drives the nephew mad.

-----Scores------

Cinematography: 4/10 Presented in black and white in the 4:3 aspect ratio. Full of simulated scratches and floating dust. Ugly.

Sound: 6/10 This is a silent film with musical accompaniment and inter-titles. The music was fairly good for the on screen action.

Acting: 4/10 Without voice, these actors seemed to be lost.

Screenplay: 4/10 Too many dream sequences and flashbacks. A lot of this looks like Freudian themes with visuals in the style of Dali.

-----Post Script-----

In graduate school at Indiana University, I saw a dozen or so silent black and white films at the Auditorium, which had a large screen and a huge pipe organ of fine sound quality. The organ player was not only a skilled musician, but also a BW film buff of broad experience. The films were A list when they were released, and were often in 1.85 or wider format. They looked like movie films, not television. The film actors and directors were experienced and skilled at making the best silent films. These experiences were rather rich; I felt like I was catching a glimpse of the silent era during its height.

Why go to so much effort to make something that looks so bad? The black and white silent era is over. Go the route of The Artist instead.