The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu (2009)

Jeff is an ordinary guy that is stuck at a dead end job with a boring life, but when a strange old man gives him an Ancient relic and tells him that he is the last bloodline of H.P. ... See full summary »

Director:

Henry Saine

Writer:

Devin McGinn

Stars:

Kyle Davis, Devin McGinn, Matt Bauer

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kyle Davis	...	Jeff
Devin McGinn	...	Charlie
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Matt Bauer	...	Deep One
Honor Bliss	...	Miss Roming
Sujata Day	...	Stacy Rahman
Todd Duffey	...	Cult member #1
Edward Flores	...	Sheldon
Marty Fortney	...	Mike
Justin Giddings	...	Comedic Cult Member #1
Charles Haigh	...	Head Man
Barak Hardley	...	Paul
Max Huber	...	Bum
Bryce Hurless	...	Comic book kid
Douglas Jantzen Jr.	...	Cult Leader
Harry Karp	...	Jimbo

Storyline

Jeff is an ordinary guy that is stuck at a dead end job with a boring life, but when a strange old man gives him an Ancient relic and tells him that he is the last bloodline of H.P. Lovecraft, He and his friend Charlie embark on an adventure to protect the relic piece from falling into the hands of the Starspawn and his minions that wish to reunite the relic and release Cthulhu back into the world.

---

Plot Keywords:

h.p. lovecraft | cthulhu | ancient astronaut | name in title | 

---

Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Horror

---

Did You Know?

Trivia

Devin McGinn also played the half-breed creature.

---

Goofs

At the beginning of the movie, two characters are drinking beer on a boat, when one of them pours some out of his bottle. The "beer" is clearly water.

---

Quotes

Paul: Oh, would you look at this? Looks like there's no peanut butter. Boy, sure would be great if I could make a sandwich, if my own grandmother wasn't such a PEANUT BUTTER WHORE!

---

Connections

References It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

---

Soundtracks

Tentacle Apocalypse
Written and Performed by .wildlife

User Reviews

It won me over

I liked this one more than I should have. The script is good but sometimes clunky, cheap FX terrible, cheap makeup OK. But somehow I ended up enjoying it! The directing could have been a LOT crisper. Comedy needs quick beats and perfect timing. Still, after listening to the Down In Front podcast episode about "2010 Moby Dick" I now understand more about being a low-budget director and having to get to a certain film length without enough money to shoot more film. You just have to put everything you filmed on the screen or your movie won't be long enough! Still, though I'm sympathetic, I do recognize that the comic beats are ultimately in the hands of the director, and they do plod in many places.

The script had some genuinely funny stuff, but suffered a bit from an inability to go completely over-the-top when it needed to. A few more lines of the caliber of Captain Olaf's "Fish Rape" would have been welcome. Also, the lead characters suffered from inconsistency. Were they nerds or not? They acted like nerds, until they meet up with a high-school friend and suddenly HE'S the nerd and they're making fun of him, and worse STOP acting like nerds themselves suddenly. That whole part never made any sense, at least as filmed. Maybe they planned a meditation on "relative nerdiness", but if they did it never paid off.

I think ultimately the "x-factor" was the acting. Most of them did a reasonable job, and all of them brought an enthusiasm and genuine quality that won me over. And Devin McGinn as the sidekick was really a standout - I want to see him in more movies or TV work, especially if he could play a similar character. He really nailed it! So, by the end I was rooting for our unlikely heroes.

One more note: there are a couple of reviews here that say this movie has "nothing to do" with the Cthulhu mythos. I don't know what movie THEY were watching, but as someone who has read literally the entire Lovecraft bibliography, I can say that they spent a lot of time throwing in many, many references, and really made me believe they could have been in a comedy version of Lovecraft's world. There's an abundance of little nods to the Lovecraft reader throughout, and I appreciated them a lot.

Overall - well done! Go into it expecting a VERY low-budget film that's earnestly trying to entertain, and and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 October 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Devin McGinn's The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu

Filming Locations:

Agoura Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Outlaw FIlms

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1