Cthulhu (DVD, 2009, Widescreen Edition)

Another attempt at bringing Lovecraft theme to screen, and with all the so-so efforts in the past, this film makes a decent stab at it. There is a subtle apocalyptic backdrop, with an eerie feel. The references to people of the sea, Dagon, and Cthulhu give a tease to the original Lovecraftian work. The acting is by far the best in Lovecraftian filmology, second only to "In the Mouth of Madness." The gay references, offensive to some, does not steal the show and is done in a very plot deepening way. This film may not make it to the top all films list, but it is definitely worth at least one play.

A good movie. It was somewhat uneven. The audio track which has comments from the writer and director is quite illuminating with regard to the production of the film as well as to its uneven character.

"The patterns all hinted of remote secrets and unimaginable abysses in time and space, and the monotonously aquatic nature of the reliefs became almost sinister. Among these reliefs were fabulous monsters of abhorrent grotesqueness and malignity - half ichthyic and half batrachian in suggestion - which one could not dissociate from a certain haunting and uncomfortable sense of pseudomemory, as if they called up some image from deep cells and tissues whose retentive functions are wholly primal and awesomely ancestral. At times I fancied that every contour of these blasphemous fish-frogs was over-flowing with the ultimate quintessence of unknown and inhuman evil. "
H.P. Lovecraft

Cthulhu

This was an interesting film,loosely based on the short story The Shadow Over Innsmouth.
This film is the story of Russell Marsh, a lonely professor of history,(once a resident of Innsmouth he now resides in Seattle) who goes home to settle the estate of his late mother.
It was in no way a faithful adaptation of any of H.P. Lovecraft's works,but it still had a sort of Lovecraftian feel to it.
It was beautifully shot,expanses of gorgeous seascapes and desolate streets full of empty shops and storefronts.
The whole movie moves quite slowly.
On the surface everything seems sort of normal with a tinge of strangeness.
The town lacks things you associate with normal towns,industry,open stores,churches.
In fact the only church of sorts is the one that Russell's father seems to run,which is really no church at all but rather a cult.The Cult Of Dagon.
The director and writer made an interesting choice,having Russell be a gay protagonist as all of Lovecraft's stories seem to be devoid of sexual themes entirely.
It was also an interesting sort of comparability between being a member of a fringe group himself and his father leading a small fringe cult of sorts.
Some people are scared of death,but what is even more frightening is the unknown and that's what makes this a convincing story.
Being a low budget film,this story focused less on effects and more on the character's sense of impending dread.
Things are spiraling out of control on the world both inside and outside of Innsmouth.
What is coming?
What does the future hold ,not just for Russell but for everyone?