An Overview of Some of the Early H.P Lovecraft Adaptations

                                                            

   

       Anyone who knows me will know that I have a deep love and regard to the works of none other than H.P Lovecraft. I have been a big fan of his writing since around my fresh man year of high school and to this day read and reread his stories periodically. He is without a doubt one of Americas greatest figures in literature and to this day inspires so many other writers.

       Anyways recently I got to thinking how has Lovecraft`s fared in regards film adaptations of his stories? I know there really haven't been that many, which is so strange to me. But you have other fellow "horror" writers such as Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King  who have had numerous adaptions of there stories and many have been fantastic. Yet Lovecraft seems to be ignored and when his stuff does actually get adapted to film they either drift ridiculously far from the story to the point it can hardly be identified with the original story or they are just plain awful. Yet there have been a few exceptions. Anyhow to get the full perspective of Lovecraft film adaptions lets start from the beginning with Roger Corman`s "The Haunted Palace".

    The Haunted Palace (1963) was directed by the great Roger Corman and written by Charles Beaumont ("The Seven Faces of Dr.Lao", "Burn, Witch, Burn!"), apparently Francs Ford Coppola did some additional writing on the movie as well. The Film was based on H.P Lovecraft`s novella "The Case of Charles Dextar Ward". Interesting fact when this released Lovecraft was still not really well known so they made Corman name it after the Edgar Allan Poe Poem "The Haunted Palace" and act as if its just another one of Corman`s Poe films.
     The film is a fair adaption of the short Lovecraft novel and a superb film. I know some people might find the pacel "slow-burn" but I think its paced perfectly. Vincent Price stars in the film as Charles Dexter Ward/Joseph Curwen. Another Horror Icon Lon Chaney Jr co stars as one of Prices followers, (this was the only movie Chaney ever did with Corman). Elisha Cook Jr and Debra Pagent also have roles in the film. Overall its a good Lovecraft adaptation in fact id definitely say its  one of the best and just a really good Gothic style horror film, I highly recommend it.



     The next film adaption i`d like to mention is "Die Monster Die!" (1965). This film is a adaption of Lovecraft`s story "The Color out of Space". "Die, Monster, Die!" was directed by Daniel Haller and written by Jerry Sohl. It stars Boris Karloff, Nick Adams, and Freda Jackson.
      I`ve come to realize though that  people generally don`t really like this movie, now I can see why but personally i`m fan of this film. I think Boris Karloff is great in the role of Nahum Witley and the sets/art direction just looks really good. Unfortunately I admit it does end up being a bit of a lose adaptation and the special effects are something Mystery Science Fiction Theater would have so many jokes about.  Though overall I think its a fine film on its but I admit its definitely not the most loyal of adaptations. I`d say "The Haunted Palace" was a more loyal adaptation then "Die Monster Die!" by far.

   



 The next "adaptation" is so lose its debatable that even counts as an adaptation at all and and that is of 1968`s "Curse of the Crimson Alter" (aka The Crimson Cult). This film is supposed to be based on Lovecraft`s story "The Dreams in the Witch House" but it really just does its own thing. There`s some themes from the story in the movie like how the main character is haunted by disturbing dreams, but truthfully if you expect a movie based on the story your going to be disappointed. There no big rat eating through anyone's chest, appearances of Elder Things, or anything like that from the story.
      Its to bad to because it has the makings for a really good film, i`m not saying its a bad movie i`m just saying it could have been much better. Its directed by Vernon Sewell and stares a bunch of really great horror actors like Boris Karloff (this is one of his last films), Christopher Lee, Michael Gough and Barbara Steele. Yet with all this talent the movie isn't really much more than just OK and is so loosely based on the story "The Dreams in the Witch House" its debatable that its even based on the story at all.



     Next up is "The Dunwich Horror" from 1970. This film tends to get a mixed reception from people. Personally I just think its ok, its a very psychedelic and kind of weird horror film. Its directed by Daniel Haller (same person who directed "Die, Monster, Die!"), produced by Roger Corman and stars Dean Stockwell, Sandra Dee, and Ed Begley. It was supposed to have Boris Karloff in the Ed Begley role of Dr.Henry Armitage which would have been perfect but Karloff died before production started. Then Peter Fonda was originally in the Dean Stockwell role of Wilbur Whateley.
      "The Dunwich Horror" has some really good moments in it. For example the scenes that involve the occult are really well executed, they genuinely chilling and creepy. Not at all cheesy or campy like so many films that attempt doing scenes involving the occult and occult rituals. Then there scenes that are set up to like look like bad acid trips which was unique and definitely a testament to the time it was made. Ed Begly was a good choice for Dr.Armitage and worthy successor to late Boris Karloff for the part.
     Now the not so great is that to me it didn't include enough of the story in movie. It adds some weird and unnecessary aspects, but by no means ruins the original story. Then of course we have to address the monster that we finally see at the end. Some people have gone so far as to say it ruins the movie, I wouldn't go that far but I do admit it looks kinda hooky. I don't even describe the thing you have to see it for your self.
     Overall despite its flaws "The Dunwich Horror" is not to bad. It could have been a bit better, but is fairly loyal to the original story, has a very good cast of actors, and very cool poster. So would I recommend it? If your interested or have read the original story by Lovecraft then yes, otherwise there's no real big reason to go out of your way to see it.
     

Dracula Films Two Years Later...

You may or may not remember back in 2012 when I wrote a little article on three upcoming "alternative'' Dracula  films (by alternative I mean films that were not literal adaptations but a unique aspect of the Dracula legends). Well anyways its been about two years so lets see were their at:

The Last Voyage of Demeter:
           
         This was the one that I thought sounded the most interesting and also the one that seemed to be most likely to be made. In case you don`t remember what its about is its about what happened on/to the crew of the ill fated ship Demeter which transported Count Dracula from Romania to England.
         So whats the updated on it? Well two years ago David Slade was set to be director, and before him was Marcus Nispel, but since then one of my favorite current directors Neil Marshall took over the project. Then for awhile the film sounded like it was really moving along but since summer of 2012 I have not heard a word about the movie, the latest article about it I could find was from June of 2012 and its IMDB page is now completely empty. It used to at least have Viggo Mortenson, Jude Law as Dracula which was kind of a odd choice, but before him it supposed to be Adrian Brody as Dracula which is an even oddier choice, and then Ben Kingsley was going to be the ships captain. Sadly no one is listed on its IMDB page anymore and in all likely hood are no longer even attached. So I hate to admit it but it sounds like its gonna be in development hell for awhile and its likely hood of being made seems dim.
          BUT have no fear there is a comic book called "Bram Stokers Death Ship" its published by IDW and written by Gary Gerani ("Pumpkinhead" & "Dinosaurs Attack!") and illustrated by Stuart Sayger ("Shiver in the Dark"), this comic is basically about what The Last Voyage of Demeter would be about. I haven't read it but i`ve heard its good and I know the artwork in it is supposed to be especially good.

Next we have the ambitious Dracula project called;
Harker:

       Harker was an interesting idea were it was going to change around the whole Dracula story were the Character  Jonathan Harker from the novel is now a Scotland yard inspector who is obsessed with finding and killing Count Dracula. Well back when I talked about this movie two years ago, Jaume Collet-Serra was supposed to be directing but he left it to direct that upcoming Liam Neeson thriller "Non-Stop". Instead now its supposed to be Eli Roth. I don`t mind Roth directing the film but I fear this will become another Eli Roth horror film project that just gets talked about forever and never actually made like for example; his remake of "The Funhouse", an adaptation of Stephen Kings novel "Cell", and that Thanksgiving themed horror film he always was talking about. But hey maybe hopefully i`ll be wrong this time.
     Russel Crowe is supposedly set to be playing Dracula, I originally thought he was gonna play Jonathan Harker (which I still think would have been a better role for him). It should be noted no one is casted as Harker yet. Lee Shipman and Brian McGreevy have written the script, they hope to make the character a franchise series. This project seems a little more optimistic than The Last Voyage of Demeter, at least this summer things seemed good for the film, but as of right now I have no idea weather or not Harker will actually make it to the screen. Now even if it can`t make as a feature film I think it would make the basis for a really cool comic book or television series, and if those are popular maybe it can spawn a feature film (kinda like what happened with "30 Days of Night")

Finally we have this film:
DRACULA UNTOLD:
You want to hear something ironic? Two years ago this was the film that far and way sounded most unlikely to happen, it had hardly anything being said about it just that Gary Shore was supposed to be directing and its title was Dracula: Year Zero. Well guess what this is the only one out of all three that's actually been made!
        Yes this movie has actually been made, well its still in  Post production  (filming wrapped up in November) and is scheduled to be released October 17th of this year. Its still being directed by Gary Shore whose a relative newcomer in fact this will be his first feature film. Its starring a couple of really good actors like Luke Evans who will be Vlad Tepes and Domnic Cooper as Mehmed the Conqueror. Its production company is Legendary Pictures and being distributed by none other than Universal! I read a interview that was published a couple days ago of Dominic Cooper and he kinda talked about this film and how its going to be a little bit more of historical premise focusing on Vlad and how he more or less becomes Dracula. Anyways it sounds really good, I don`t know if its gonna be R or PG-13 but I know for a fact its coming out this October.
     
        So there we have it, two years later and one of the three movies is actually being made. Which is better than nothing, hey maybe if its really successful it spur the other two into being made. Interesting fact "Dracula Untold" will be the first Dracula movie to get a theatrical release in 14 years, the last one was "Dracula 2000". Well anyways well just have to see what happens with the other two in a year from now.

What are your thoughts? Which do want to see get made or even not get made?

The Plague of the Zombies (1966)

The Plague of the Zombies (1966)
Directed by John Gilling
Written by Peter Bryan
Starring: Andre Morell, Diana Clare, John Carson

1966`s The Plague of the Zombies is Hammer film studios attempt at a zombie. It predates George Romero`s genre defining zombie film "Night of the Living Dead"  and to the best of my knowledge was the last traditional zombie film before Romero reinvented it. But I must say its a very good movie and not only one of the best films by Hammer but one of the best films of all time.

For people who have been reading my blog since I started it, might recall I reviewed this film back in 2010 and that I wasn`t really crazy about it. Now its been a few years and i`ve seen the film a couple of times i`ve come to really love the film and view it as a incredibly under appreciated movie. The films story is about a doctor answering a plea to come help from one of his former students whose now a doctor in a remote small village in Cornwall and who cant figure out what mysterious disease is killing off the young villagers and how to even begin to help them. When professor Forbes (played by Andre Morell) arrives in the village to help, he finds it under the iron grip of its sinister magistrate whose less than enthusiastic to have them snooping around for the source of the plague. Which as they look deeper into the case they are plunged into a world of murder, black magic, and voodoo.

     All I can say is its just a really good horror movie. It has a great spooky atmospheric English film that ranks up with some of Hammers best. It also has been a very influential film influencing such movies as Night of the Living Dead itself and the imagery of many other zombie movies. This is a zombie movie that is a more traditional zombie type movie were that its more like "White Zombie" and "I Walked With a Zombie", (which means there`s no gruesome flesh eating). Yet its still a great effective movie and for me one the best zombie movies of all time. Plus this has one of the greatest posters and film title ever.

     John Gilling was an interesting director he had previously directed "The Flesh and the Fiends" with Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasence which was a excellent black and white horror movie about the Burke and Hare murders and than a really cool pirate/adventure film for Hammer called "The Pirates of Blood River" with Christopher Lee. After The Plague of the Zombies he went on to to direct other horror films for Hammer such as "The Reptile" and "The Mummy`s Shroud" but neither really compare to this film. The film is written by Peter Bryan who had written such films as the excellent Sherlock Holmes film "The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) "  and "The Brides of Dracula (1960)"which were both for Hammer. Unfortunately after "The Plague of Zombies" his work gradually declined in quality going on to write such terrible films as "The Blood Beast Terror" in 1968 which stared Peter Cushing who went on to later say that it was the worst film he was ever in and the film "Trog" in 1970 a film on par with "Troll 2" in badness which I find weird considering that there were a lot of talented people working on "Trog" I think even John Gilling was one of the writers or something, Oh well. Anyways on a different note the film has a well assembled cast with Andre Morell who might remember as Watson in "The Hound of the Baskervilles", the beautiful Diana Clare playing his daughter in the movie, and the always awesome John Carson who is very young in this movie and plays its haunting villain Squire Clive Hamilton.

     I really like this movie a lot and its fortunately been recently released on Blu-Ray! Unfortunately its only been released on region B format so that means that Americans like me can`t watch it yet cause were on region A, so I cant get it on Blu-Ray until its released on region A. I've heard though that  its Blu-Ray looks really well restored and has some good special features to boot, but i`ll just have to wait till it gets its region A release. Other than that I can`t recommend the film highly enough its actually become one of my favorite films from Britain`s Hammer films and is definitely just an incredibly underrated film. So if you get the chance watch The Plague of the Zombies watch it, because i`m sure you wont be disappointed.

The Skull (1965)

The Skull (1965)
Directed By: Freddie Francis 
Written By: Milton Subotsky, Based on the short story"The Skull of the Marquis De Sade" by Robert Bloch
Starring: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Patrick Wymark 


1965`s The Skull was a Gothic period horror film made by Hammer studios rival Amicus. Its directed by the great Freddie Francis who had just previously directed "The Evil of Frankenstein" for Hammer and "Dr.Terrors House of Horrors" for Amicus and based on a short story by Robert Bloch (who wrote the novel Psycho in case you don't know who that is). The cast is then assembled with some of the greatest English actors of all time with Peter Cushing in the staring role and Christopher Lee, Michael Gough, Patrick Wymark,and Patrick Magee. The final film though is a very interesting result, that will probably have peoples opinions divided, my opinion is that its a fantastic film and one of the best of its kind, but I can understand why people would not be attracted to it.

The film is like I said based on a short story by Robert Bloch called "The Skull of the Marquis de Sade"; in which an avid collector of  occult artifacts and antiques Dr.Christopher Maitland (Peter Cushing) who purchases the skull of Marquis de Sade. In case you dont know who Marquis de Sade is he is i`ll give you a quick overview of him; he was a french aristocrat whose extreme perverse sexual preferences and erotic writings gave rise to the term sadism. His writings combined philosophy with pornography depicting sexual fantasies that emphasized violence, criminality, and blasphemy against the Catholic Church. He spent over 30 years in an insane asylum and wrote most of his works there. I could go on about him but if your curious to know more just go to Wikipedia or Encyclopedia Britannica, they have a lot of information on him. All you need to know about him in regards to this film is he was a really crazy person and his skull is the cursed skull in the movie. Anyways after Maitland is convinced its the actually skull of De Sade he buys it and almost immediately begins to suffer from a series of nightmarish events that drive him to the brink of madness.

I personally really do enjoy this movie and have actually grow to like it more over the years. I do have to warn some people though its kind of a slow film. Its not fast paced horror movie and takes on the more slow burn style horror film, I prefer it that way and personally feel its what helps make the film more effective. It also allows the actors to be more naturalistic and gives the director Freddie Francis who by the way was also a Oscar winning cinematographer, to be more at ease and artistic with  how he set up shots and scenes.

One major thing worth mentioning about the movie is how great the cast is. Its one of the best assembled casts for an Amicus film. First off you have the star Peter Cushing who is one of my favorite actors of all time playing the lead. Obviously he does a great job and plays the role completely convincing and is joy to watch when every he`s on screen. Christopher Lee has supporting role in the film as Maitlands friend and fellow collector of items of the occult Sir Matthew Phillips. Another Hammer film regular Michael Gough plays a small role as an auctioneer who actions off Occult items to rich British people. English actor Patrick Wymark who was in bunch of great movies like Prices`s "Witchfinder General" and Polanski`s "Replusion" plays a seedy graverobber/thief who gets hard to find items for Maitland, no questions asked. And Patrick Magee ("A Clockwork Orange" & "Masque of the Red Death") makes a welcome appearance in the film as a police surgeon.

Overall you cant go wrong with The Skull. Its a wonderfully directed atmospheric film, that's presented in a fantastic 2:35 format. The story is a great and entertaining occult/possession film that never gets dull or derivative. Of course though the cast alone makes this movie worth checking out, Cushing and Lee are at there best here. So if you get the chance I highly recommend checking out this great little lesser known English Gothic horror film.                                                    

My Five Favorite John Carpenter Films and my Number one Least Favorite

John Carpenter is one of my favorite directors and he definitely has one of the most accomplished careers of any director. Admittedly in the last 20 years his movies have been very hit and miss and only shadows of the quality of his past movies. In fact his latest movie 2010`s The Ward was his first feature film since 2001`s Ghosts of Mars, I just hope he puts out a couple more movies before he quiets for good. Anyways here are my top five FAVORITE John Carpenter movies and my number one LEAST favorite;



1. THE THING (1982)
 For me this is John Carpenters masterpiece. Its the perfect mixture of science fiction and horror, as well as being probably the best remake ever made. On top of that the special effects are some of the greatest practical effects i`ve ever seen. I could go on and on about how much I love this movie and everything about it but I think you get the idea.



2. Assault On Precinct 13 (1976)
 I have to give this movie credit for really being the Carpenter film that made me appreciate and realize how awesome his films are. This movie is one of his very early films and instead of a "horror" film its a brilliant thriller that doesn't hold back.


3. HALLOWEEN (1978)
 Halloween is just such a great horror movie in almost ever way. From its iconic soundtrack to its great Halloween season atmosphere this is a film that is a true classic.


4. ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (1981) 
     Another simply brilliant film. It has a amazing cast with Kurt Russel, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgine, Donald Pleasence, etc. Then its title main character Snake Pliskeen is one of the coolest antiheroes since Clint Eastwoods "the man with no name" character. Not to mention the film is just great to look at, the art direction is just amazing.


5. THEY LIVE (1988) 
  What can I say I just love this crazy movie. Though really "They Live" is a great satire at its core (in a Dawn of the Dead sort of way) but its message doesn't get in the way of the film at all. Instead it succeeds in still being an enjoyable horror film with great dark comedic elements.

That about does it with my top 5 favorite Carpenter film unfortunately a couple that I really loved didn't make the list like The Fog, Christine, and Vampires. All three of those are just really great films that I highly recommend checking out as well. Unfortunately though John Carpenter has made some duds, since the beginning of the 90`s its been real hit and miss for his movies on one hand you have Vampires (1998) and In Mouth of Madness (1994) which actually are really good movies. Then you have Escape From L.A (1996) which I don`t think is that bad of a movie I just think it was forced to live up to impossible standards that audiences were giving it, which is one reason why I think most people despise it, but in my opinion I think its alright not anywhere near as good as New York but an OK movie none the less. Anyways the worst film ever done by John Carpenter is by far:


GHOSTS OF MARS (2001)
Most people will probably agree with me that this movie is Carpenters worst. Its just so bad and its really unfortunate because I feel like it could have been possibly been good. Instead its a lame science fiction film, with a lackluster story, uninspired acting, and really bad dialogue. Unlike with some of his other bad movies like Memoirs of an Invisible Man which is a pretty forgettable film but it at least has some funny moments and Village of the Damned which is a awful remake but does have a few good scenes, Ghosts of Mars has nothing and is one of those bad films that is so bad its hard to finish.

The Vampire Bat (1933)

The Vampire Bat (1933)
Directed by: Frank R. Strayer
Written by: Edward T. Lowe Jr
Starring: Lionel Atwill, Fay Reagan, Melvyn Douglas 

   The Vampire Bat is actually one of my favorite Lionel Atwill movies and is a great little gem in regards to 1930s horror. Utilizing some great actors, creepy atmosphere, fantastic sets, and some dash's of  funny humor. I`ve also got to say its one of the  best movies in the public domain; along side films such as White Zombie, Carnival of Souls, and of course Night of the Living Dead. Of course not as good as those movie but its up there with them.

   The movie is set in the village of Klineschloss were locals are scared stiff of a "vampire" who is killing villagers and then draining them dry of their blood. This fear of the killer becomes so strong the people in the village start to become hysterical, which only gets worse when the Burgomaster and town doctor Otto Von Niemann (Lionel Atwill) declare it is officially a epidemic of vampirism. Only police inspector Karl Brettshneider remains skeptical of the "vampirism theory", though with the increasing body count and mounting evidence towards vampirism he doesn't know what to believe. Up until the epic and rather surprising climax were everything is reveled.

      One thing about The Vampire Bat is that its one of the best independent horror films of the 30`s. The sets alone are fantastic, though that mostly has to do with the fact that they were getting to use Universals European village sets at night when Universal wasn't using them, in fact if you think Lionel Atwills office looks familiar its because its the same interior sets from Universals "The Old Dark House". On top of having great set design director Strayer does a marvelous job at photographing the scenes and creating this great unique atmosphere that echoes influence from German Expression and other Universal horror films from that period. The point i`m trying to get at is it doesn't feel like a "cheap quikie" like it could have been, instead it utilizes all its resources and crafts a inspired period piece that holds up to films like Dracula and Frankenstein despite only having a fraction of the budget that they had.

       Not mention it has a really good cast. With the always great Lionel Atwill as the town doctor, Fay Wray from King Kong fame as his niece, and future Oscar winner Melvyn Douglas as police inspector Karl, Lionel Belmore who was the Burgomaster in Frankenstein plays the Burgomaster in this film (so they were recycling Universal sets as well as supporting actors I guess) and good ole Dwight Frye plays the slow odd Herman Gleib whose made a scapegoat for the killings, oh and not mention Robert Frazer from White Zombie has a small role in this movie as well. The cast alone is reason enough to check out this movie and if you like Lionel Atwill and haven't seen this movie there's even more reason now to check it out, cause personally its one of my favorites of his.

      Altogether The Vampire Bat is a great, well made early 30`s independent horror movie. Its a film that so easily could have been bad but wasn't and since its a "spooky old dark house" and "bats flying everywhere" type movie its a perfect movie for Halloween time. So if your a classic horror fan, I definitely recommend giving The Vampire Bat  a chance.