The Call of Cthulhu
00:36:52
About
There’s more temporal shenanigans as we go all the way back to the 1920s, by going all the way back to 2005 for the HP Lovecraft Historical Society’s film adaptation of “The Call of Cthulhu”. A film that to describe it would bring screaming madness to the mind and blacken to opacity the very soul of man (see what we did there?). The HPLHS’s decision to make “The Call of Cthulhu” as if it were adapted at the time the story was published was a real stroke of genius, and the fact they pulled it off is remarkable. Keeping the story in its original period absolutely sells it more than a modern-day setting, some of Lovecraft’s more melodramatic dialogue sits easier as inter-titles than in actor’s mouths, and the stop-motion Cthulhu is a magnificent take on the creature. The incredible attention to period detail, and the in-camera effects achieved through model shots and other methods of the time really bring a sense of scale. It also means that the film has not dated, by way of it never being of its time in the first place. Possibly the truest adaptation of any of Lovecraft’s work. Watch (or re-watch) to avoid spoilers and join us.
Adam's research
Verbatim lifts from Adam's own words in the episode. Click a timestamp to hear him say it.
- Nature of Lovecraft's Elder Gods
Yeah. And, um, and as you were saying, Lee, really, it's his because it's it's curious because essentially it's to a greater or lesser extent science fiction, in so much as there's the, as he termed them, the elder gods, which are treated by human beings as magical creatures or gods or sort of, but are actually probably more likely to be just extraterrestrial, extradimensional beings. And, and as you were saying, Lee, really, it's his because it's it's curious because essentially it's to a greater or lesser extent science fiction, in so much as there's the, as he termed them, the elder gods, which are treated by human beings as magical creatures or gods or sort of, but are actually probably more likely to be just extraterrestrial, extradimensional beings. And their Yeah. Well, it's it's that sort of but also that that lovely sort of thing of they are beyond us. It's not it's not a sort of, uh, malicious. … Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And I think, and, because, because a lot of the, a lot of the stories are sort of people, uh, sort of explorers or, um, you know, people doing scientific investigations, anthropologists and things like that, where they look into these things where it's. Yeah, exactly, you know.
- Lovecraftian Crossovers
And, and actually, weirdly enough, I think it's one of those things that's kind of ripe to, and a lot of other mythologies have crossed over with it. There's sort of, uh, Cthulhu Mythos Sherlock Holmes. … there's you know, there's just so many different thing there um they even tied it up at one point there was a a series of what once the original version of Dr the original TV version of Doctor Who finished they had a series of books after that and that actually had um some one of the authors in there linked it up that there were creatures from Doctor Who that they then translated onto the Cthulhu gods so stuff like Uh Naliatep and were analogous to other creatures and things.
- Lovecraft's Atheism and Mythology View
along with, along with his, you know, along with his clear dodgy politics and uh essential racism, you know, he was, um, uh, but I I think he was actually, as a person, he was fairly sort of, atheistic. You know, it was like, well, there's nothing, so, you know, he was. Yeah, he was he was basically sort of, you know, the this I've created this mythology if you want to run with it or whatever like that, but it wasn't, you know, it wasn't sort of something he subscribed to. He was very much. Yeah, well, it was yeah, it was very much, no, this is this is the product of my imagination.
- HPLHS Formation & Early Projects
You know, but I think, but I think, um, because funny enough, you're saying about the role playing game, that's how the HP Lovecraft Historical Society formed is originally they were, they formed a live action role playing, uh, version of the Call of Cthulhu RPG called Cthulhu Lives. And it was, uh, Andrew Lehman, Sean Braney and Phil Bell, who sort of formed the society, um, and basically, yeah, it started off that they were larping. And then they started doing a fanzine called Strange Eons and because of that, which was just sort of articles and HP Lovecraft and sort of analysis and things like that. And because of that, they then got such a a sort of build up of membership, um, they began producing their own films, and the first thing they did was called Shoggoth on the Roof. Which is a spoof documentary of, um, a supposed 1970s production of a musical, which was a a Lovecraft version of Fiddler on the Roof. And then, so, and then they they, along with that, they did an original cast recording for the of of it. Um, so you could buy the Shoggoth on the Roof, like the the album, uh, and then after that they did, they did a Christmas album, a very scary solstice. Which is like Lovecraft Carols. And then, and this is this is also like in the 90s, I think they they originally formed in about 87 or like the society officially sort of became together in 87.
- Call of Cthulhu Film Production
And then they thought, well, we'll make Call of Cthulhu because the original story is from uh, published in 1928, I think it was written in 20, uh, 1926, but it was published in Weird Tales magazine, which published a lot of Lovecraft's work. And, um, in 1928, and so they were like, well, we'll make it as if it was a film made in 1928, uh, as we say. And, it's strange that we've done it, it was especially because we did just did House of the Devil, and it's kind of strange that there's, um, you know, we've done a film that was like, right, we want this to look like it was made in 19, uh, like the early 80s. And really stuck to that and everything. And they've done a similar sort of thing, they wanted to make this look like it basically, I think their concept was if someone had bought the rights to the film there and then and made the film the same year that the story came out. So it was like, yeah, they just, um, um, and, you know, so obviously, yeah, it's a silent film. And they've really, I think it's really it's really weird coming back to it because now realizing that it's nearly it's over 20 years old. Mmm. And because of that because they've done it as it's not aged in any way. It still looks fantastic, but it also is because they've done they did such a brilliant job of evoking that sort of 30s look. And when and, you know, it took a long time. I think it was like the best part of two years putting it together. And, you know, and sort of building lots of sort of false perspective tricks and things like that to do like the effects of the city, like the the they on the island. And, and it's all sort of, yeah, they they spent a lot of, um, it's a lot of time and effort to make it it sounds bizarre, but you know, to to make it as close as possible. In as close as possible a way to how it could have been made. They don't cheat it. And everything, and then obviously you're all, yeah, and you get them. Then you get a magnificent stop motion sequence of Cthulhu, which is just, yeah, and done sparingly as well. Which I think is again a strength to it.
- Lovecraft's Short Stories & Adaptations
Because essentially Lovecraft only did sort of short stories and in fact, there's a number of adaptions, what's his name, Stewart Gordon did a lot of adaptions of Lovecraft. And there's a lot of adaptions out there where you're like, that is literally a page and a half. It's a bit like the same you get the same thing with Edgar Allan Poe. You know, where it's like, the Pit and the Pendulum as a story versus the Pit and the Pendulum as the film. It's like, right, you have put a lot in here. And still called it the Pit and the Pendulum. And similarly, there's a lot with the Lovecraft stuff, I mean, it's like even Reanimator follows the story, like of of the actual short story Herbert West Reanimator. The film Reanimator kind of follows that story reasonably closely, but it is updated, it is set in the present day and there's a lot more nudity and gore than probably is in in the story. You know, they sort of. So this this feels like this is probably one of the closest. If not the closest Lovecraft adaptation I've seen.
- Fidelity of Lovecraft Adaptations (Color Out of Space)
That is an adaption of HP Lovecraft. And actually, one of the smartest things I ever saw is that I've got a German version of that that, because this has sent me scuttling back to my box of like all the Lovecraft adaptions I bought in the early 2000s. And, um, yeah, I've got a German version of The Color Out of Space, and the smart trick they do with that is it's in black and white. So, you don't have to try and create the color that is driving people mad because it's a totally new color. Yeah. But as it's filmed in black and white, we can't see that color, so it's, you know, it's there's people do the and yeah, like you say, Dagon is, I think, one of the more faithful. Uh adaptations of the stories because a lot a lot of them they sort of spin out from, you know, it'll be literally we'll take the idea or we'll take this and that. Whereas I think, and I mean obviously they are. An HP Lovecraft appreciation society. You know, they are. Yeah. So their love is going to be in there, but I think this is one of the most adherent to the story of any that I've seen. Particularly because they've not only have they made the decision to make it period, but they've actually made the decision to make the film, like the actual concept of the film is the period as well. Yeah. So it's not just, oh, because a lot of the, I mean, Stewart Gordon ones are always modern day, um, when he does them. He never does them sort of as historical. Apart from, no, even, um, Dreams in the Witch House, the, um, Masters of Horror episode he did, I think, is present day as well, isn't it?
- Lovecraft Story Given Poe Title
I can't remember what it's but there's there's an IP film that is basically a Lovecraft film but they gave it a Poe title, isn't there? Haunted Palace, that's it. Yeah. So, but but he's actually a Lovecraft story, but they just gave it an Edgar Allen Poe title.
- Lovecraft Ghostwriting for Houdini
Um, and it was, um, Lovecraft stories that he'd written. But under assumed names, and there were a couple in there that were actually published as Houdini stories. So he was ghost writing for Houdini, and I think Houdini was sort of like basically was like, I want to do something in Egypt. Knock it up for us and so he was doing that, so he was, you know, as a writer for hire he was also doing that sort of thing, you know.
- The Fictional Nature of the Necronomicon
And and actually the Necronomicon. … Oh, so many things. And again, I have seen, you know, I've been on, uh, sort of, you know, I've been on things online and stuff like that that are treating the Necronomicon that it is an actual book. You know, there are people it's it's sort of it's weird that it's sort of got tangled up so much in terms of mythology. That it's it's people who are saying, you know, that, oh no, Lovecraft wrote some stories, but he actually owned this thing called the Necronomicon. And and it's like, no, no, we're Jesus Christ, lads, we're getting really confused now. You know, he made up the book as well, it wasn't that he read the book and then decided, oh, that'd be a good idea for a series of short stories I'll flog to Strangeon. You know. To weird tales, you know, it's bizarre but uh.
Highlights
Transcript
Show full transcript
Lee Good evening and welcome to Horror. I'm Lee.
Chris I'm Chris.
Adam I'm Adam.
Lee And we're here with spoilers and swearing this evening to discuss 2005's the Call of Cthulhu.
Chris Wait, I'm sure I watched a 1920s film.
Lee Yeah, I I love that aesthetic of this. I think it's such a it it just works for the story.
Chris It's excellent.
Adam Yes, yes.
Lee So, so before we get too far into it, for anyone who isn't aware,
Lee this film was made by the Lovecraft Society.
Chris As I
Adam HP Lovecraft Historical Society, I'm sure it was.
Lee Yeah, thank you.
Lee yes, and he's he's a silent film made in the the style of a 1930s silent film.
Lee yeah, and it's it's I mean it really works for the story.
Lee But, I'm assuming our listeners will be, versed in HP Lovecraft, but for anyone who isn't, just in case we start talking and you're like, what are you talking about?
Lee HP Lovecraft, obviously was an author from turn of the last century.
Lee So, actually,
Adam Well, it was it was around the 20s, 30s, 40s, well, actually, the 20s and 30s that he was writing, really. So, yeah, beginning of the 20th century, something.
Lee yes, and he may his stories nearly all, are of about the same world and the same characters, but they're never directly told by the characters themselves who are the old gods.
Lee It's always people's accidental interactions with them, nine times out of ten.
Lee yeah, and it it's just such an amazing world he's created.
Lee That's what it is, it's all, you know, all of these stories are all parts of the same narrative, but kind of told from different people's perspectives and, yeah.
Adam He sort of created his own mythology and, it, weirdly enough, went further than him, so a lot of people then took up the mantle of it like August Derleth and people like that were sort of,
Chris We'll weave it into their own stories.
Adam Yeah, they ran with the mythology and I think and Lovecraft, I believe, was quite encouraging of that because I think he was very much sort of, well, it's it's there to be used.
Chris Yeah, certainly it's referenced.
Adam I've seen it in games.
Chris Yeah.
Adam Oh, certainly now, yeah, it's become.
Lee Oh, it's
Adam Yeah. And, and as you were saying, Lee, really, it's his because it's it's curious because essentially it's to a greater or lesser extent science fiction, in so much as there's the, as he termed them, the elder gods, which are treated by human beings as magical creatures or gods or sort of, but are actually probably more likely to be just extraterrestrial, extradimensional beings.
Chris Yeah.
Adam And, and as you were saying, Lee, really, it's his because it's it's curious because essentially it's to a greater or lesser extent science fiction, in so much as there's the, as he termed them, the elder gods, which are treated by human beings as magical creatures or gods or sort of, but are actually probably more likely to be just extraterrestrial, extradimensional beings.
Chris Yeah.
Adam And their
Chris We love to put extra layers on things though, don't we?
Adam Yeah. Well, it's it's that sort of but also that that lovely sort of thing of they are beyond us.
Adam It's not it's not a sort of, malicious.
Chris Well, so in a way, like he almost covers that that tension between science and fantasy.
Adam Oh, absolutely.
Adam Yeah.
Adam And I think, and, because, because a lot of the, a lot of the stories are sort of people, sort of explorers or, you know, people doing scientific investigations, anthropologists and things like that, where they look into these things where it's.
Chris Oh,
Lee What have we found here?
Adam Yeah, exactly, you know.
Adam And, and actually, weirdly enough, I think it's one of those things that's kind of ripe to, and a lot of other mythologies have crossed over with it.
Adam There's sort of, Cthulhu Mythos Sherlock Holmes.
Adam
Adam there's you know, there's just so many different thing there they even tied it up at one point there was a a series of what once the original version of Dr the original TV version of Doctor Who finished they had a series of books after that and that actually had some one of the authors in there linked it up that there were creatures from Doctor Who that they then translated onto the Cthulhu gods so stuff like
Adam Naliatep and were analogous to other creatures and things.
Adam But yeah, certainly Lovecraft sort of, yeah, I mean, I I think, I mean,
Adam along with, along with his, you know, along with his clear dodgy politics and essential racism, you know, he was, but I I think he was actually, as a person, he was fairly sort of, atheistic.
Chris He was like,
Adam You know, it was like, well, there's nothing, so, you know, he was.
Chris That's how it fits with this.
Adam Yeah, he was he was basically sort of, you know, the this I've created this mythology if you want to run with it or whatever like that, but it wasn't, you know, it wasn't sort of something he subscribed to.
Adam He was very much.
Chris He's no scientologist, really.
Adam Yeah, well, it was yeah, it was very much, no, this is this is the product of my imagination.
Adam That's it.
Adam It's not sort of like, you know, because I think, in a weird way,
Adam I think it has almost like sort of outlived him, well, not it's obviously it's outlived him, but it's sort of it's gone beyond that into
Adam almost becoming its own sort of, you know, like it's now mythology, but not just from one person's mind, it's sort of fed into so many things now.
Chris It has.
Lee Like, yeah, that's what, yeah, go on Lee.
Lee I was going to say, yeah, like you said, Chris, you know, like, you know, board games and role-playing games and all that, they've really linked onto it because it's such a a huge universe that he's built, it's rough for that type of thing.
Lee Actually, Chris, for Halloween last year, you bought us a a role play game, Cthulhu based one.
Lee Which we did try.
Lee I'd never tried a role play game before, it was the first one I played.
Lee I played it for. Yeah, really enjoyed it.
Lee
Lee yeah, and and loved all the little Cthulhu-esque figures and stuff so it's so did you were you aware of Cthulhu and were you aware of HP Lovecraft's work Chris before watching this or
Chris So I think, you know, really what we were just saying there, I heard of Cthulhu, before really knowing who HP Lovecraft was.
Chris So it's yeah, because it had been in like say computer games I'd played over the years and they don't, when the monster appears, it doesn't go,
Chris This is by HP Lovecraft.
Lee Yeah.
Chris Like, oh, I've heard of Cthulhu, right, and then you start to realize, oh, yeah, it's,
Chris And, you know, his name, once you, once you're aware of it, then you kind of see it a lot more.
Chris but certainly first, the references can be.
Adam And it has become a description, a descriptive method Lovecraftian for unusual weird fiction and particularly anything that is essentially, you know, nameless horrors and things from beyond that the human mind can't comprehend.
Adam I know that a lot of people have said that that, Lovecraft's sort of
Adam ability as a writer is actually the the the cause of like, well, it was absolutely indescribable and if I tried to, I I would go mad and so would you.
Adam So I wouldn't describe it.
Lee Yeah.
Adam Which is possibly one of the finest sort of get outs.
Lee Yeah.
Adam It works, you know.
Lee It does, but it runs so concurrent with MR James as well because it's that same it's nearly always learned scientists who are the people who are, you know,
Lee running into these things accidentally.
Lee Yeah, and it's it's that it's just described as being.
Lee Undescribable.
Chris What would these writers have done before science was a thing?
Lee Yeah.
Chris Who are we going to use, it's just crazy people, basically.
Adam I'm sure I'm sure I'm sure that there would have been people that they would have just regarded as,
Adam he needs the wind taken out of his sales a bit.
Adam So,
Adam that's you know, he used he used to be pomposity.
Adam That's why that's that's why it was a lot of kings and things like that.
Adam You know, but I think, but I think, because funny enough, you're saying about the role playing game, that's how the HP Lovecraft Historical Society formed is originally they were, they formed a live action role playing, version of the Call of Cthulhu RPG called Cthulhu Lives.
Adam And it was, Andrew Lehman, Sean Braney and Phil Bell, who sort of formed the society, and basically, yeah, it started off that they were larping.
Adam And then they started doing a fanzine called Strange Eons and because of that, which was just sort of articles and HP Lovecraft and sort of analysis and things like that.
Adam And because of that, they then got such a a sort of build up of membership, they began producing their own films, and the first thing they did was called Shoggoth on the Roof.
Adam Which is a spoof documentary of, a supposed 1970s production of a musical, which was a a Lovecraft version of Fiddler on the Roof.
Lee
Adam And then, so, and then they they, along with that, they did an original cast recording for the of of it.
Lee Okay.
Adam so you could buy the Shoggoth on the Roof, like the the album, and then after that they did, they did a Christmas album, a very scary solstice.
Adam Which is like Lovecraft Carols.
Adam And then, and this is this is also like in the 90s, I think they they originally formed in about 87 or like the society officially sort of became together in 87.
Chris It was oriented.
Adam Yeah.
Adam And then they thought, well, we'll make Call of Cthulhu because the original story is from
Adam published in 1928, I think it was written in 20, 1926, but it was published in Weird Tales magazine, which published a lot of Lovecraft's work.
Adam And, in 1928, and so they were like, well, we'll make it as if it was a film made in 1928, as we say.
Adam And,
Adam it's strange that we've done it, it was especially because we did just did House of the Devil, and it's kind of strange that there's,
Adam you know, we've done a film that was like, right, we want this to look like it was made in 19, like the early 80s.
Adam And really stuck to that and everything.
Adam And they've done a similar sort of thing, they wanted to make this look like it basically,
Adam I think their concept was if someone had bought the rights to the film there and then and made the film the same year that the story came out.
Adam So it was like,
Adam yeah, they just, and, you know, so obviously, yeah, it's a silent film.
Adam And they've really, I think it's really it's really weird coming back to it because now realizing that it's nearly it's over 20 years old.
Adam
Adam And because of that because they've done it as it's not aged in any way.
Lee Oh, no.
Lee It's right.
Adam It still looks fantastic, but it also is because they've done
Adam they did such a brilliant job of evoking that sort of 30s look.
Adam And when and, you know, it took a long time.
Adam I think it was like the best part of two years putting it together.
Adam And, you know, and sort of building lots of sort of false perspective tricks and things like that to do
Adam like the effects of the city, like the the they on the island.
Adam And, and it's all sort of, yeah, they they spent a lot of,
Adam it's a lot of time and effort to make it it sounds bizarre,
Adam but you know, to to make it as close as possible.
Adam In as close as possible a way to how it could have been made.
Adam They don't cheat it.
Lee No.
Lee Yeah, or.
Adam And everything, and then obviously you're all, yeah, and you get them.
Lee Yeah.
Adam Then you get a magnificent stop motion sequence of Cthulhu, which is just, yeah, and done sparingly as well.
Adam Which I think is again a strength to it.
Lee Yeah, well that is how it would have been at the time, wasn't it?
Lee You know, it was very much the era of you see a shadow in the first 20 minutes, you see a claw after 45 and you sort of peak the monster up.
Lee So,
Adam Yeah.
Lee Chris, for your first viewing of this, as someone who's possibly not as well versed with the the whole backstory of, because I think this is a great one because it this one gives you a lot more story in it.
Lee And a lot more information.
Lee Whereas a lot of the others, it's a much smaller window into the world, you have to read a lot of stories to build the whole backstory up.
Lee But what did you make of it watching it as a kind of standalone?
Chris Yeah, especially as this like, what is it, 47 minutes long?
Chris I mean, they do, they pack, pack a lot of story into it.
Chris But it is, so it's a short story, essentially.
Lee It's one of his longer ones, but it's a short one.
Chris Is it right?
Lee Okay.
Adam Because essentially Lovecraft only did sort of short stories and in fact, there's a number of adaptions, what's his name, Stewart Gordon did a lot of adaptions of Lovecraft.
Adam And there's a lot of adaptions out there where you're like,
Adam that is literally a page and a half.
Adam It's a bit like the same you get the same thing with Edgar Allan Poe.
Adam You know, where it's like, the Pit and the Pendulum as a story versus the Pit and the Pendulum as the film.
Adam It's like, right, you have put a lot in here.
Chris Yeah.
Adam And still called it the Pit and the Pendulum.
Adam And similarly, there's a lot with the Lovecraft stuff, I mean, it's like even Reanimator follows the story,
Adam like of of the actual short story Herbert West Reanimator.
Adam The film Reanimator kind of follows that story reasonably closely, but it is updated, it is set in the present day and there's a lot more nudity and gore than probably is in in the story.
Adam You know, they sort of.
Adam So this this feels like this is probably one of the closest.
Chris Yeah, okay.
Adam If not the closest Lovecraft adaptation I've seen.
Chris It certainly like it really comes across as being a labor of love.
Chris In, you know, like it's not a huge budget.
Chris But what they've done really seems to give you a feel for the fact they they love the book, you know, and the the world that he's created.
Chris So it's yeah, it's.
Lee It is, it's it's great.
Lee And as you were saying, Adam, with the other adaptation.
Lee So one of my favorite adaptations is Dagon.
Lee Which is actually The Shadow Over Innsmouth.
Lee but it.
Chris Yeah, why is that?
Chris What's what's good about that?
Lee yes, so it it was done on a slightly lower budget, but it's very good.
Lee And it's it's one of my favorite stories.
Lee So basically a guy is traveling by bus and has to stop in a place called Innsmouth that all the locals shun because it's a bit weird, and without giving too much away, there's a bit of a pact between the people who live there and the things that live in the sea.
Chris okay.
Lee And he's staying overnight there, he kind of uncovers it and finds himself victim where he knows too much and they want to off him.
Lee Yeah, it's it's it's really good and it's because as you as Adam was saying,
Lee a lot of it is the unmentionable, the indescribable.
Lee What he's putting on screen.
Chris is quite.
Lee Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Adam Actually, because I mean there's there's obviously there's the HP Lovecraft.
Adam You've seen Color out of Space, haven't you, Chris?
Chris Yes.
Adam Nicholas Cage.
Chris Yes.
Adam That is an adaption of HP Lovecraft.
Adam And actually, one of the smartest things I ever saw is that I've got a German version of that that, because this has sent me scuttling back to my box of like all the Lovecraft adaptions I bought in the early 2000s.
Adam And, yeah, I've got a German version of The Color Out of Space, and the smart trick they do with that is it's in black and white.
Lee Yeah.
Adam So, you don't have to try and create the color that is driving people mad because it's a totally new color.
Chris Yeah.
Adam Yeah.
Adam But as it's filmed in black and white, we can't see that color, so it's, you know,
Adam it's there's people do the and yeah, like you say, Dagon is, I think, one of the more faithful.
Adam adaptations of the stories because a lot a lot of them they sort of spin out from, you know,
Adam it'll be literally we'll take the idea or we'll take this and that.
Adam Whereas I think, and I mean obviously they are.
Adam An HP Lovecraft appreciation society.
Adam You know, they are.
Chris Yeah.
Adam Yeah.
Adam So their love is going to be in there, but I think this is one of the most adherent to the story of any that I've seen.
Adam Particularly because they've not only have they made the decision to make it period, but they've actually made the decision to make the film, like the actual concept of the film is the period as well.
Adam Yeah.
Adam So it's not just,
Adam oh, because a lot of the, I mean, Stewart Gordon ones are always modern day, when he does them.
Adam He never does them sort of as historical.
Adam Apart from, no, even, Dreams in the Witch House, the,
Adam Masters of Horror episode he did, I think, is present day as well, isn't it?
Lee I think it was, yeah.
Lee But again, so that's a very faithful adaptation because you remember, Chris,
Lee we watched Curse of the Crimson Altar.
Chris Yeah.
Lee That's that's basically supposed to be the Dreams in the Witch House.
Lee And if you watch the two side by side, there is almost no correlation between.
Chris Yeah.
Lee but one is.
Lee but one is far more, yeah, one one is far closer to the original book than the other.
Lee I'd been watching Curse of the Crimson Altar for at least 10 or 15 years before I suddenly noticed in the credit,
Lee oh, it's based on Dreams in the Witch House by.
Lee I don't think it is.
Lee I don't think it's anything like it.
Lee But it's.
Chris It is meant to be.
Lee But even if it works as the impetus for creating a great film, then it's fine.
Chris Yeah.
Lee Yeah.
Chris Definitely.
Adam I can't remember what it's but there's there's an IP film that is basically a Lovecraft film but they gave it a Poe title, isn't there?
Lee Yes, Hanted Palace.
Adam Haunted Palace, that's it.
Adam Yeah.
Adam So, but but he's actually a Lovecraft story, but they just gave it an Edgar Allen Poe title.
Adam So it would, because they knew the Edgar Allen Poe ones were selling, and Lovecrafts, Lovecrafts sort of resurgence is
Adam reasonably recent, I would say, I mean, the last sort of 20, 30 years is really when
Adam it's now become a thing where like you say, you know, Cthulhu it it's it's like putting the minitor in something.
Lee Yeah.
Chris Yeah.
Adam Yeah, because it's now reached that stage of myth, which interestingly enough, even something like, you know, Slenderman,
Adam Where it's reached that point where,
Adam Ted's heard of Slenderman, and but, you know, he he doesn't know the backstory.
Adam He doesn't know it's creepy pasture and it can be traced to a person who first came up with the idea.
Adam And yeah, I think that a lot of the Lovecraftian mythology is now just mythology.
Adam It's just stuff that people know.
Adam It it rubs shoulders with Griffins and Frankenstein.
Chris Yeah, feels like it's just always been part of our.
Chris Yeah, feels like it's just always been part of our like culture or just.
Chris Yeah, it's passed down.
Lee So much so much of HP Lovecraft stuff.
Lee I mean, my, yeah, my brother has got a T-shirt that I've wanted for ages and I very nearly went and bought myself a hoodie from the the Lovecraft Society, website.
Lee Yeah, the Miskatonic University hoodie.
Lee Like, it's just like all of those and Arkham of course been, you know, brought into the Batman Mythos.
Lee Like, so much stuff that he invented has just absorbed popular culture and as you say, it's as it's as much a a well-known myth as ones that have been around for hundreds if not thousands of years and it gets treated with the same, the same level of respect and which it I mean, it should be.
Lee It's such a huge, I mean, I love Lovecraft.
Lee I got for Christmas, which is why I was so pleased when you suggested we do this, Adam.
Lee I got a box set of HP Lovecraft books, pretty much all the whole series.
Adam Oh, nice.
Lee yeah, in a really nice really nice hard cover but it's lovely.
Lee I'm working my way through and I just read, book of short stories and there are a few in there that I haven't even read before, which was.
Lee Yeah.
Lee Like some really good stuff.
Adam Yeah, because Dean, because this this is another thing that at one point he, because Dean got me a book long, long time ago now.
Adam and it was, Lovecraft stories that he'd written.
Adam But under assumed names, and there were a couple in there that were actually published as Houdini stories.
Lee Oh, really?
Adam So he was ghost writing for Houdini, and I think Houdini was sort of like basically was like, I want to do something in Egypt.
Adam Knock it up for us and so he was doing that, so he was, you know, as a writer for hire he was also doing that sort of thing, you know.
Adam
Adam and but yeah, I mean this this is the sort of text of of Lovecraft because it's
Lee Yeah.
Adam Cthulhu is the is the one that has really sort of
Adam because obviously you've got, you know, there's all all the others Naliatep and
Adam the goat of the woods with a thousand young and so on and so forth.
Adam It's like there's a lot of these sort of everything seems just about right.
Adam And and actually the Necronomicon.
Lee Like the just about to say the Necronomicon as well, which obviously later gets used in the Evil Dead and all of that.
Adam Oh, so many things.
Adam And again, I have seen, you know, I've been on, sort of, you know,
Adam I've been on things online and stuff like that that are treating the Necronomicon that it is an actual book.
Lee Yeah.
Adam You know, there are people it's it's sort of it's weird that it's sort of got tangled up so much in terms of mythology.
Adam That it's it's people who are saying, you know, that, oh no, Lovecraft wrote some stories, but he actually owned this thing called the Necronomicon.
Adam And and it's like, no, no, we're Jesus Christ, lads, we're getting really confused now.
Adam You know, he made up the book as well, it wasn't that he read the book and then decided, oh, that'd be a good idea for a series of short stories I'll flog to Strangeon.
Adam You know.
Adam To weird tales, you know, it's bizarre but
Adam spurred on by this, I did watch also because they, after they did this,
Adam they also did, they've done a load of plays, like radio plays.
Adam adaptions of his stories that are done like 1930s.
Adam American radio plays like Warson Wells type stuff.
Adam and then I rewatched, the Whisperer in Darkness,
Adam which came out in 2011.
Lee I'm currently reading that and I'm sure we watched it when it first came out, but I don't remember an awful lot about it.
Lee So I think I'm going to have to rewatch that one as well.
Adam Yeah, because that that was basically they decided to make that like a sort of 1930s, a bit like a Universal Horror.
Adam And I think and and it shares a lot of the same cast like Matt Foer who's the the man as he's described in this, you know,
Adam not not bigging him up, you know, I mean that's just it's how he's credited.
Adam I'm not saying that he is the man.
Adam But, and he's like the star of, the Whisperer in Darkness and, yeah, they,
Adam I so I rewatched that and that actually that I think is another one where they've,
Adam really sort of triumphed in making it look of its time or of the time they have chosen.
Adam Sorry.
Adam Not of its time, because it's it's time is actually 2011.
Adam But,
Adam but yeah, so they've made it look very 1930s.
Adam I mean, the only thing I'd say with that is I think having watched it back.
Adam Maybe it's a wee bit long, but I think that might also just be because again, the majority of like the Universal horrors are maybe an hour and 10 minutes, an hour and something.
Adam And this was like an hour 45, but I get also that they were probably going, well, we actually want to make.
Adam A movie.
Chris Yeah.
Adam You know, because and and because I mean the Cthulhu won a lot of the awards and everything else like that.
Adam But obviously it's 45 minutes.
Adam So it's a short.
Adam So I think they wanted to.
Adam So I think they wanted to make a feature.
Chris Yeah.
Adam And despite the fact, yeah, a feature can be an hour and 10, it's like more commonly these days that you're looking at, you know, between an hour and a half to two hours, sort of counts as a as a film.
Adam
Adam but, but yeah, it still that still sort of like, I think again, it very much stood up because it doesn't it doesn't age.
Adam You know,
Adam it was it was already meant to look old then.
Adam So it's.
Chris Mentioning the effects said so this does look, yeah, like really good.
Chris I did notice, I think, the one of the effects they applied was as the like scratches appear in the corners of the film, it's like it looks like tentacles.
Lee Yes.
Chris Rather than just normal scratches.
Adam Yeah.
Adam Yeah, and there's well, because they've got the lovely thing as well,
Adam because there's a lot of stuff like the stuff on the sea where it's on the sea, there's a lot of model work and stuff like that.
Adam But there's also just bits where it's guys in boats, but they are doing the old techniques again.
Adam Where it's just literally they're on a billowing blanket.
Lee Yeah.
Adam And it looks amazing and, but again,
Adam I'm really pleased that they like like we said again.
Adam Like we said about with House of the Devil, they put in little bits like hair in the gate and the sort of stuff like that.
Adam And sort of stuff that you would see.
Adam But they haven't like, the more I think about it, I mean, we might have to cover it at some point, but like when it sort of got to that point with like Grindhouse like Rodriguez and Tarantino doing Grindhouse.
Adam And it was like, I now look at it going, you really fucking overplayed that of like, we'll put cigarette burns in, breaks and.
Adam And it's like, yeah, but you don't have to do it every fucking frame, mate, because it doesn't, you know,
Lee It's
Adam Best in the world.
Lee It's distracting.
Adam Yeah, it does.
Lee And it's with this it didn't, it added to the atmosphere and the feel, but you didn't keep going, there's that hair again.
Lee
Lee Or or you know, yeah.
Adam Yeah, it didn't keep taking you out of it because you're going,
Adam oh, wow, yeah, they've put in blur or they've put in, you know, sort of.
Adam This is the bit where it's like meant to be that they they had different film stuck because it got edited in a foreign country or something like that.
Adam You know,
Adam it's yeah.
Adam So, no, I think they they really sit on the right side of taste with it, and then, and so, like the,
Adam Andrew Lehman who directs it also plays, Charles Fort in, the Whisperer in Darkness.
Lee Oh.
Adam And it was really weird because I watched.
Adam Like the sort of.
Adam the behind the scenes stuff on the DVD for Call of Cthulhu, and then I thought, I'll watch Whisperer in Darkness, and then it's like, hang on, that's the director.
Adam He's turned up as Charles, and he's actually in it quite a lot.
Adam You know, I just thought it might have been just a cameo or something like that.
Adam And Sean Braney, who, wrote this or like adapted it, he then wrote and adapted, Whisperer in Darkness.
Adam So, it's, you know, those guys really know what they're doing.
Adam I'm going to have to make one shout out though to of the other stuff that the HP Lovecraft Historical Society have put out is Organ White and the Amphibian Jazz Band live at the Gilman House.
Lee Oh.
Adam Which is basically an Innsmouth version of Tom Waits croaking his way through from sort of Dagon jazz standards.
Adam It's fucking brilliant.
Lee I love.
Adam It's all things, it's all things like my sentimental Cephalopod and stuff like that.
Lee Yeah.
Adam And it's just, yeah, it's just really great.
Adam And they just all their stuff, I think they it's a the HP LH S
Adam are a really talented group who are on like, you know, they've they've got the right level of humor with it as well.
Adam That they're just sort of like, yeah.
Adam They just, they know what they're doing and they know why they love Lovecraft and yeah, it's
Adam Yeah, this is just, it's, and I'd say it's probably the best adaptation or certainly the straightest.
Adam You know, or most direct adaptation of a Lovecraft story of any of them.
Adam It's like if you leaf through the book, oh, what's it called, Lurker in the Lobby.
Adam which is a book that's just is basically lists all the Lovecraft adaptations.
Adam And, yeah, and they're they're so many out there.
Adam But,
Adam But I think this is probably the most spot on.
Chris This is like a good origin one too.
Chris Yeah, get going on.
Adam I think, yeah, it just it it's weird because it's like, oh, they've you know, it's it's a product of the 21st century, but they decided to make it look like it was a hundred years older.
Adam But,
Adam actually, just if you if it's the story beats that you want, they've got it all in there.
Lee Yeah.
Adam You know.
Lee Yeah, I mean it it.
Lee And this story is a great place to start, as I said, because I think it does it gives you a much bigger picture.
Chris It leads you.
Lee Yeah, like it works on its own as a standalone story.
Lee I say, but the others kind of once you get to know the elder gods and stuff.
Lee And then they're mentioned much less and and you just get these kind of glimpses.
Lee But once you're aware of them and you know what it means and what it.
Chris You can fully appreciate it then.
Lee Yeah.
Lee And that's why it's so good because you have to read so many and they're all brilliantly written and they're all really good to read.
Lee But they all give you tiny fragments of information.
Lee So you end up wanting to read more and more so you can put more and more of the the overall big picture together.
Adam And that's I think that's what's attracted a lot of other authors to it is because he left those spaces in there is these sort of hints and remarks and you're like, you'll read one thing and then you'll read one story.
Adam And then it's like, oh, hang on, they mentioned Dagon in that.
Adam And then it comes back in another story, or it's like, oh, hang on.
Adam So, oh, so that links to Cthulhu.
Adam Yeah.
Adam Or that links to sort of, you know,
Adam the the lost city of Rile or Rale as I like to call it.
Lee Yeah.
Lee I mean it's.
Lee Yeah, Lovecraft stuff is fantastic.
Lee And so I I do, I find them really enjoyable to reread, it's one of the few things that I can go back to.
Lee And because they are fairly short.
Lee I can go back to them and and reread them over and over again.
Lee I mean, the hunter in the dark is one of my favorite and I've read that the hunter of the dark, sorry.
Lee I think I've read that about four or five times.
Lee It's so good.
Adam Is that that's the other thing as well is I just love the fact.
Adam His titles almost always stumble you, you always stumble them up.
Lee Yeah.
Adam He has a way of making a title that's just slightly off.
Lee Yeah.
Adam It's like I kept calling it the other day I kept calling it the whisperer in the darkness.
Adam And it's like, no, it's the whisperer in darkness.
Lee Yeah.
Adam You know, and sort of, yeah, so he just has this lovely way of like.
Adam Slightly just tripping you up every now and then.
Lee Yeah.
Lee Fantastic stuff.
Lee
Lee So, for our next episode, we are going to be covering The Menu.
Chris Oh, I'm getting hungry.
Chris Or or not, who knows.
Adam Oh, no.
Lee Oh, have you not seen it yet, Chris?
Chris I haven't, no.
Adam Oh, cool.
Lee Oh.
Lee Excellent.
Lee Well,
Adam well, so from from one mysterious island to another mysterious island.
Lee Yeah.
Adam We shall, reconvene for The Menu.
Lee Yeah.
Lee Oh,
Lee it's funny, so I saw it when it first came out and then I rewatched it about, oh, maybe last summer.
Lee We stayed away somewhere for the evening and went out and got back and were too full of food and tired to move anywhere.
Lee Twitch TV on and it was just starting.
Lee Yeah, so, I've seen it a couple of times but yeah, I am again, it's it's so mental.
Lee It's one of those films that you just need to keep going back to because you keep forgetting just how mental it gets.
Adam Yeah, and actually you probably did the right thing by watching it, full of food.
Adam Because I suspect that I will be watching it in like 15 minute excerpts.
Adam As I keep going off and getting something from the kitchen.
Lee Yeah.
Adam You know.
Chris Well, it sounds good or tastes good.
Lee Yeah.
Adam One one last thing before we go is I just want to give you the motto of the HP Lovecraft Historical Society.
Adam Which is Ludo Foramus, which is Latin for we thought it would be fun.
Lee Oh.
Lee Nice.
Lee Very nice.
Lee yes, so go and check out the Call of Cthulhu.
Lee It's great.
Lee Go and check out the Whisperer in Darkness.
Lee because I'll definitely be going and checking that again.
Lee Because I I need to rewatch it.
Lee
Lee yes.
Lee And we will see you go and read all of HP Lovecraft stuff.
Lee
Lee brilliant. Don't look too much into his politics.
Lee Just read his books.
Adam Don't get involved. Certainly don't Google what he called his dog.
Lee Right.
Lee No, no, no, no.
Lee Don't go there.
Lee
Lee and yes, we will see you all in a fortnight's time for The Menu.
Lee Thanks very much.
Lee Good night.
Chris Good night.
Adam Good night.
Chris Not Fido then.
Adam Oh, no.
