Cosmic dread, inescapable doom, scientific disasters, madness and haunting visions, the decline of civilization, the dark side of spirituality and the occult, mysterious and terrifying creatures and extraterrestrials… These are the overall characteristics of a subgenre ofhorrorthat is described as Lovecraftian, in reference to the American author who depicted such bizarre, disturbing, and mind-bending themes: H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937).
“All my tales are based on the fundamental premise that common human laws and interests and emotions have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos-at-large. (…) When we cross the line to the boundless and hideous unknown—the shadow-haunted Outside—we must remember to leave our humanity and terrestrialism at the threshold.”
- Lovecraft, Note to the editor of the pulp magazineWeird Tales
He may have been relatively unknown in his lifetime, but he influenced the works of manycontemporary writers and directors, namely Stephen King, John Carpenter, Neil Gaiman, and Guillermo del Toro. Not to mention psychedelic rock, black metal, and heavy metal bands like Black Sabbath, Metallica, Cradle of Filth, and naturally, the eponymous The Great Old Ones and H. P. Lovecraft.
Here is a selection of Lovecraftian horror movies that were eitheradapted from the author’s worksor inspired by his unsettling and thought-provoking fictional universe.
21The Dunwich Horror (1970)
“People seldom visit Dunwich. The town is ruined, decadent, and its annals reek of overt viciousness, murder, crime, and violent deed, unnamable.”
Adapted from Lovecraft’s short story of the same name,The Dunwich Horroris directed by Daniel Haller and stars Sandra Dee as Nancy Wagner, Dean Stockwell as Wilbur Whateley, and Ed Begley as Dr. Henry Armitage. It’s a story of witchcraft and necromancy that involves a young man with a hypnotic gaze, his “almost human” twin who goes on a killing spree, a student he abducts and impregnates, his mother locked in an asylum, and a ritual to revive The Old Ones using the Necronomicon or Book of the Dead.
20Necronomicon (1993)
Directed by Brian Yuzna, Christophe Gans, and Shusuke Kaneko,Necronomiconis a French-American anthology film famous for its artistic makeup and animatronic effects, winning the award for Best Special Effects at the 1994 Fantafestival. It is inspired by Lovecraft’sThe Rats in the Walls,Cool Air, andThe Whisperer in Darknessand is divided into four segments.The Libraryis the frame story that stars theever-versatile Jeffrey Combsas the author, who visits a monastery to check out a copy of the Necronomicon.
The Drownedfeatures Bruce Payne as Edward De Lapoer, a distraught widower and father who loses faith in God and uses the Book of the Dead to bring his family back.The Coldfollows reporter Dale Porkel (Dennis Christopher) as he investigates a series of bizarre murders in Boston. And finally,Whisperscenters on Philadelphia police officers Paul (Obba Babatundé) and Sarah (Signy Coleman), who are tracking a suspect known as The Butcher.
19Castle Freak (1995)
Inspired by Lovecraft’sThe Outsider, Stuart Gordon’sCastle Freakis a gory, low-budget, direct-to-video flick starring Combs as John Reilly, a recovering alcoholic who inherits a 12th-century castle in Italy and moves there with his wife Susan (Barbara Crampton) and blind daughter Rebecca (Jessica Dollarhide). Little do they know that there is a murderous monster locked underneath.
Reviewers on IMDbare generally enthusiastic, concluding, “The make-up is outstanding and very realistic,” “The film is creepy and highly atmospheric throughout and has many intense moments,” and “The monster inspires a complex blend of fear, pity, and revulsion.”
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18The Resurrected (1991)
Also marketed asThe AncestorandShatterbrain, Dan O’Bannon’sThe Resurrectedis adapted from the novellaThe Case of Charles Dexter Wardand features John Terry, Jane Sibbett, Chris Sarandon, and Robert Romanus. It is considered one of thebest horror films of the 1990sdue to its main cast’s compelling performances, eerie New England atmosphere, and faithful, albeit modernized, adaptation of a literary classic. The plot centers on inexplicable, brutal murders and an antisocial chemical engineer who raises his necromancer ancestor from the dead.
17Color Out of Space (2019)
Based on the short story of the same name,Color Out of Spaceis co-written and directed by Richard Stanley and stars Nicolas Cage as the farmer Nathan Gardner, Joely Richardson as his entrepreneur wife Theresa, Madeleine Arthur as their Wiccan teenage daughter Lavinia, Elliot Knight as hydrologist Ward Phillips, Tommy Chong as the squatter Ezra, and Josh C. Waller as Sheriff Pierce. After a brightly colored meteorite crashes on the Gardner farm and contaminates the water, the family starts experiencing strange hallucinations and unprecedented rage, prompting Lavinia to perform a ritual from the Necronomicon in an act of desperation. It is later revealed that the colored phenomenon originates from an exoplanet with tentacled creatures.
The film won Best Feature, Audience Choice at the H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival and Best Horror Film at Fantastic Fest.
16Dagon (2001)
Inspired by the eponymous short story and the novellaThe Shadow Over Innsmouth, Stuart Gordon’sDagonis a Spanish production that stars Ezra Godden as Paul Marsh / Pablo Cambarro, Francisco Rabal in his last role as Ezequiel, Raquel Meroño as Barbara, and Macarena Gómez as Uxía Cambarro. The story revolves around two shipwrecked couples on vacation and a fishing town controlled by a sea deity and its half-human spawn.
Paul:You’re a bunch of freaks!
Uxía:Your dreams. Remember your dreams, Pablo. They brought you here.
Paul:No. They were nightmares. They weren’t real.
Uxía:Every dream is a wish.
15Dark Intruder (1965)
Starring Leslie Nielsen as Brett Kingsford, Peter Mark Richman as Robert Vandenburg, and Judi Meredith as Evelyn Lang, Harvey Hart’s atmospheric, one-hour-longDark Intruderwas intended as a pilot for an aborted television series titledThe Black Cloak. A humpbacked, caped entity with long fingernails is on a killing spree in San Francisco, leaving a statuette with a reptilian head next to the victims. Brett, a supernatural expert, investigates, and his sleuthing will lead him to a Chinese priest with a mummified, fanged Sumerian demon.
14The Endless (2017)
Directed, produced by, and starring Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead,The Endlessis a science-fiction horror film revolving on two brothers and their return to Camp Arcadia, a UFO cult in the woods of San Diego.Per Roger Ebert, “What these brothers are ultimately searching for is a place to call home. It doesn’t matter to them if it’s a cult compound full of deluded, psychologically destructive manipulators or some sort of intergalactic prison, torture compound or zoo, as long as they know their way around, and are surrounded by faces they recognize.”
13The Whisperer in Darkness (2011)
“Lovecraft’s weird tale of ALIEN HORROR comes to VIVID LIFE. In the deepest woods of the most remote hills… a dark mystery BEYOND BELIEF! Filmed in genuine Mythoscope.”
The Whisperer in Darknessis a 104-minute, black-and-white, indie horror film with an early 1930s feel, directed and produced by Sean Branney, Andrew Leman, and David Robertson, and distributed by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society. The plot centers on folklore professor Albert Wilmarth (Matt Foyer), who sets out to investigate reports of strange creatures in Vermont that emerged from a recent flood.
12From Beyond (1986)
Vaguely inspired by Lovecraft’s short story of the same name, Stuart Gordon’sFrom Beyondfeatures Jeffrey Combs as Dr. Crawford Tillinghast, Barbara Crampton as Dr. Katherine McMichaels, Ted Sorel as Dr. Edward Pretorius, and Ken Foree as Detective Bubba Brownlee. The story centers on The Resonator, a machine developed by Pretorius and his assistant Tillinghast. After it malfunctions and decapitates the former, it starts creating bee and worm-like creatures and turning people into brain eaters. This cult classic is a must for audiences interested in schizophrenia, psychiatric wards, mutations, alternate planes of consciousness,and mad scientists.
