Film adaptations of Lovecraft are rare, and more often than not they are pretty awful. But this isn't so much an adaptation as it is a love letter to Lovecraft. A very, very funny love letter. The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu also presents one of the most accurate and concise representation of H.P. Lovecraft's body of work compiling the key points of the Lovecraft Mythos in a three minute animated segment of film. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The story unfolds with the discovery of an ancient relic by the Cult of Cthulhu and the decision by the final members of an opposing faction, a Council of Elders at Miskatonic University (Go Fighting Mi-go!) reaching out to the final descendant of H.P Lovecraft. In the film, they only call him Jeff, but I like to think that his name is Jeff Lovecraft. Of course, because formula is king, Jeff is a repressed 9-5 cube drone with no knowledge of his heritage and destiny and is dragged kicking and screaming through the story only to finally embrace his destiny and save the day in the end. That is really my only complaint about the movie, and even then, it's a complaint that is completely overshadowed by the rest of the movie's awesomeness. The supporting cast of Paul and Charlie add the humor, knowledge, and motivation that Jeff lacks to drive the story forward at a pretty blistering pace as the movie clocks in under one hour and twenty minutes.
While Jeff, Charlie, and Paul are a big reason why the movie works, a movie like this needs a really good villain. And the villain we are given is the Starspawn, a character mentioned in passing in At The Mountians of Madness. But here, the Starspawn is elevated to the level of a General and responsible for the formation of the Cthulhu Cult, an detail not in the Mythos which works for me because really, who wants to try and raise an ancient deity that will only drive you mad and your reward for service is to be eaten first. And the Starspawn looks good. For a movie with what I can only assume was a small budget, they invested it wisely in the visual effects for the Starspawn. The make-up and physical special effects were, on the whole, far better than I expected. The CG was adequate and thankfully used sparingly as its over use would only draw attention to itself and away from the story.
If you are a fan of Lovecraft, this is a definite must see.
Rating: B+
The story unfolds with the discovery of an ancient relic by the Cult of Cthulhu and the decision by the final members of an opposing faction, a Council of Elders at Miskatonic University (Go Fighting Mi-go!) reaching out to the final descendant of H.P Lovecraft. In the film, they only call him Jeff, but I like to think that his name is Jeff Lovecraft. Of course, because formula is king, Jeff is a repressed 9-5 cube drone with no knowledge of his heritage and destiny and is dragged kicking and screaming through the story only to finally embrace his destiny and save the day in the end. That is really my only complaint about the movie, and even then, it's a complaint that is completely overshadowed by the rest of the movie's awesomeness. The supporting cast of Paul and Charlie add the humor, knowledge, and motivation that Jeff lacks to drive the story forward at a pretty blistering pace as the movie clocks in under one hour and twenty minutes.
While Jeff, Charlie, and Paul are a big reason why the movie works, a movie like this needs a really good villain. And the villain we are given is the Starspawn, a character mentioned in passing in At The Mountians of Madness. But here, the Starspawn is elevated to the level of a General and responsible for the formation of the Cthulhu Cult, an detail not in the Mythos which works for me because really, who wants to try and raise an ancient deity that will only drive you mad and your reward for service is to be eaten first. And the Starspawn looks good. For a movie with what I can only assume was a small budget, they invested it wisely in the visual effects for the Starspawn. The make-up and physical special effects were, on the whole, far better than I expected. The CG was adequate and thankfully used sparingly as its over use would only draw attention to itself and away from the story.
If you are a fan of Lovecraft, this is a definite must see.
Rating: B+
Now I want to watch this one. I guess this will be the problem with me reading these - you've already seen the movies and I'll have to play catch up with them at some point.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, Starspawn is the most badass name I've heard in a while.