Each issue this month, I’m reviewing a different scary flick, focusing on ones that have somehow remained below my radar up to this point and about which I knew virtually nothing until viewing them… titles that I’ve been “in the dark” about.
I’ll write a brief reaction to each, as well as rate it based on the five criteria that I deem most essential for a good scary movie, using a “zero-worst to 10-best” scale.
Call of the Cthulhu (2005, directed by Andrew Leman)
The movie links three independent tales together through a narrator discovering notes left by a deceased uncle. That narrator pieces together the background and disquieting significance of the information he has acquired, dramatizing the story’s opening: “The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity; and it was not meant that we should voyage far.”
Without revealing too much, I can tell you that Call of the Cthulhu concerns: a cult in the swamps outside New Orleans (a marvelous scene); a small, mysterious bas-relief sculpture; and a gigantic sea creature.
This 47-minute, black-and-white film was made to resemble a motion picture of the 1920s, complete with celluloid scratches. In determining how to bring the Lovecraft story to the screen, the filmmakers (operating on a limited budget) opted for this old-Hollywood approach, and the result is one that critics and film-festival audiences have largely applauded, despite the story’s having previously been considered unfilmable.
It’s not likely to induce much terror in those seeking a good fright, but cinemaphiles will appreciate its sheer craftsmanship and inventiveness.
To read “The Outsider” online, go here: dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/theoutsider.htm
Ratings
Sophistication/intellect of story 9
Overall creepiness/fright factor 7.5
Effectiveness of art direction to establish mood 9
Revelation of supernatural presence 8.5
Casting and actors’ performances 8.5
Overall score— 8.5 out of a possible 10
