About this episode
The episode discusses the 2005 film adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's 'The Call of Cthulhu' and its unique period-accurate presentation.
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.
Topics covered
- H.P. Lovecraft
- film adaptation
- horror
- 1920s
- cinema
Keywords
- H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society
- temporal shenanigans
- stop-motion Cthulhu
- period detail
- in-camera effects
Mentioned in this episode
Products: Cthulhu
Books & works: The Call of Cthulhu
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