[CALL OF CTHULHU
and THE WHISPERER IN DARKNESS
screen Friday August 31st at 6:15 pm at the Cleveland Museum of Art.]
Review
by Bob Ignizio
The goals that the
filmmakers responsible for THE CALL OF CTHULHU
and THE WHISPERER IN DARKNESS
set for themselves would be ambitious even for a major studio
production. First and foremost, they mean to be faithful adaptations
of the works of H.P. Lovecraft, a writer whose stories generally
involve concepts not easily translated into cinematic form. Secondly,
these adaptations are meant to appear as if they were made at roughly
the same time as the stories were published. In the case of CALL
that's 1928, necessitating a silent film; for WHISPERER
it's 1931, the same year that Universal Studios was beginning their
horror cycle with DRACULA
and FRANKENSTEIN.
That they manage to be largely successful in these goals while
working with incredibly small budgets (we're talking well under a
million) is even more remarkable.
CALL OF CTHULHU
was released in 2005, predating THE ARTIST
by 6 years. Shooting on digital video rather than actual film stock,
there is no way that director Andrew Leman could have produced as
authentic a recreation of 1920's cinema as the Oscar winning Michel
Hazanavicius film, but his results are still pretty impressive. A
few anachronistic CGI effects break the spell on occasion, but for
the most part the acting, cinematography, and overall feel of the
film is very much in the spirit of silent horror classics like
NOSFERATU and THE
CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI. The
details of Lovecraft's plot are faithfully conveyed in the script by
Leman and co-writer Sean Branney, with Leman's direction giving the
tale a little more dramatic drive than the source material. Overall,
it's a solidly entertaining experience that should please Lovecraft
fans and aficionados of classic horror films alike.
Although
it doesn't succeed in its stated goals quite as well, THE
WHISPERER IN DARKNESS is
arguably the more enjoyable of these films. A few moments here and
there do recall the Universal horror films of the thirties that
WHISPERER is
ostensibly trying to imitate, but for the most part this feels more
like forties horror films like THE WOLF MAN
and Val Lewton's CAT PEOPLE
crossed with the noirish sci-fi horrors of the early fifties like Don
Siegel's INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
and Jack Arnold's IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE.
It may not be as advertised, but this approach feels far more
appropriate than the campy and generally stage bound approach of
thirties horror films.
For
WHISPERER, Branney
and Leman once again collaborated on the script, with Branney getting
his turn in the director's chair. The script expands on Lovecraft's
original plot, even going so far as to add a substantial female
supporting character. Still, the essence and tone of the story, as
well as its major shocks, are intact. As in CALL,
the illusion of seeing some lost classic is spoiled by some CGI
effects. In a perfect world, Ray Harryhausen would have done stop
motion effects for this just prior to his death, or barring that,
maybe Bob Burns could have whipped up some appropriately retro rubber
suits to depict the films alien monsters, but the former approach
would have taken too much time and money, and the latter would have
looked even cheesier, even if it were more historically accurate. All
in all, hard to complain about the choices that were made here given
the budget.
CALL OF CTHULHU:
3 out of 4 stars.
THE WHISPERER IN DARKNESS:
3 1/2 out of 4 stars.
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