Most folks who have read a word I've ever written, fiction or otherwise, know that I'm a die-hard fan of H. P. Lovecraft's work. A couple of years back, the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society released on DVD their silent version of Call of Cthulhu, which may be, to date, the best screen adaptation of Lovecraft. This has been floating around for a while, but I thought it worth mentioning that the same gang is putting together a talkie version of The Whisperer in the Darkness, which is easily one of Lovecraft's eeriest tales. The trailer—just a teaser, actually—makes it appear that the HPLHS guys have nailed it again. I'm not sure what the release date for Whisperer is, since, unfortunately, the Web site indicates nothing of the kind, but at least for the time being, this is my most-anticipated DVD release.
Hurry the hell up, guys.
3 comments:
I'd certainly be interested to see this, but I'm not a big fan of movies where I know the ending these days. I've found that I'm better off, at least in a horror movie, if I don't know what's supposed to happen. Either I get mad that they didn't follow the book / story -- or I get mad that they followed it too closely and there was nothing new...ARGH...still, it's been a LONG time since I read Whisperer...
D
Unless the movie departs significantly from the source, which in this case I doubt (and would find undesirable), I imagine knowing the ending is pretty much a given. It's how well they render the whole sheboygan that'll be make or break it -- and given their success with CALL OF CTHULHU, I trust these peoples to do it well.
The most recent example I can think of, as far as the movie going beyond the story, is the ending of THE MIST, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing; just not sure it was necessary.
I think the best thing the HPLHS guys are doing is making the HPL movies as period pieces; set just as when they were written. They do it quite well.
I guess I'd enjoy seeing what they did with the critter, but for me a movie is sort of like a book...and if I have already read the book, very seldom do I come back to read it again. There are exceptions, of course.
Post a Comment