I tried and I tried, but everytime some movie comes on TV that is based on Lovecraft IT SUCKS! Ten minutes into "The Dunwich Horror" I turned it off. I can't believe I lasted that long. There were a couple of others, the names escape me, but only one was even remotely watchable and it was only because I couldn't find anything better to do with a dreary, rainy day. The others were pure cinematic sewage! I swear the budgets for them was like $1.39. The acting was bleaugh! I've only read a couple of Lovecraft's stories and enjoyed them (just not as a steady diet), but surely the books aren't as bad as the movies, are they?
Welcome to modern cinema. Please ignore the Micheal Bay trash-flicks and the prevailing excuses for "acting". I direct you to newspaper movie reviews, where you can find any remaining high-quality movies.
Re: Lovecraft Movies: Yeah, looks like a few hacks sometimes try to translate great works into a new medium... and in the process give Cthulhu another reason to keep sleeping. Or to wake up. Hard to tell whether he'd want to ignore them or destroy them.
I think something that should be realized is that basically all sci fi channel (ugghhh!- SyFy) movies are made to be B movies.
The Dunwich movie annoyed me because of the rapid fades/blackouts within scenes rather than in scene cuts. Plus, the good guys defeated some sort of elder power at the end and that just simply isn't lovecraft writing. The bes tthat can be achieved in a real Lovecraft setting is that either a.) the minions are defeated and thus the designs they were supposed to bring about for their evil powers are thwarted or a human can become a pawn in a battle between two powers and thwarts one with the aid of and at the behest of another.
Personally, I liked the Dagon movie. Have you seen it? But, it is about the only one of the movies that I have liked although I liked the original Reanimator movie as a cult classic.
Something else to remember is that the original stories were written in a period when there were many unexplored places left in the world and both computers and cell phones did not exist. Including cell phones in elder evil horror movies changes things around a bit...
I liked Cast a Deadly Spell.
I thought it was very entertaining.
Every time I see the name "SyFy" I just can't stop laughing. Really, that's one of those names that have a meaning in different language (in this case, Polish), which makes it hilarious.
I sort of liked Dagon.
That SciFi channel stuff isn't even "B". What's lower than "Z"? (Hate the name change, too. What? We're too stupid to know how to pronounce "sci-fi"?)
I agree Dagon was actually not bad.
Every time I see the name "SyFy" I just can't stop laughing. Really, that's one of those names that have a meaning in different language (in this case, Polish), which makes it hilarious.
What does it mean in Polish?
Every time I see the name "SyFy" I just can't stop laughing. Really, that's one of those names that have a meaning in different language (in this case, Polish), which makes it hilarious.
What does it mean in Polish?
I was thinking about asking that...
That SciFi channel stuff isn't even "B". What's lower than "Z"? (Hate the name change, too. What? We're too stupid to know how to pronounce "sci-fi"?)
They changed the name because 'Sci-Fi' was too generic and couldn't be trademarked (copyrighted? service marked? whatever).
That SciFi channel stuff isn't even "B". What's lower than "Z"? (Hate the name change, too. What? We're too stupid to know how to pronounce "sci-fi"?)
Well, in the Nordic languages we have Å, Ä, and Ö.
Syfy movies aren't even that. They are horrible spaces between commericals that make you bite your nails in anticipation for the next Viagra, or tampons commerical.
Well, "Syfy" reminds me too much of Syufy, which used to be a theater chain or else a popcorn supplier to a theater chain.
And they ran decently entertaining movies.
I wanted to like Dagon...I'd heard a lot of good things about it. I ended up having the same problem with it that I do with tons of other horror movies: it seems like the main characters are determined to make the stupidest possible choices at all times.
The Dunwich Horror is good with me because I think it's fun and corny and it has that mind-blowing combo of psychedelic Hammer-Horror sets, lighting, and FX. It also has one of my all-time favorite opening credit sequences. As a Lovecraft adaptation, though, I agree that it's not so good.
I've seen some others like Re-Animator, The Resurrected, and Call of Cthulhu, but I haven't liked any of them even as films except the HBO movie, Cast a Deadly Spell. That one stars Fred Ward, Julianne Moore, and David Warner, and it's a hard-boiled detective story set in the 40's, except it's a 40's in which everyone uses magic. Everyone except the main character, detective HP Lovecraft. It's a wacky, gory comedy that I cannot fully describe. It's not on DVD, but I've seen bootlegs for sale on eBay, not that a law-abiding person such as myself would ever recommend such a thing.
If there has ever been a straight adaptation of Lovecraft that works, I haven't seen it. They always want to modernize the story, and even if they don't, they take away the awesome quality his stories have, where you feel like this madman has latched onto your lapels and is pouring out the bizarre story of his cursed family tree to you. Or else that it's you wandering through these dark crypts and verdant swamps and vertiginous towers looking for something, only to find something else that's so horrible your brain can't even comprehend it. The literary qualities just never carry over.
If you want to enjoy SyFy movies, especially those produced by The Asylum, then you have to 1. watch them with friends, 2. be in a chemically altered state of mind, and 3. watch them on a recorded medium so that you can skip the commercials and pause at the unintentionally funny parts. I consider them all to be best enjoyed in the tradition of Mystery Science Theatre 3000.
What's not to love about a giant ape on a mysterious island that the characters refer to as "He Who Must Not Be Named" (for copyright reasons, one supposes), or when characters refer to being "this deep in the forest, beyond help," when a paved road with traffic on it is clearly seen (and heard) in the background?
Well, in the Nordic languages we have Å, Ä, and Ö.
And in the real Nordic language: Á, É, Ý, Ú, Í, Ó, Ð and Þ.
How do you pronounce the names of those letters so I can more accurately describe such films to my friends? 
Well, in the Nordic languages we have Å, Ä, and Ö.
And in the real Nordic language: Á, É, Ý, Ú, Í, Ó, Ð and Þ.
As an alternative from all those Nords, may I suggest the Omega (Ω)? Nothing can be lower than that
.It was by pure happenstance that I happened to catch the very end of The Dunwich Horror. I saw "Al" from Quantum Leap blasting something with what someone else called Force lightning, and being attacked by something that faded in and out of view. In that moment, there was a lot of potential, but then that was swept away.
And it's not like The Dunwich Horror should be that hard to adapt. The good guys win in the end of that one, unlike other Lovecraft stories. It's quite a bit like one of the better episodes of the X-Files with a developing mystery, slowly building horror, obvious bad guys, and victory at the cost of learning how much worse the universe is than we think.
I don't know of any good movies actually based on a Lovecraft story, but generally I think ALIEN and John Carpenter's The Thing accomplish what a good Lovecraft movie would, in theory, accomplish.
The there's the upcoming adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness. Maybe that will save us.
Also, I heard that Sphärentor, a German RPG internet community - I don't know if you've heard of the "forbidden 40k movie", Damnatus - is adapting Colour Out of Space. I believe to have read that on their site at some point. If it continues in the vein of Damnatus, well... the plot was kind of the weak point there, but Lovecraft did it for them here. Other than that, the horror was actually fairly originally done, and the Special Effects were downright awesome for a fan production. If you have a chance to see it, do so. At least there's some hoping for a real Lovecraft movie.
One obvious problem with adapting Lovecraft is his tendency to evoke horror via non-descriptions. 'Alien geometry' gets across a feel, but it's nothing you can put on film. You can't do Color out of Space, because you can't put a color no one's ever seen before on the screen. So the adaptation necesarily loses a lot of the impact of the original works, and departs radically from them.
At the Mountains of Madness is one of Lovecraft's best stories, and one of the few where he deigns to describe things in more nearly concrete terms. Considering what DelToro's "Pan's Labyrinth" was like, I think we can have high hopes for it. If he actually has the oportunity to complete it. Is it even officially in pre-production, or is still just something he'd like to do?
People have been wanting to make Princess of Mars since the 20s, and it still hasn't happened. ;)
There's a really good adaptation of Call of Cuthulhu that I think a college made. It's made in the style of an old silent film, and is about as close to the book as you could ever possibly get. My brother and I netflixed it, and when it was over, we just sort of looked at each other, amazed. It was so cool, we watched it again the next night.
At the Mountains of Madness is one of Lovecraft's best stories, and one of the few where he deigns to describe things in more nearly concrete terms. Considering what DelToro's "Pan's Labyrinth" was like, I think we can have high hopes for it. If he actually has the oportunity to complete it. Is it even officially in pre-production, or is still just something he'd like to do?
The movie was announced as a project for, like, two years and now it seems it's been delayed indefinitely in favor of (and this may piss you off) The Hobbit. Warner Bros were hesitant to finance the project because it didn't have a happy ending and there was no love interest for any character in the script, so it's basically in limbo right now.
If you can't force an obligatory sex scene in, nobody wants to fund it, it seems.
Antarctica is not exactly conducive to that. Though I suppose you could throw in a hentai shoggoth...
What does it mean in Polish?
"Syf" (plural "syfy") probably comes from the word "syphilis", but it's colloquial meaning is "dirt", "grunge" or "something of really bad quality".
Well then. I'd say that's more than apt - barring the occasional cashew in the turd (SG, BSG, etc).
Terrible image! LOL
I tried to watch the current Battlestar Galactica, but I'm too fond of the old one. I just couldn't accept the changes. I liked Stargate the movie, and probably could have enjoyed the TV series, but they started with all these different "Stargate" shows and it turned me off. It's not like I have much time to devote to TV anymore, anyway.
The new BSG was really good, IMO. SG1 and Atlantis are best after the first couple of seasons. Be ready for a much less serious deal than the movie, though. They have some seriousness to them, but overall they're shows that don't take themselves too seriously. And that's why I like 'em. SGU is a more serious Stargate - so far. There's not exactly enough out there just yet to get a real feel for the show, but it's pretty good so far. A re-imagining of the franchise. The pilot was great, the first episode was 'meh' and the third was pretty good. Overall, a decent waste of time if you've not got better stuff to do. Thank OTTo for DVRs. ;)
BSG is really good. Just stop at the end of season 3 and you'll be fine.
Season 4 and 5 are good too they just don't fit the rest of the show.
The New stargate is pretty good. Thankfully. I needed a new scifi show after Eureka became the Fail Bag of Fail. (In other words what you expect from the Scifi channel)
What? Eureka pwns! It's just a silly show about fake stuff. And it delivers. There's nothing serious about it.
I tried to watch the current Battlestar Galactica, but I'm too fond of the old one. I just couldn't accept the changes.
That cos you are at the mercy of the most potent force in the universe, a force so powerful that it has actually convinced millions of people that ABBA is a listenable band, a force that increases in strength as one gets older, a force known as "nostalgia".
The original BSG was a piece of crap, a disco-era relic best left on the scrapheap of the past alongside sequined bellbottoms and acrylic platform shoes.
Don't get me wrong I loved it when I was a kid, but kids are stupid. The key is not to let the feeling you had for it then cloud your judgement of it now. In truth the best thing you can do if you wish to hold on to affections for films and TV of your youth is to never, everr watch them as an adult.
The new BSG is, by a wide margin, the best drama on U.S. TV in the past decade. Do yourself a favour and give it a fair shake. It may help to go watch the original BSG first. Once you see how truly, unbelievably, almost unbearably god-awful it is (likely around the scene when they are sitting in the space-disco watching the four-eyed disco dancers) you will begin to appreciate how the people repsonsible for the new series did not so much polish an old turd as magically transform it into a 40 karat diamond.
Umm. That. ^^
I probably wouldn't have minded it if they didn't make some characters get a sex-change operation. They should have gone with new characters. I believe they have James Olmos as Adama? While I like Olmos, I don't see him as Adama. It wouldn't have been unthinkable that Starbuck, Apollo, and others finally reached the end of their lives and a new generation is trying to survive this trip in an aging ship. Of course, you'd totally have to "Pam Ewing" the whole "Galactica 1980" turd.
What? Eureka pwns! It's just a silly show about fake stuff. And it delivers. There's nothing serious about it.
Says someone that evidently missed the entirety of last season.
I probably wouldn't have minded it if they didn't make some characters get a sex-change operation. They should have gone with new characters. I believe they have James Olmos as Adama? While I like Olmos, I don't see him as Adama. It wouldn't have been unthinkable that Starbuck, Apollo, and others finally reached the end of their lives and a new generation is trying to survive this trip in an aging ship. Of course, you'd totally have to "Pam Ewing" the whole "Galactica 1980" turd.
Just watch it knowing it's a different show. Forget the past and enjoy the present. This new show doesn't invalidate the old. Sit down and keep that thought in the back of your mind. 'I'm seeing BSG for the first time.' I think you'll like it. And, if you can't be bothered to watch for whatever reason (and I do mean whatever reason), that's a-ok, too. Cuz it's just TV after all. :D
Says someone that evidently missed the entirety of last season.
I not only watched them - I still have some on my DVR. It's a fun show. Honest. Don't think too much - that's the key for Eureka. Just goofiness and cool effects. For me, in this particular case, that's enough. If Stargate tried something like Eureka, though, I'd be irritated. The good news is Eureka isn't that type of show.
I dunno last season seemed devoid of cool effects (rather instead just lame ones), and a distinct lack of the same kind of humor the first two seasons had. Instead, they just inserted lame romance plots and derailed the show with lame romantic humor.
I thought it was funny. Sure, it's a bit formulaic (dumb sherriff solves what genuises can't - every episode) until the season finales/premiers but I don't care. I watch that show to relax my brain and it does just that.
I probably wouldn't have minded it if they didn't make some characters get a sex-change operation. They should have gone with new characters. I believe they have James Olmos as Adama? While I like Olmos, I don't see him as Adama. It wouldn't have been unthinkable that Starbuck, Apollo, and others finally reached the end of their lives and a new generation is trying to survive this trip in an aging ship. Of course, you'd totally have to "Pam Ewing" the whole "Galactica 1980" turd.
The new BSG isn't a remake, it's a do-over. They've taken the same premise and gone their own way with it. It isn't a case of "WTF?!? Starbuck is a girl now!" but rather "This Starbuck is a woman".
Trust me, Kitty, get past your reservations and give it a chance. Really, what's the worst that can happen? If you still don't like it all you've lost is a few bucks and a few hours on a DVD rental.
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So say we all.
How dare you Jayne! Down to the bowels of the internet with Adam West!
*Flames campman to the end of all time.*
How dare you post that picture in the same thread that a dark knight screen appeared in?
Or even in the same post!
I probably wouldn't have minded it if they didn't make some characters get a sex-change operation. They should have gone with new characters. I believe they have James Olmos as Adama? While I like Olmos, I don't see him as Adama. It wouldn't have been unthinkable that Starbuck, Apollo, and others finally reached the end of their lives and a new generation is trying to survive this trip in an aging ship. Of course, you'd totally have to "Pam Ewing" the whole "Galactica 1980" turd.The new BSG isn't a remake, it's a do-over. They've taken the same premise and gone their own way with it. It isn't a case of "WTF?!? Starbuck is a girl now!" but rather "This Starbuck is a woman".
Trust me, Kitty, get past your reservations and give it a chance. Really, what's the worst that can happen? If you still don't like it all you've lost is a few bucks and a few hours on a DVD rental.
I did give it a chance. I watched one of the earlier episodes. It just didn't appeal to me because I felt the characterizations were wrong for my tastes. I'm not saying anyone who does like it is a dork or anything. I'm just saying that I don't care for it. Normally I don't judge a show based on one episode alone, but this was one of the times where I saw enough to say "It's not for me".
I'm not one of the "Loyal To the Original Crew" Trekkies who refuse to accept that the Enterprise has had and will have other captains than Kirk. (My brother is one of these.) I don't say that the new BSG isn't BSG simply because it isn't the old BSG that I remember. It is BSG. It's just not a BSG that I care for.