Howard Phillips Lovecraft, otherwise known as H.P. Lovecraft, is arguably one of the most influential writers in American history to date. Focusing on work that’s largely related to science, fantasy, and horror fiction, his very distinct writing is still transforming modern music, film, video games, and novels decades later. Two of Lovecraft’s major influences consisted of Lord Dunsany, an Irish author of fantasy tales, in addition to the beloved works of Edgar Allan Poe.
A fun fact about Lovecraft is that heactually started out his writing career as a journalist, joining the United Amateur Press Association in 1914. A year later, he created his own publication, The Conservative, where he wrote several essays and various pieces for the magazine. Around the same time, Lovecraft had started to produce fictional pieces under the radar, but it wasn’t until 1917 when he became more serious about his stories.
By 1923, the horror magazine Weird Tales had purchased some of Lovecraft’s fiction, jolting him into mainstream notoriety. Soon after his two-year marriage to Sonia Greene had come to an end, Lovecraft returned to Rhode Island where he began work on what is now considered to be his best stories. The Call of Cthulhu was published by Weird Tales in 1928, and is considered his most recognizable depiction of an ethereal form of dread many now call ‘cosmic horror.’ The Cthulhu character has been in everything from countless video games like The Witcher to even episodes of South Park.
Lovecraft introduced the world to supernatural beings that would wreak havoc on humankind, combined with a unique darkness and cosmic pessimism, creating an organic formula which instilled both fear and deep interest in those who were brave enough to fully immerse themselves into his world. Lovecraft once stated that his “tales are based on the fundamental premise that common human laws and emotions have no validity or significance in the cosmos-at-large,” according to American Heritage magazine. Let’s look further into the best onscreen H.P. Lovecraft movie adaptations.
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6 The Resurrected
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Talk about not knowing your spouse. In The Resurrected, Claire Ward (Jane Sibbett) becomes increasingly suspicious when her husband Charles Dexter Ward (Chris Sarandon) begins receiving packages that appear to be human remains. Once Claire reaches out to a private detective in order to find out what her husband is up to, the family’s remote cabin becomes key to a series of experiments that Charles partakes in, posing as a sorcerer who strives to bring back the dead.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
5 The Whisperer in Darkness
H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society
Adapted from Lovecraft’s 1931 novella, The Whisperer in Darkness follows professor Albert Wilmarth (Matt Foyer), who does research about folklore horror and tales, as he investigates the history of strange occurrences and creatures who surround the secluded hills of Vermont. Wilmarth’s extensive investigation reveals a horrifying truth that could possibly be tied to the emergence of scary and monstrous aliens, in and around the abandoned farmhouse. The film was shot using a Mythoscope, mixing vintage and modern techniques, in order to produce a replica of the 1930s stylistic elements.
4 The Dunwich Horror
American International
The Dunwich Horror is perhaps the most well-known work from Lovecraft, with a mythos expanding outward into all of pop culture. An expert in the occult, Dr. Henry Armitage (Ed Begley) travels to an old Whateley manor in Dunwich in pursuit of Nancy Wagner (Sandra Dee), a student who mysteriously vanished the previous night. Henry and Elizabeth, one of Nancy’s friends and classmates, are quickly turned away by the family’s heir, Wilbur (Dean Stockwell). Henry however, is persistent and unravels the mystery through conversations with locals and further investigation, revealing the evil entities that are associated with the manor as well as the Whateley family.
3 Re-Animator
Empire International
The 1985 American comedy horror film is loosely based on Lovecraft’s Herbert West – Reanimator. In Re-Animator, directed by consistently the best adapter of Lovecraft, Stuart Gordon, Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) portrays a young scientist who discovers a mysterious fluid that can bring dead tissue back to life. After recruiting his roommate Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) into joining the project, the two young scientists dive deeper into the experimentation, as reanimated corpses begin to flood the campus, putting the lives of everyone in immediate danger. It’s a hilarious, gory, and bonkers film.
2 Color Out of Space
RLJE Films
In Color Out of Space, Nathan Gardner (an incredible Nicolas Cage) and his family are in abrupt danger when a meteorite unexpectedly lands in the front yard of their farmhouse. Coming in close contact with a mutant extraterrestrial organism that infects their minds and bodies, the battle between them and the terror plaguing their surroundings transforms everyday rural life into a living nightmare.
As a peculiar aerolite liquefies into planet earth, land and the properties of space-time become infected with an unusual color. To their surprise, the Gardner family discovers that the alien force is gradually mutating every life form that it manages to get a hold of. Color Out of Space was a triumphant return for Richard Stanley, who had been absent from directing for two decades following the catastrophe surrounding the troubled production of the filmThe Island of Dr. Moreau.
1 From Beyond
Empire Pictures
From Beyond relishes the science, horror, sex, and mystery so darkly present in the best Lovecraft tales. The well-reviewed film finds Dr. Edward Pretorius (Ted Sorel), an obsessed scientist, and his assistant discovering a way to access a parallel universe by tapping into the brain’s pineal gland, with the creation of the Resonator machine. After Dr. Pretorius is killed by forces from this other dimension, his assistant, Dr. Crawford Tillinghast (Jeffrey Combs), becomes accused of the murder. Psychiatrist Katherine McMichaels (Barbara Crampton) and detective Bubba Brownlee (Ken Foree) both take on the case, as the group risks a return to the unusual world to further solve the mystery.
