... more than simply a love letter to the stylized artificiality of silent expressionist horror... the most faithful screen translation of the author's work to date.
The filmmakers themselves are generally paid not in dollars but in status among their fellow obsessives, which makes Call of Cthulhu truly a labor of love.
A silent movie made in 2005 in Black and White is pretty strange in itself, but this movie is nothing short of very strange. It's HP Lovecraft's most famous story. Taken and mastered by H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society. This movie appeard in over 30 major film festivals across the world. A very interesting web site of
this move can be located at http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/index.html , It goes into much further detail then I can in a few short lines. The movie is about a man recounts how his discovery of secret knowledge has driven him over the edge and brought him close to death. Its the framework that Lovecraft used again and again to tell his stories of horror. Here the story is that of the cult of Cthulhu which he discovers upon the death of his Great Uncle, a man who was himself driven to the edge of madness and to death by the secrets he uncovered. Essentially a series of flashbacks and narratives this film builds a great deal of unease as bits of story and coincidence create an a narrative that has unpleasant implications. Its not the kind of think that will make you jump out of your seat, but it will make you want to turn the light back on. 3 1/2 stars on this one.
June 17, 2011
Bruce Bruce
Super Reviewer
Close, but not quite...The Call of Cthulhu is admirable on a non-budget, and Andrew Leman's choice to emulate German expressionist classics like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is well informed. Making the film silent and black and white was a great choice. There's an obvious respect for and knowledge of the source
material that makes this short film a really great homage, and almost certainly the best Lovecraft work to date, but I just don't think the tone or compositions here truly pop. In some ways, I think adhering to source material that attempts to convey a menace of inconceivable grandiosity is probably impossible for just about any movie, and though this comes close, I think it falls short of true artistic inspiration.
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