I'm so happy that Lovecraft didn't get dragged down into Cloverfield. At first I was interested in the prospect of the monster being Cthulhu, but now I'm just thankful.

What an amateurish, poor movie. At what point does disregarding story just become lazy? Cloverfield.

This is a much better movie, and a truly original take on one of the greatest horror/monster novels of all time.

@PriorMarcus: I still think Cloverfield was a good monster movie, but this has far more atmosphere and crunchy goodness.

Cloverfield was a GREAT movie!!!!! stop hating!!!! ='(
Jus leave Cloverfield alone!!!! All you people want is MORE MORE MORE MORE
/rant typed under bedsheets

Man, if this had been posted over at Gawker, there'd be at least 150 jokes about Fleet Week in the comments already. I love you, io9ers, but sometimes I feel like I'm the only one holding the Fort of Bad Puns and Adolescent Jokes down here.

See, like: "Ohmigod, Cthulhu is ctho cthcary!"

This is the *best* Lovecraft adaptation ever made.

Ia! Ia! Cthluhu f'thagn!

I may have to track down a copy of Call of Cthluhu. That does look rather well done.

I don't think it's exactly fair to compare Cthluhu and Cloverfield, tho. Seriously different stories. And on top of that, Cloverfield isn't really a monster movie. It's really a disaster movie where the disaster happens to be a monster.

I enjoy the 1970's gay porn production values, but those geometries were decidedly Euclidean. Yeah, yeah, visual impossibilities are hard to show on-screen, and even if they could be they would drive the viewers insane. But they could have at least made a half-assed attempt, just throw in a blivet, or a never-ending staircase or something. The scene from the end of Jim Henson's Labyrinth was way more trippy.

I agree, I drew a picture of R'lyeh once and even though it wasn't that good, it was still weirder looking than that.

Oh and...Cthulhu fhtagn

@moff: We made our butt sex jokes over on the Flash Gordon post. But feel free to make those here too. I mean, Cthulhu does emerge out of a giant dark crack.

@Annalee: I just looked, and you made most of those butt-sex jokes! Even if I were worried about your ability to contribute -- which I am not! -- the onus of inappropriate humor cannot rest on the site's editors' shoulders.

I'm just saying, there are days when the comments on this site reinforce the stereotype of science-fiction fans as decent, mild-mannered, upstanding citizens who are not inordinately amused by excessive joking about bodily functions and racial and sexual differences. And I'm not at all sure that bodes well for our ongoing presence in the blogosphere.

This looks so amazing. Any idea where I can get the DVD from? I'd imagine I probably couldn't just go and get it off amazon. (Admittedly, I haven't gone to look yet, though <_<)

I think this movie is perfect - any more up-to-date crazy special effects would break the old-school silent movie effect.
Experimentation has shown that I can watch Call of Cthulhu again and again. And again.

The Howard Phillips Lovecraft Historical Society is releasing The Whisperer in Darkness this year as well, the trailer looks amazing...

[www.cthulhulives.org]

@urukhaifive: You can see I've included a link in the post to the DVD on Amazon.

@moff: Blogland has room for everybody -- even upstanding science fiction fans. Indeed, many of my best friends are good, decent people who rarely make dirty jokes and love BSG.

@Annalee: Ah gee... *hides face in shame*

Thanks.

@moff: Maybe so but am I the ONLY one here who saw the actors making faces and waving away the smoke and thought "uh oh, Cthulhu just cut one."

For Zod's sake, Cthulhu, light a match!

I got the "Tales of H.P. Lovecraft" [edited by Joyce Carol Oates] for xmas this year.
I played the pen-and-paper rgp for many years [we finished off the entire 1890's campaign and most of the 1920's] and a unfounded fear of learning too much about the Lovecraftian universe kept me from reading the source material.
Until now.
So, I actually read "Call of Chtulu" for the first time just a week ago.
And now I have to find that movie.
Also, can I get a shout out for "Dagon"?

@Katana_Mind: "Dagon" the HPL short story or Dagon, the late Sixties Cthulhu mythos novel by Fred Chappell? God, I'm a nerd.
@moff: I did, thanks to the magic of editing software, do the entire text of Indiana Jones and the Call of Cthulhu. But my wit is pretty much exhausted with LolCthulhu.

[isometric.sixsided.org],640

@raincoaster5: I MEANT to say:
Lolthulhu

And yes, this movie is fantastic. I've been salivating over the teasers ever since they came out.

No joke... this movie is FANTASTIC! If you have not seen it yet, seek out a copy NOW!

@raincoaster5:
As we were on the topic of Lovecraft in the movies, I was referring to this: [www.imdb.com]
: )

This is absolutely great! Wonderful movie! I strongly advise anyone who's into Lovecraft or Méliès to watch it! (and own it!)

I enjoyed the clip, but then again, I love when people repeatedly point at things in mock awe.

Ol' Lovey could writes some good horror stories, but in my opinion the Cthulhu mythos is not among them. They try to terrify you in concept, but fail at the execution. Sure, A gigantic god who looks at us as insects who shall one day awaken and destroy us all is a scary idea, but he absolutely fails to SELL it. I read it interested but thoroughly unafraid and without fear of nightmares. The Outsider and Pickman's Model both gave me chills when I finished them, good last-line horror stories.

@Tiwa: I drew a picture of R'lyeh once, too, and my pencil burst into flames and i've been locked in an asylum ever since.

but, you know, they have free wifi here, so it's not so bad.

@Rockstar Ghede: Call of Cthulhu, I agree, is actually one of the least interesting stories that he's written. I far prefer "Colour Out of Space," and "The Haunter in the Dark."

@Jim (The Canuck One): That's what I'm talking about!

@raincoaster5: OK, you just made my week.

@Annalee: [Suspiciously] Perhaps. I'm just saying there are an an awful lot of commenters on this blog not calling each other Nazis. Or rather, alternate-history Nazis who won World War II.

@braak: "Colour Out of Space" wouldn't work as well in black & white, though.

For all who thought that was extremely well done, you know, Land of the Lost is out on DVD too.

@Imipolex_G-Unit: I'm not sure about that, though. It might actually be the best way to evoke the presence of an alien colour. I mean, obviously, the colour itself would have to be in color, but if the rest of the movie were in black and white, that could be kind of awesome.

Are these deleted scenes from Battleship Potemkin? The cinematography and sailor suits could make this the best director's cut ever!

H.P. Lovecraft is the master of the creepy mind numbing terrors in the dark. Having read most of his works when I was very young, I had been changed forever... ^.^ and as for Cloverfield, that was just a little baby looking for a downtown trendy snack of Manhattenites...crunch crunch... "don't eat too many or you will spoil your dinner baby clover."

Nah, if the monster in Cloverfield had been C'thulhu it would have gone one of two ways:

A: The whole movie consists of one shot of the monster, then reaction shots as everyone within 50 miles goes irrevocably insane.

B: One shot of the monster, then a string of fireballs as every nation on earth launches every nuke they have at New York - with the US providing targeting data.

On a related note to using Mythos for modern-day horror films, read Charlie Stross' "A Colder War".

[www.infinityplus.co.uk]

Every government knows about the Mythos. Not even Hitler would violate the Dresden Agreement and use them in warfare. Then in the '80s Shoggoths start eating Mujhadeen villages in Afghanistan and things go rapidly downhill...

What makes you all so sure that H.P. wrote fiction???

The movie was alright but the sacrifice scene with the barbie doll looked silly. Strangely, the best adaptation was the videogame Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. It was adapted from "Shadow over Innsmouth" wrapped within "Shadow out of Time". That game felt like Lovecraft.

That was like some kind of noir, Old Spice ad.

I don't think the Cthulu mythos can be effectively translated to film, because it relies on flowery terrors-beyond-description.

PS: Lovecraft was a rascist fuck.

@braak: Or kind of Rumblefish.

The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society also did a radio play of "At The Mountains of Madness" that was outta sight; I highly recommend it. They also have a lot of really neat Lovecraft/Cthulhu merchandise.

Does anyone remember "Cast a Deadly Spell", that Lovecraftian noir movie HBO put out years ago? I can't remember if it was any good or not.

@Imipolex_G-Unit: I have never seen Rumblefish. I suspect it takes a special kind of fish to rumble effectively.

@shazawn: I remember that one being a neater idea than it was a film, but I've got no specifics, so don't trust me.

@Imipolex_G-Unit:

On the contrary. I think Colour Out Of Space would only work in black and white. How else are you going to show a colour that is indescribably different from any colour that exists on Earth?

I dont understand all the Cloverfield bashing. The story was great, and the pacing and atmosphere were completely appropriate. Maybe some peoples sense of superiority make them believe that some movies are trash if they dont meet preconceived expectations. Its the same thing that happened with Arrested Development.

I kinda enjoyed the Niven/Barnes Dream Park novel The Barsoom Project - [www.amazon.com]
Fun how they'll mash several mythos together.

@Mecharine: I agree whole heartedly, it seems that people are really only bashing themselves. You can't blame JJ Abrams for really cleverly marketing a movie, in that respect you have to honor what they did as a master stroke of marketing. People were buying posters for a movie no one had seen for crying out loud. And what were they marketing? A Monster movie, shot on "home video", documenting a night of terror from someone's perspective. It was going to be an immersive/experience movie like Private Ryan, or Fear And Loathing. Did they deliver that? Hell yes. They delivered exactly what they said they were going to so if you didn't like it you probably had no business seeing it in the first place, or you're just being a hipster asshole who wants to shit on the things as soon as they realize other people who aren't like them like it as well.

@shazawn: I've always wanted to steal a university lecture hall and stage the "Presentation of the Findings of the Pabodie Expedition" as a boring, academic slide show...with some pretty surprising slides.

@Katana_Mind: Haven't seen that one. They're generally pretty bad, but I DO like In The Mouth of Madness. But then, I have a Sam Neill fixation.

@CyberKender: Netflix has it :)

@shazawn: it was quite good actually. netflix doesn't seem to have it tho' :(

This is seriously the best adaption of any H.P. Lovecraft story ever..
@Freedumb, and others: There is a seriously cool scene a few minutes later, after Chtulhu comes to gobble them all up, that involves a sailor falling "into/through" a corner, or shadow. It's hard to describe and looks veeery cool and decidedly non-Euclidean.

@etho: Terrific point. Now all you need is a shade of gray that no one has ever seen before.

@Imipolex_G-Unit: Well, they've just discovered superblack, so one could imagine that somewhere there is also superwhite and thereby supergray. Does that count?

@Annalee: Silly Annalee, nothing can make me forget about Cthulhu ;D

And also, damn you Annalee, and io9 and conversely, all the people who comment who have given me an evergrowing list of movies and books I must read before I die yet couldn't even if I spent every single damn minute of my life trying.

@Ray Gunn: What's next, florescent khaki?

Technically speaking, I think Spinal tap is responsible for the original 'superblack' color, as it was the modified artwork of the 'Smell the Glove' LP that featured it ("It's like, 'how much more black could this be?' and the answer is none. None more black." - Nigel Tufnel)

Let's see if this works: If not, try this:
The Colour Out of Scotland

yeeesh... that was awful. just awful.

what the heck. seriously. who wrote that recommendation?

yeck.