Top 11 Lovecraftian Horror Films
Steve Barton
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The Thing (1982)
The first part of John Carpenter’s Apocalypse Trilogy (along with In the Mouth of Madness and Prince of Darkness, each with their own Lovecraftian ties), The Thing has intense Lovecraftian issues as we learn that if the indescribable thing reaches the unsuspecting human population, it would certainly mean the end of life as we know it. Although the movie was actually based on John W. Campbell, Jr.’s novella, Who Goes There?, moviegoers have long appreciated the influence that H.P. Lovecraft certainly had on both the book and movie versions of the story. And tentacles, oh yeah, plenty of tentacles!
From Beyond (1986)
Directed by Stuart Gordon, produced by Brian Yuzna and starring Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton, this Lovecraftian power quartet created this adaptation directly from the short story by H.P. Lovecraft with the same name. It’s based around a scientific experiment gone horribly awry and has all the makings of a great Lovecraftian story. It’s got gruesome creatures and alternate dimensions, it’s got tentacles and heightened perceptions and a sense of foreboding that runs throughout the movie. Gordon reunited Combs and Crampton as they had worked together previously on a Lovecraftian film (yes, yes…it’s on the list) and knew they would be asked to do some rather strange things. Purists are sometimes put off by the overt sexuality of From Beyond, but all we can say is, lighten up. Man cannot live on tentacles alone!
The Mist (2007)
You want mysterious creatures, unsuspecting humans and a sudden sense of impending doom? You’ve got it all in The Mist, which was based on a Stephen King novella. So while the inspiration for the story was not Lovecraftian (it actually came to King on a visit to the grocery store with his son), the sense of horrific fear beyond the scope of human knowledge and comprehension, combined with the tentacles and their squid-like appearance on otherwise unseen beasts, definitely shows Lovecraft’s influence on King. And, of course, there’s the seemingly ever-present New England locale that both Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft use so commonly in their works.
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