Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

poe-48833 HERBERT WEST: REANIMATOR has often been singled out as one of the more watchable Lovecraft adaptations. I've never felt that way, myself: it's far too THEATRICAL for my tastes, eschewing the MOOD for which Lovecraft is so justifiably famous, and is so poorly written that it bears little resemblance to the story upon which it's based. In the words of Lovecraft himself (in THE CALL OF CTHULU): "Death would be a boon if only it could blot out the memories." To do the author justice, one would have to capture the mood of Carl Dreyer's VAMPYR and do it with the expertise of a Fritz Lang (M). THE CALL OF CTHULU is a commendable effort because it's a low budget short, done by fans of the writer; had it been turned out by some Hollywood hack at great cost, it would be laughable. The stop-motion animation is the highlight of this one and harks back to the tentacled terror in Dennis Muren's EQUINOX (1971), which was Lovecraftian itself in so many ways. Maybe one day we'll see a genuine adaptation by someone of the caliber of a John Carpenter. Until then, as HPL himself put it: "Who knows the end? What has risen may sink, and what has sunk may rise. Loathsomeness waits and dreams in the deep, and decay spreads over the tottering cities of man."

hellraiser7 H.P. Lovecraft is one of my favorite authors, his stories always carried a strange allure of the unknown, and were always scary for our fear of it. Though his stories adapted into the visual medium have always been a hit or miss affair (though same can be said for a lot of other writers.) However this short film I'll admit in my book is no doubt one of the best and most faithful.The film is made in the silent film style which surprisingly fits like a glove and from a historical standpoint makes sense since the 1920's were the time when H.P.'s stories came out. I'll admit it is really surreal that I even watched this film, it really looks, sounds, and feels like a lost silent horror film.This was done on a low budget but it was used well and right. I really like the production design, most of them were stage/studio props and pieces but they were constructed well. The design of the Cyclopean civilization didn't disappoint me, some of the design obviously borrows from the German expressionist horror film "The Cabnet of Dr. Calagari". And I feel it fits just right because it really gave the Cyclopean civilization a mysterious, disorienting, ominous quality; as if the civilization was something constructed and derived from dreams or nightmares. Even liked the cinematography, not just in the use of once again black and white but that they added a granny quality to the film to make it really look and feel like something from a by gone era. Music is on cue and I think is great and memorable, really liked those tunes that evoked dread.But I really like the story structure which was slightly true to it's predecessor, where the whole thing is basically told in a sort of journalistic style from the perspective of one to several people, which gave it the mystery sensibility and a participatory sense where in a way we're the real investigators trying to put it all together.It's true we don't really see Cthulhu till about the end of the film, but Cthulhu's presence is felt throughout the whole build up of the film. You really have this sense of doom and dread not just that what we're immersed in isn't just going to lead to something bad but possibly this monster is already watching and waiting and as we discover those that investigate too deeply are doomed.If your a fan of H.P. Lovecraft's works then this is a call worth answering if you dare.Rating: 4 stars

suite92 A Boston archaeologist sorts through his dead great-uncle's papers. He finds information about the Cthulhu Cult. The great-uncle was a psychiatrist. One of his patients was a young man named Henry Wilcox. Wilcox reported dreams; the shrink asked that he record the dreams for discussion. When Wilcox failed to appear one day, the great-uncle tracks him down to a mental ward. Wilcox had lost his memory of his obsession.The present day nephew skips to other parts of the great-uncle's stored papers, which included newspaper clippings, and visits to conferences. At one conference, a policeman presents an artifact to some scholars. One man had seen the same sort of piece in Greenland in Esquimaux (sic) territory. Another described odd goings-on in a swamp near New Orleans where children were disappearing. In both cases, there was a chant that named Cthulhu. A similar artifact was at the site of a cult fire dance where cannibalism was being practiced. The investigator came with police; the dance was dispersed; arrests were made.The nephew keeps reading. This seems to be a common mistake made by actors in Cthulhu films.He follows the notebooks, and goes to places described in the notebooks. He locates a Cthulu statue, and gains more information than what was in the notebooks.The effort eventually drives the nephew mad. -----Scores------Cinematography: 4/10 Presented in black and white in the 4:3 aspect ratio. Full of simulated scratches and floating dust. Ugly.Sound: 6/10 This is a silent film with musical accompaniment and inter-titles. The music was fairly good for the on screen action.Acting: 4/10 Without voice, these actors seemed to be lost.Screenplay: 4/10 Too many dream sequences and flashbacks. A lot of this looks like Freudian themes with visuals in the style of Dali.-----Post Script-----In graduate school at Indiana University, I saw a dozen or so silent black and white films at the Auditorium, which had a large screen and a huge pipe organ of fine sound quality. The organ player was not only a skilled musician, but also a BW film buff of broad experience. The films were A list when they were released, and were often in 1.85 or wider format. They looked like movie films, not television. The film actors and directors were experienced and skilled at making the best silent films. These experiences were rather rich; I felt like I was catching a glimpse of the silent era during its height.Why go to so much effort to make something that looks so bad? The black and white silent era is over. Go the route of The Artist instead.

Jacin Harter Cco Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn. ~ "In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming."Maybe if you love H.P. Lovecraft you can find some delight in the film adaptation of his 1926 "weird tale".As with "The Artist" I was excited to see another modern-day silent picture. I have a lot of respect for people who maintain through practice traditions that have been pushed out by technological "progress". And at the end, to see a real clay-mation monster again - it was like time-traveling "jOtherwise, Andrew Leman's movie is little more than a fan-vid, trying to recreate the short story with precision rather than inspiration. By all means - never stop reading. The book will always be better than the movie.