Quote from: 4wd on June 30, 2010, 11:41 PM

I just hope it turns out better than the plot summary.

That shouldn't be too hard.

I'd almost believe you if it wasn't for the fact I've seen plot summaries that read better than the movie

What about Silence of the Lambs?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Lecter kills a bunch of people, escapes, gets off scott-free, gets to eat Chilton the prison Dr. who he hated. Forget about the sequel, it's irrelevant, no one knew they'd make one at the time. Sure Clarice lives too, and they kill the "real" bad guy Buffalo Bill, but Lecter kills innocents too, just because the movie paints him as some kind of odd anti-hero doesn't mean he's not real, true human evil...

- Oshyan

In this case, human evil extends far beyond the individual to become manifest in the whole of society.

Oh, but it's not evil, you know - it's the greatest good for the greatest number!

Speaking of which, is that movie (1984) any good? Or are there any good film adaptations of the book?

I recently watched the John Hurt version of the movie, "Nineteen Eighty-Four", and I think it's good (depressing, but then again so is the source material).  I think that it follows the book pretty faithfully, but it's been a long time since i read the book, so I might be off base there. It is quite bleak. Note that (since you mentioned PG-13 later in your post), the movie does have R-rated nudity and sex.

The only other movie version of 1984 that I'm aware of is one made in 1956 starring Edmond O'Brien (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_(1956_film)). ; I watched it many many years ago in college, and don't remember too much about it.  For some reason it's not readily available on DVD, but you can search around for bootlegs.

While I'm at it, are there any good movies based on the Cthulhu mythos that are also relatively clean?

There's a really good DVD called "Call of Cthulhu".  It was made by a more-or-less amateur group of Lovecraft fanatics (I don't mean amateur in an insulting way, but they're not Hollywood pros - which I think was an advantage in this case).

Note: it's a silent film! I think they did this both for artistic value and atmosphere with probably some budget/technical reasons as well. Anyway - it works really well to give it a Lovecraftian feel.

I think it's a fantastic film - I think the encounter on Cthulhu's island is nicely staged to give it a feel of 'unworldly dimensions'.  If you've seen "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and liked what was done there with the angles and perspectives of the sets you might have an idea of what I mean.

It's not rated, but the closest to anything racy in the movie is a dance ritual by a bunch of cultists wearing loincloths.

No idea if it's on Netflix's Instant Watch.

+1 on Call of Cthullu.

I was incredibly impressed by the production quality and faithfulness of the script to the original story. I personally felt its being shot in an antiqued-look B&W added to the vintage vibe of the movie. But I don't expect everyone will agree with me on that point. Probably a good idea to watch the trailer here to see if the "look" works for you before you purchase.

The Whisperer in the Darkness is one of Lovecraft's better stories and the  H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society's newest adaptation also looks good.

...Even now I absolutely refused to believe what he implied about the constitution of ultimate infinity, the juxtaposition of dimensions, and the frightful position of our known cosmos of space and time in the unending chain of linked cosmos-atoms which makes up the immediate super-cosmos of curves, angles, and material and semi-material electronic organisation.

Never was a sane man more dangerously close to the arcana of basic entity--never was an organic brain nearer to utter annihilation in the chaos that transcends form and force and symmetry. I learned whence Cthulhu first came, and why half the great temporary stars of history had flared forth. I guessed--from hints which made even my informant pause timidly--the secret behind the Magellanic Clouds and globular nebulae, and the black truth veiled by the immemorial allegory of Tao. The nature of the Doels was plainly revealed, and I was told the essence (though not the source) of the Hounds of Tindalos. The legend of Yig, Father of Serpents, remained figurative no longer, and I started with loathing when told of the monstrous nuclear chaos beyond angled space which the Necronomicon had mercifully cloaked under the name of Azathoth. It was shocking to have the foulest nightmares of secret myth cleared up in concrete terms whose stark, morbid hatefulness exceeded the boldest hints of ancient and mediaeval mystics... -Whisperer in the Darkness

They're blogging it here and have a trailer for it here.

After watching the trailer, all I can say is: I want it!  

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Outside of these two films, there's not much worth seeing that purports to be based on Lovecraft's works. Most are so-so horror flicks that use some Lovecraftian terminology or characters in an attempt to make things seem like more than they are. Most aren't worth the film they're printed on.

Of all of the Lovecraft influenced films out there, about the only one really worth watching is an oddball John Carpenter effort entitled In the Mouth of Madness

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The Whisperer in the Darkness[/i] is one of Lovecraft's better stories and the  H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society's newest adaptation also looks good.

Thanks for the heads up - I hadn't heard about this.

I also agree that "In the Mouth of Madness" is a pretty good Lovecraftian-themed film.  I also liked "From Beyond" - but that's definitely **not** even close to being a PG-13 flick.

It's hard not to love Lovecraft~!

A personal favorite of mine is "Memory":

Memory
By H. P. Lovecraft

------=-O-=------

In the valley of Nis the accursed waning moon shines thinly, tearing a path for its light with feeble horns through the lethal foliage of a great upas-tree. And within the depths of the valley, where the light reaches not, move forms not meet to be beheld. Rank is the herbage on each slope, where evil vines and creeping plants crawl amidst the stones of ruined palaces, twining tightly about broken columns and strange monoliths, and heaving up marble pavements laid by forgotten hands. And in trees that grow gigantic in crumbling courtyards leap little apes, while in and out of deep treasure-vaults writhe poison serpents and scaly things without a name.

     Vast are the stones which sleep beneath coverlets of dank moss, and mighty were the walls from which they fell. For all time did their builders erect them, and in sooth they yet serve nobly, for beneath them the grey toad makes his habitation.

     At the very bottom of the valley lies the river Than, whose waters are slimy and filled with weeds. From hidden springs it rises, and to subterranean grottoes it flows, so that the Daemon of the Valley knows not why its waters are red, nor whither they are bound.

     The Genie that haunts the moonbeams spake to the Daemon of the Valley, saying, “I am old, and forget much. Tell me the deeds and aspect and name of them who built these things of stone.” And the Daemon replied, “I am Memory, and am wise in lore of the past, but I too am old. These beings were like the waters of the river Than, not to be understood. Their deeds I recall not, for they were but of the moment. Their aspect I recall dimly, for it was like to that of the little apes in the trees. Their name I recall clearly, for it rhymed with that of the river. These beings of yesterday were called Man.”

     So the Genie flew back to the thin horned moon, and the Daemon looked intently at a little ape in a tree that grew in a crumbling courtyard.

It's prose, but it reads like poetry.

I also love August Derleth. There are many others that have picked up the torch to carry on foretelling the doom of mankind with the rise of things best left unspoken, e.g. Robert Bloch.