Lovecraftian Without Lovecraft

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Movie Madness: The word "Lovecraftian" doesn't just mean "written by Lovecraft". Let's explore some films that give the same creepy vibe but are not based directly on the master's work.
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[@ljmiller96]

I stopped after Sandy's description of Absentia, found it, and watched it. It was great! Obviously a low budget movie, but if it was made in Los Angeles it can't be all that low budget. Beautifully acted and very scary!

[@DJBabb]

A couple to add.... Yellow Brick Road (2010) - decades ago the population of a small town disappeared while at the theatre watching "The Wizard of Oz". Now a group of documentary film makers set out to discover what happened to the town. The Corridor (2010) - A group of former friends reunite and vacation at a cabin, only to discover a force that changes all those who encounter it. Altered (2006) - What would you do if you devoted your life to capturing a -very- hostile alien, and then you and your friends did it? The Farm (2018) - Reminescent of Lovecraft's "The Terrible Old Man" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", but pushing past the limits of both. Last Shift (2014) - A lone police officer spends the night in a soon to be condemned police station. Baskin (2015) - Proof that Turkey can not only make a good movie, but they can make a good horror film. R-Point (2004) - A Korean flick about a squad of South Korean soldiers during the Vietnam War.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

I've seen all these except for The Farm, Yellow Brick Road, and Altered. I actually reference Baskin in one of my other videos.

[@IloveOtherPplsMsry]

John Carpenter's apocalypse trilogy (The Thing, Prince of Darkness, & In the Mouth of Madness) is very Lovecraftian. The Thing and Prince of Darkness use Lovecraftian ideas, and In the Mouth of Madness is practically a Lovecraft love letter. (Pun not intended)

[@dashwhatchamakalit]

I'd recommend watching V/H/S/2 for the 'Safe Haven' segment. Now that we have a few movies that are 'First-Person' perspective, it might be possible to do more of the stories from the viewpoint of the main character. Another one is 'Cold Skin', which recently came out. While its not First Person, it primarily follows one character dealing with stuff that'd fit neatly into that whole genre.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

i've watched both V/H/S shows which are of course erratic, like most anthology films.

[@Feadim]

Love your dog! The new Lighthouse is very lovercraftian.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

While I like most of those films (I was underwhelmed by R-Point), i don’t think that they are necessarily Lovecraftian.

[@stianovesen]

Always loved your work on Doom, and today I realized I love your youtube channel too. There's plenty of lovecraft stuff on youtube, but not alot from people your age (not calling you old or anything) who has seen and read stuff from way back. I love it! Lovecraftian horror is so unique.

[@temphandle01a]

The Ritual is just amazing, I wanted to echo this for anyone who hasn't watched the movie yet.

[@chasenorton612]

I recently watched a movie called The Endless. I found it to be an interesting 'Lovecraftian' film.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

thanks for the suggestion

[@noisecode]

The Endless is FANTASTICALLY cosmic horror.

[@mr.rousseau.4655]

@@SandyofCthulhu I thought this would be about how flexible the genre can be, not about Cinema.

[@adinocc2042]

I love the scene in "Planet of the Vampires" where they discover that giant, alien skeleton. Very Lovecraftian. Also, I feel that it may have inspired the scene from the first "Alien" film where they discover the fossilized "Space Jockey".

[@SandyofCthulhu]

Adinocc it’s quite possibly my favorite SF film ever.

[@GhettoFabulousLorch]

House by the Cemetery was just featured on The Last Drive-In last week.

[@ccrisp16]

I absolutely love your taste in horror cinema, Sandy! some true gems here.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

Carey ingtheword if you like what I like we must share the same brand of crazy.

[@RpgamesBe]

I'd love to see more of these episodes Sandy! I'm surprised you didn't mention AM1200. I think you mentioned on Twitter it was one of the most Lovecraftian movies you had seen.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

RPGames i do love AM1200, but man is it hard to get

[@RpgamesBe]

@@SandyofCthulhu I picked up a copy from the official website after I saw your tweet. Still need to watch it though.

[@ProjectTenva]

Haven't seen some of these yet, especially the older ones so I'm going to make a watch list! I'd also strongly recommend The Borderlands (2013), it's a found footage with a very strong lovecraftian twist and my favourite film of all time!

[@sandypetersen6935]

I have not seen The Borderlands. My favorite film of all time is Casablanca. My favorite horror film of all time ... hmm. Probably The Haunting (the 1960s version, not the terrible remake).

[@ProjectTenva]

Definitely check out the borderlands! I've not seen the original version of the haunting but vaguely remember the remake being so so. I'll add it to my list of classic horror to check out!

[@redeemingreview7818]

The Ritual and The Void were legitimately terrifying to me. I need to check out more classic horror. I'll be working my way through this list. Very interested in Planet of Vampires.

[@MyScorpion42]

Speaking of House By The Cemetery, the other movies in Fulci's Gates of Hell trilogy, which it is part of, contain overt references to the Cthulhu mythos: The Beyond contains the Book of Eibon, which appeared in multiple stories, and City of the Living Dead takes place mainly in the town of Dunwich, from "The Dunwich Horror"

[@ghoulsarefree]

One that I think is maybe less known to horror fans is the 1981 European film Possession by Polish director Andrzej Żuławski. This is a film about some kind of thing from unknown origins trying to make its way into the world the same way the rest of us do. It is an incredibly ominous film and if you like something challenging that doesn't explain too much this is definitely it. One thing that makes this additionally Lovecraftian (contrary to most horror movies) is that the monster isn't stalking the countryside murdering for no reason. It waits patiently for its time to arise and you will have to watch to see if it does.

[@1amjapan]

That was awesome, not heard of about 80% of these. Thank you!

[@SandyofCthulhu]

yay! I specifically did this video to point out these underseen movies.

[@1amjapan]

@@SandyofCthulhu you did a bang up job sir, much obliged. Watched a few of your Lovecraft vids now and been really impressed, top quality content! More pls.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

@@1amjapan thanks! I appreciate it.

[@walterbiggenback4678]

Great list of films, some I havent even seen! Here's a list of lovecraftian films if you want to check out: -The Corridor -Resolution -The endless -In the Mouth of Madness -Black Mountain Side -Ghost train (japanese film) -Uzimaki -Archons (very new) -Am1200 -The possession of David O Reilly -Yellow Brick Road All good watches I'd say if you're a horror fan. Keep up the great videos c:

[@paulsciria8921]

One I really like is Annihilation. It is kinda a modern interpretation of the Color out of Space.

[@DeejayJustinvH]

Your knowledge and collection is impressive. I would love to see some more videos of age of empires!

[@wisecrack3461]

Not a "Huge" fan of horror movies but I would absolutely recommend watching the Tetsuo series, they're some damn good body horror

[@Janshevik]

As lovecraftian I usually think of investigation, aliens, the occult and secrets not to be told to the wide world. Not really much gore and monsters wanting to kill you out of pure evil, but aliens rather having an agenda. Maybe because I prefer playing games than watching movies.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

I think of it as utterly alien entities, otherdimensional forces, and powers beyond human understanding. None of which means that CoC type game investigation wouldn't be the best way to try to deal with it.

[@keithgaspard9950]

Just watching this now. If you're interested in seeing these online theres a number of legal streaming services where these movies can be seen if you have the subscription: Amazon Prime: Absentia Planet of the Vampires Harbringer Down The Manster (though it says it's 1962 so it might not be the same?) Caltiki the Immortal Monster Angry Red Planet Netflix: The Ritual I found The Lighthouse to be very Lovecraftian in its feel. That's on Amazon Prime as well.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

I've noticed that Amazon Prime frequently gets the date of its movies' release wrong, I suspect because they are uploaded by partners who were also wrong. I've watched films from the 60s which were credited as being from 2019. If the Manster they show is black & white I'd guarantee that's it.

[@keithgaspard9950]

So far, went through and watched The Ritual and Absentia. Absentia looked like it was filmed with a cellphone, BUT I will say it was very enjoyable. I don't watch a lot of lower budget films, but this one was well written and the actors did a great job and it gave me the creeps. That tunnel though! *shudders* The Ritual was ver well made and felt high budget. Not sure if it was in theaters before. The creature they used was very creative and super creepy, I loved it. It felt like it was an ancient myth come to life in modern times. I'm going to keep going through the list. Great recommendations!

[@ladymau]

I loved you video thank you :) So I'm doing a research paper on how Lovecraftian genre is adapted. Direct adaptations are okay for me but especially like you mention, I'm trying to figure these highly inspired ones. Even though they are not directly adapted, we know that they're Lovecraftian, and I am trying to figure out how that is. How is Lovecraftian different from other horrors that makes him so recognizable, the question of the auteur. Do you have any comments on this that could provoke my research question :)?

[@Astarthe89]

interesting vid, though i think theres a typo at the start where it says tought to film, when you say tough to film. Might try some of these films at some point.

[@qstrader0606]

How about the thing or into the mouth of madness?

[@romainpohler5713]

Have you seen the film : Annihilation (2018)is a lovecraftian vibe film, with entities who don't care of humanity (or the rules of dna) Check it out :) !

[@SandyofCthulhu]

yes I have.

[@johndoe7270]

Lovecraft stories are hard for me to follow at times. I have this problem with understanding language. I understand English language but sometimes I just cannot follow logic in a book or when being spoken to. I still love the stories. I look at it like a different type of puzzle.

[@bmnftw1]

Read through all the comments and no ones list mentions 2019's Vivarium, so I will.

[@franktroise4386]

I love Planet of the Vampires. There are things in it that had to inspire Alien.

[@mmestari]

I like horror genre, but I'm not scared by them. To your question why I watch/read them, if I'm not scared by them, so what's the point? Like Christopher Lee I see them as a more interesting version of fantasy genre, they dive into more interesting ideas about the unknown and psyche than lighter fantasy. Well I also love to laugh at the brutal death scenes.

[@KarAtFeng]

You Should watch The lighthouse, its a very good psychological horror with a something lovecraftian

[@JaketheCultist]

In which story does Lovecraft had a guy having sex with a monkey? I must have missed that one.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

Arthur Jermyn. It happens off-screen.

[@JaketheCultist]

@@SandyofCthulhu Ah, one of the few I've always over looked. And I figured it'd happen off-screen, sex was one of HPL's biggest fears. lol

[@SandyofCthulhu]

@@JaketheCultist if you don't think sex is scary, you're not doing it right. Lovecraft just recognized the fact. Heck I've been married 41 years and it still amazes me.

[@Pyro-Moloch]

What do you think about Altered States? I thought the ending of it felt very Lovecraftian.

[@Skullkan6]

If you haven't seen it, minor spoilers but Borderlands from 2012. Go in Blind. It is VERY into the christian history but I won't spoil where that goes.

[@florintanase9348]

I disagree with sandy when he sais that lovecraft creatures cannot be adapted to film ...BLACK MOUNTAIN SIDE proved that wrong..true the special effects were cheap and childish but the feeling was perfectly captured....and also the cinematica at the end of the last call of chthulu game....

[@michaelmayr1990]

Unfortunately most horror movies are pretty bad. Not really scary, but entertaining? I guess.

[@markhill3858]

ridiculous :) theres many many reasons to watch scarey movies even if they never scare you :) for instance .. horror artist or filmmaker or writer or GM .. or for the sheer comedy of them .. cmon Sandy dont come out such silly bullshit you should know better, MUCH better :)