The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu

When I saw this movie on shelves, I had to see how horrible it was. I figured it was either gonna be good, or so bad that it would be good.

So I read the reviews... And was almost scared away from renting it. It sounded like it was just gonna be a suckfest beyond belief. But my wife, with a similar taste in comedy as I, was adamant. So I took the plunge...

And boy was it worth it.

As others have said, it HELPS to be a gamer, it helps to be nerdy... and it helps to have a general Cthulhu mythos knowledge, and more than anything, it helps to love B-Movies and their ilk. If you like Bruce Campbell style movies, this one's up your ally even without said Mighty Chinned Wonder being present.

The one-liners have become common household usage. (This is my sex face.) My bottom line? Give it a shot. If you hate it, you hate it... But it's worth the risk.

The people who say this isn't based on Lovecraft or the Cthulhu mythos are way off base, and they miss the point of this romp. Without H.P. Lovecraft's writing, this movie wouldn't exist. It isn't meant to be a "Lovecraft movie" or to be taken seriously. It's precisely what its writer and co-star intended it to be, a cinematic comic book and a tribute to Lovecraft as the father of modern horror and the progenitor of much of what we know as horror comics, both serious and humorous. The performers are all at least adequate, and the three leads are charming, portraying Regular Guys and a stereotyped comic book nerd with tongues firmly in cheek. It's obvious everyone who had anything to do with The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu had a ball, and so will you, unless you have no sense of fun at all.

I liked this one more than I should have. The script is good but sometimes clunky, cheap FX terrible, cheap makeup OK. But somehow I ended up enjoying it! The directing could have been a LOT crisper. Comedy needs quick beats and perfect timing. Still, after listening to the Down In Front podcast episode about "2010 Moby Dick" I now understand more about being a low-budget director and having to get to a certain film length without enough money to shoot more film. You just have to put everything you filmed on the screen or your movie won't be long enough! Still, though I'm sympathetic, I do recognize that the comic beats are ultimately in the hands of the director, and they do plod in many places.

The script had some genuinely funny stuff, but suffered a bit from an inability to go completely over-the-top when it needed to. A few more lines of the caliber of Captain Olaf's "Fish Rape" would have been welcome. Also, the lead characters suffered from inconsistency. Were they nerds or not? They acted like nerds, until they meet up with a high-school friend and suddenly HE'S the nerd and they're making fun of him, and worse STOP acting like nerds themselves suddenly. That whole part never made any sense, at least as filmed. Maybe they planned a meditation on "relative nerdiness", but if they did it never paid off.

I think ultimately the "x-factor" was the acting. Most of them did a reasonable job, and all of them brought an enthusiasm and genuine quality that won me over. And Devin McGinn as the sidekick was really a standout - I want to see him in more movies or TV work, especially if he could play a similar character. He really nailed it! So, by the end I was rooting for our unlikely heroes.

One more note: there are a couple of reviews here that say this movie has "nothing to do" with the Cthulhu mythos. I don't know what movie THEY were watching, but as someone who has read literally the entire Lovecraft bibliography, I can say that they spent a lot of time throwing in many, many references, and really made me believe they could have been in a comedy version of Lovecraft's world. There's an abundance of little nods to the Lovecraft reader throughout, and I appreciated them a lot.

Overall - well done! Go into it expecting a VERY low-budget film that's earnestly trying to entertain, and and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

This is a light-hearted "nerd-based" film about two friends, one of whom is a descendant of the actual H.P. Lovecraft who get wrapped up in a conspiracy about cultists wanting to wake Cthulhu using a magical amulet. The go on an adventure together, later meeting amusing characters and Lovecraftian monsters all done in B-grade level effects.

The characters are somewhat bland and simply fill out their allotted roles. The comedy is rather in the light-hearted area rather than seriously funny. The effects are a mixed bag - not convincing but full on B grade like you'd expect from a low budget film. It has some amusing points but yeah, nothing amazing.

5/10 because it's average.

THE LAST LOVECRAFT: RELIC OF CTHULHU is a movie for the fan of H.P. Lovecraft with a sense of humor, which, well, seems like an oxymoron. However, this is one funny movie!

When the titular totem is uncovered in Egypt, a descendant of the late-great author must be located, before Cthulhu's minions arise to seal mankind's doom. Of course, said descendant is... a total idiot. Luckily, his friends are... er, also idiots. How will these three boobs possible stand against the dark hordes?

Sort of SHAUN OF THE DEAD for lovers of Lovecraftian lore, TLL:ROC pits shiftless slackers against marauding monstrosities to hilarious effect! For a low-budget affair, the creature costumes aren't bad at all, and -hallelujah- the CGI is kept to a minimum (at least until the finale).

FACT: One has not truly lived until experiencing the history of Cthulhu told in animated comic book fashion!...