MortoCultese

I went in to watch this with absolutely no information, and I liked it.

most of it takes place inside, or just outside, the Bank. a woman is desperate to get an immediate loan, and not even a robbery will stop her.

it's not your average rehash of bank heist tropes. the robbers are damaged people who behave supremely idiotically. the police are "soft" compared to what one has come to expect from other similar movies. a wordplay is being used as a major plot device (it helps if you speak spanish, but it's not necessary). there's a minor twist halfway through that I honestly did not see coming.

this is not a movie that will change your life, but if you're tired of movies where you can guess the plot twists and the ending 20 minutes in, you'll enjoy it.

The worst movie I've seen in recent memory. By far.

I quite liked the O'Donnel books, they retain their charm several decades after they were written. And Modesty herself, is sassy, sexy, intuitive and capable.

This movie does not do them any justice. The acting ranges from bad to painful to watch. The direction and editing would have looked cool 25 years earlier, but they are laughable by 2004's standards.

Worst of all, the plot. It mostly takes place over a game of roulette, with flashbacks to tell Modesty's story, parts of which bear an uncanny resemblance to Karate Kid. I'm not joking.

There's a good franchise in the MB books, but this movie is nowhere near the origin story it pretends to be. Don't waste your time. Honest.

I really wanted to like this, and in the beginning I did. It starts off with a coupla nice scenes, that are lifted from HPL's short story and set the tone. The "aged film" effect looks quite poor, but I appreciated the effort to make it look like an old movie, with the pompous acting and static direction, etc. And all the Lovecraftian references added in, with a knowing wink.

Then, they skip to the end of the original story just 30 mins into the film. The story works because of all the letters exchanged between the two main characters. Here, when they meet, the viewer doesn't know any of that, as they're just barely mentioned, in passing.

After that, the movie goes off the rails. Characters that are not even named in the story take centre stage. Ridiculous plot points that Azathoth knows why anyone thought they'd work... Unfunny comic relief scenes. And a poor man's Indiana Jones. Don't get me started about the ending. Worst of all, it doesn't get scary. Not one bit.

I was beyond disappointed, but mostly sad, as the original story has enough strong material to make a good, atmospheric, suspenseful, SCARY (low-budget) movie. Instead they added one hour plus of their own, sub par, material and ludicrous dialogue. Even the one thing that holds the story together, the actual "whisperer in darkness", is done as wrong as one could possibly get it.

I don't know if the movie would work for someone who has not read the story. I doubt it, as they skip two thirds of it. It certainly did not work for me. I spent the last half hour hoping Cthulhu would turn up and take me so I don't have to endure any more of it.