The Resurrected

There is one other film I know of which is based on Lovecrafts "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward", and that is the old Roger Corman movie "Edgar Allen Poe's The Haunted Palace", with Vincent Price as Joseph Curwen and Charles Ward. But The Resurrected is by far the most accurate movie about this story, which is damning it with faint praise.

The Resurrected is set in the modern day and Charles Ward is the head chemist at Belmar Cosmetics. He's rich. He has a beautiful wife. He's Chris Sarandon. But his wife detects that Charles is having some problems and so enlists a detective from the Marsh Agency to investiate. If you like the Call of Cthulhu game as well as Lovecraft you'll recognise how this movie goes: the detective makes his Library Use roll, uses his paid source to get info, makes an initial foray into enemy territory, then eventually finds the deepest secrets of Charles Dexter Ward. Almost everything in the book is in the movie: the painting, the formula for re-animation, the essential saltes, the pits, the initial destruction of Curwen in Revolutionary War times. It's all here and with good acting, costuming, and set. Curwens secret abode is everything you'd expect after reading the book.

Simply put this movie is great. It and maybe one other movie are the reason I still have a Laserdisk player, as it's sadly not yet out on DVD.

This is probably one of the best commercial-adaptations of an H.P Lovecraft story I have seen yet, although Stuart Gordon's "Dagon" is probably equal in capturing the atmospherics of Lovecraft's stories. What I found most-amazing about this adaptation is that it comes-off as "clinical" as the original--kind-of like reading a Police-report or an affidavit from a cold-case. In-fact, it's to Dan O'Bannon's credit that he insisted on making this a contemporary detective-story on its surface. A Private Detective is more-familiar to audiences than a long-winded psychaitrist, and honestly, anchors the story more-firmly in a reality we're familiar-with. This ho-hum world is so familiar, the director really creates a greater sense-of-shock when that reality shatters. This is in-keeping with Lovecraft, who would often keep the reader waiting until the very-end of his tales for the horrible-revelations. It should also be said that it rains throughout the entire film, which goes a long-way in creating an East Coast atmosphere that is spot-on in the Lovecratian-sense. Add to this the extraordinary score by Richard Band (who scored "Reanimator" and "From Beyond"), the incredible makeup by Tom Masters, and some really great cinematography, and you get one of the finer-moments in horror. Recounting much of the plot line will only ruin the experience, so I will refrain from doing-so.

But there is even more: Chris Sarandon's performance as Charles Dexter Ward and Joseph Curwen is easily on-par with those of Lon Chaney or Boris Karloff--even Vincent Price at his best, a performance for the ages. You honestly believe that Sarandon is an individual who has somehow found a way to reach-across-time from the 18th Century to exist in our own. It is an enigmatic and chilling performance, and one of the greatest realizations of 18th Archaic English-dialect I have ever heard from any actor. Even Sarandon's countenance and movements strike one as a being from a foreign-land: the distant, colonial-past. Yes, the DVD is now available from Lion's Gate, and it is definitely passable. But, it really should have been released in O'Bannon's director's cut, and Widescreen and in 5.1 stereo. The cut still exists, but it appears that the studio is more-interested in milking this property with no investment in restoration or even a minimal-treatment for we-the-fans, who have been short-changed. All-said, the film is strong enough to overcome all of this, and I still recommend you find a copy for yourself. Not a film without imperfections, "The Resurrected" is still effective in its goal of conveying Lovecraft's "cosmic horror," and the depravity at-heart of the desire for immortality. This is how horror looks, sounds...and smells. Welcome to an alchemical-horror, with mankind at the center.

PS: When I saw this on cable 10+ years-ago, there was a scene (described in the book, the "Lurker in the Lobby") of the Detective overlaying a photo of Charles Dexter Ward with an image of Curwen's skull, and matching-exactly. Was this the director's cut?

My neighbor came by a few nights ago to return a few of my movies he had borrowed, along with a few of his own for me to watch. One was a film from the "Masters of Horror" series, which I will not mention. The other was "The Resurrected". At first, I made the mistake of putting it aside because of the cover art which looked like the typical straight-to-video horror crap that floods the video store.

I didn't check it out 'till the other night when I was watching the original "Halloween" with my girlfriend. We were having a micro-theater presentation of spooky movies on the video projector and I left it up to her to pick out the next feature. Out of "Hostel", "Tourist Trap", "Night of the Living Dead"(Savini), and "The Grudge", she picked this one. She read the back of the case and said it was based on an H.P. Lovecraft story, which isn't saying much due to the quality of adaptations of his work. Then, she said "directed by Dan O'Bannon". Now, that was a name I hadn't heard in a long time. I mean, he is somewhat of a legend.

After just watching "Halloween", it was hard to get into the flow of this movie, but then Chris Sarandon was the evil doctor, and then I realized what I'd missed out on in the nineties. I'm now checking out other flicks from that decade. You should, too.

This is a decent Lovecraftian movie, certainly demanding more attention. I think Dan o Bannon ( with whom I incidentally share my b'day) knows how to create tension, setting and atmosphere while maintaining a fast pace at the same time. Some of the creature shots are pretty good although it does suffer from some minute bad stop motion effects occasionally . I really liked the hero character as well( who had a hint of Sam o Neil) , very traditionally one dimensional but that's how they really should be in a story that leads specifically up to the conclusion of just one main mystery. You really don't need any unnecessary sub plots or character arcs in a Lovecraftian story. I would recommend watching this all tucked up and cozy on a winter's night before going to bed.

"The Resurrected," based on Lovecraft's story "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward," focuses on a Rhode Island P.I. who one day is contacted by the wife of a chemist. She expresses concern over her husband's erratic behavior, which has led to him isolating himself at his remote family estate, where he has been suspected by locals of grave robbing and performing disturbing experiments with human body parts. What they discover is all that and more.

Given that I am not familiar with H.P. Lovecraft, nor am I familiar with director Dan O'Bannon's work or other Lovecraft adaptations, I feel I have a fairly objective opinion to offer here. It seems that the user reviews largely reflect the reactions of (mostly) big Lovecraft fans. From my knowledge, "The Resurrected" essentially takes the premise of the Lovecraft story and situates it in the twentieth century, and more or less is consistent with the story's framework.

The film's beginning is rather dull, and I wondered what I was getting myself into; a drab, single-take shot of Jane Sibbett and John Terry in a very nineties-decor office gave the affect of a cheap television movie—and in all honesty, much of the film does in fact feel like that, from the unimaginative cinematography to the poor editing and sometimes awkward performances. That said, if you stick with the film, it does get progressively interesting and progressively weird.

The final thirty minutes are what really cemented my enjoyment of the film, where it becomes a sort of "Indiana Jones"-esque horror film, and the filmmakers seem to step up their game in terms of the camera-work and atmosphere. The special effects are in some respects dated, but in others look passable by today's standards. The acting, as I said, is a bit of a hodgepodge, with Chris Sarandon overacting at times; John Terry is only mildly likable as the lead detective, and Jane Sibbett ranges from bad to quite good. Robert Romanus has a memorable part as the P.I.'s chain-smoking sidekick. The final showdown is well-handled, though the voiceovers from Terry that conclude the film (and which are present throughout) leave a bit to be desired.

Overall, "The Resurrected" is a pretty decent horror flick. It definitely has the look and feel of a low-budget television movie at times, but it also manages to be atmospheric and quite a lot of fun once its wheels get turning. If the first twenty minutes of early-nineties aesthetic overload is too much, I'd urge you stick with it, as it really starts to demand one's attention about a quarter of the way through. It is not a flawless film by any stretch of the imagination, but it is commendably dark and compelling. 6/10.