Out of Mind: The Stories of H.P. Lovecraft

Having seen most of the films in the genre of "HPL inspired" from Hollywood to the HPL film festivals, I can honestly say that this film was one of the most enjoyable. It brought HPL to life in a believable, respectful and moving way (most of us who know HPL may recall that no motion picture nor audio tape of him is known to exist; only still photos and his writings, so this was something of a treat).

The few "monstrous" special effects were too hokey for this film, however and could have been either done better or left out and thus left to the imagination. Other than that, it was nice to see the mixture of name-dropping and time-interweaving done in the style of HPL's stories. That is, mysterious, suspenseful and ultimately pulling back the curtain to reveal cosmic horror behind it all.

Memorable moments: - HPL trying to sound out "Cthulhu" to himself - HPL's dignified manner of holding himself and his careful articulation - HPL describing the Nightgaunts which came to him in nightmares since he was 6 years old.

If you like HPL (not if you're a fan of the ultra-gruesome, not-in-the-style-of-HPL crap films like Re-animator and From Beyond) then you'll truly enjoy this movie.

Unfortunately, this documentary isn't all that well known. Truly a pity, because Raymond St-Jean as Director & scriptwriter shines, Serge Ladouceur's photography in the film is fantastic, & Christopher Heyerdahl as H.P. Lovecraft is *very* believable.

The film attempts to show the relationship of American gothic-horror writer,

H.P. Lovecraft, and the stories he wrote. Blending the most characteristic themes & characters [watch out for Cthullu!] from his novels/stories with his life, a whole new story is created in of itself. It almost seems written by Lovecraft himself.

I saw this movie in 1998 in Montreal at a friend's house, & have been trying to get a hold of it since! If you come across it, get it! [then email me & tell me where you found it, for I want it too]

As a fan of HP Lovecraft, I have read quite a few of his stories and although there is a common thread throughout most of them, sometimes it was hard to visualize the creatures he described. This movie however brings together more than a few scenes from his tales blending in the fantasy-horror with believable reality. This is exceptionally well done with profound subtlety, because most horror films become overblown comic ventures. This film is not really scary or horrifying itself, but is rather a fantastic realization of a masters vision. Truly, the folks that brought us this film should be given the opportunity to fully address a wider audience with a larger production.

I'm a Lovecraft fan for a couple of years now, reading the most of his books and stories, and viewing several films based on them. This one is by far the most satisfying. The film leans heavy on the acting instead of monsters or great filmsets. They only use one monster which is the worst scene of the film since it looked like a bad operated rubber doll. They could've easily cut that out or better: make a suggestion of the monster instead of showing it. Other than that, it's a thrill to see this film because the acting is really good. Heyerdahl is spectacular as H.P. Lovecraft himself. The rest of the cast is also very convincing except maybe for the character of Warren who was making it more of a stage play. The storyline is actually a combination of a couple of stories from Lovecraft, and it really works very well within this film. Sometimes i caught myself smiling just because it was so much fun to see all those stories touched with such integrity. If you like mystery and fantasy: try to get a hold of the DVD.

It is difficult to translate Lovecraft to film, both because of the fake introspection motif of a character who is by most standards completely obsolete and because H.P. rarely wrote books, instead being content with writing short stories.

That is why this format, by no means original, works very well with "the master"'s writing. It combines several ideas from various stories and creates a movie that doesn't cover any of them, but manages to capture the feel of Lovecraft's writing.

It is not a masterpiece, but as Lovecraft films go, it is one of the best, probably because Christopher Heyerdahl really manages to channel Lovecraft very well.