The Quantum Devil

H. P Lovecraft wrote The Call of Cthulhu in 1926 and ever since then filmmakers have attempted to bring the tentacled, mind-bending monster, to life. Although some productions have broken into cultural relevance with mainstream financial and critical success (The Mist, The Cabin in the Woods, Color out of Space and The Void) most attempts have been abysmal failures. The recent resurgence of Quantum Physics as a creative framework of cinematic exploration (Ant Man: Quantumania, Everything Everywhere All At Once) also opened new, and previously unexplored, avenues for genre filmmakers to probe and examine.

Director and Co-Writer Larry Wade Carrell is the latest filmmaker to venture into a creative amalgamation of these metacognitive and theoretical realms with The Quantum Devil.

An international team of scientists are summoned to a remote location in eastern Europe in an effort to breach the quantum barrier and travel to another dimension. Their shady pasts are revealed, and the true nature of the experiment is beyond anything they could have predicted.

The scope of creating a Lovecraftian horror film is a staggering challenge due to the magnitude of the literary creature and the profoundly existential mythology created since H. P Lovecraft's original works. Filmmakers often struggle to do these aspects justice and fail miserably in the execution of intricate, yet universal, meta-physical concepts. Carrell's approach to the topic is fantastically ambitious as he not only explores the Cthulhu mythos, but also connects it with more modern films, including the science fiction elements of Minority Report and Inception, the claustrophobic paranoia of Escape Room and Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, as well as hints of body-horror from Hellraiser and Dawn of the Dead. These elements blend together seamlessly enough to pay homage to the originals as well as justify the ambitions of the director.

The Quantum Devil does suffer significantly from a lack of likeable characters and an inordinate use of scientific jargon that feels rehearsed and unnaturally performed. The cast of scientists are truly unbelievable as serious Academics, with both female protagonists (Tamara Radovanovic and Ariadna Cabrol) either dressed as early 2000's ravers, prostitutes, or at best, Alice from the Resident Evil franchise. Their male counterparts, Tyler Tackett and Edward Apeagyei, are given more development and pathos, but ultimately, they too, are left floundering in a sea of chaotic dialogue and underdeveloped motivations. The standout performance of the film is undoubtably Neil Dickson (Inland Empire, Haunting of the Innocent) as the disgraced Physicist, Dr. Richard Cernovich, who calls the other scientists together to complete his quantum experiment. Dickson's intense, but fun performance is a much needed, professional, and devious delight.

The second half of The Quantum Devil leans heavily into the horror aspect of the Lovecraftian mythology, unfortunately, with SyFy channel quality CGI, but rectifies the flawed special effects with high-standard practical gore. The visualisation of Cthulhu is a stunning sight to behold, and the voice-acting cameo is a stroke of sublime genius.

Larry Wade Carrell is obviously a H. P Lovecraft fan and his attempt at creating something in the author's literary universe is commendable and brave. His affinity bleeds through The Quantum Devil's narrative, with easter-eggs and foreshadowing, playfully, sprinkled throughout the film, and although the lofty ambitions weren't fully realized, there is definitely some bloodstained fun to be had by all horror fans.

Well, as a lover of all things Lovecraft, I must say that I found this movie very entertaining and like my title says EXTREMELY imaginative. And, when we are talking Lovecraft, imagination frigg'n Rules!

How many films these days have this much creative force behind them? Yes, there were some rough areas with the acting. And I personally could have done without the constant sexual element (not to be a prude at all, I just felt cinematically it was distracting from the powerful otherworldly mood of the movie, that's all) But, honestly, TONS of imagination in this story. I know I keep saying that, but I am so used to supposed Horror films these days being so pedestrian or trying to be so 'Hip' But, not in this case. This one grabs you by the nutZ and drags you right into other dimensions and never lets go.

Maybe the people who have rated this so far just don't care for Lovecraftian films, IDK... But, if you are like me and you really love these kinds of stories, I truly cannot see how you could possibly not be greatly entertained by this one (I know that was a bit of a double negative there, but I think you get the idea... 😊)

Just the casting alone of the main 'Bad' guy and his, uh... 'Helpers' was frigg'n brilliant! Wow, I remember seeing that strange little guy in another very offbeat film, what a look! Anyway, it's got the whole scientists searching for the 'Quantum' Dimension kind of thing and we've definitely got the Old Gods and what I feel is a great mythology created in this story. If you are indeed a fan of all things Lovecraft, this movie has it all, I'm telling you.

Maybe I was a tad generous giving this film an '8', but you have to remember, I am thinking about all the other supposed Horror movies out there that to me anyway are FAR less interesting and entertaining than this one. So, on the curve so to speak, I think this one was pretty damn good!

Just for those of Lovecraftian lore. Others, apparently the current ones rating this excellent film at a 3.4 can certainly go elsewhere and kindly not P*ss all over the rating of a great movie like this one.

Given my fascination with the written work of H. P. Lovecraft, as well as the many movie adaptations of his work, then when I stumbled upon this 2023 movie titled "The Quantum Devil" and seeing the cover/poster, of course I had to sit down and watch the movie. Sure, I had not even heard about the movie prior to watching it, and I was a bit conflicted about the movie's clearly Lovecraftian-inspired artwork, but the word "Devil" didn't resonate with the usual contents of Lovecraftian work. But still, I opted to give the movie a fair chance.

Writers Larry Wade Carrell, Zeph E. Daniel, Stephen Johnston and Michael Muscal certainly were drawing inspiration from the Lovecraftian universe, and especially so from the 1996 movie "From Beyond". And I have to say that the connection to the classic "From Beyond" movie was certainly a nice touch to the movie. However, I must go on to say that the narrative and storyline in "The Quantum Devil" was slow paced, sort of boring and fell short of entertaining me. There just simply wasn't enough drive to the narrative, and there was too much trying to explain things and slap a science label on the abstract things we love about the Lovecraftian mythos.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, and they certainly had some interesting casting choices. I do enjoy watching movies where I am not familiar with the cast ensemble. And it should be noted that the acting performances in "The Quantum Devil" were fairly good.

Visually then "The Quantum Devil" was not a movie that made use of a whole lot of special effects. The movie was minimalistic in a sense, and that was a shame, because more dreadful imagery from the vast mythos of the Lovecraftian cosmos would have greatly improved upon the somewhat monotonous and bland storyline.

"The Quantum Devil" is a movie that will have appeal to fans of the Lovecraft mythos, whereas the movie will fall horribly short of entertaining the casual viewer. And if you sit down to watch director Larry Wade Carrell's 2023 movie "The Quantum Devil" because it is a horror movie, you're in for a sore ride.

My rating of "The Quantum Devil" lands on a four out of ten stars. There definitely was potential here, but it was drowned out in a sluggish narrative and an attempt to put everything into scientific boxes.

There have been so many attempts to expand of what Lovecraft wrote - and it usually falls short.

That is not the case this time. Sure, it is not a shining jewel of a movie by any means, probably due to lack of budget.

That said, long parts of the movie is carried by Neil Dickson and his wonderfully written monologues. There is several nods to other movies, and despite being filmed in Belgrad - something that usually show actors without much talent, that is not the case this time.

Some scenes ( like the shower scene ) goes on a little long and are oddly edited, while other scenes are perfectly edited.

Scenery and music and CGI are ok - and some of the makeup is quite good.

I would have liked more of the backstories of the characters filmed, with hints of what happened before the movie - instead of just having it narrated, but i get it - that budget again.

In the end, due to acting and well written story, any lover of Lovecraft should not miss this. If you have a date with a girl that like a little horror, but thinks the usual slasher movies are a little much - this is perfect.