The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu

OK, first off, if you're not into Lovecraft or the Cthulhu Mythos, you won't get all of the references and jokes, but that's not to say you won't have fun with this movie. Underneath its rough exterior lies a film with plenty of wit and charm, and a "deep" (pun intended) love of all things Lovecraft.

The delivery, as said, is a bit rough, but after only a short period I found myself easily forgiving any of the film's minor shortcomings. No expensive, top-of-the-line special effects, an excess of foul language that probably should have been scaled (ha!) back a bit, and a couple of performances that weren't anything said performers would want to put on their demo reel (read: stiff).

Still, those things aside, the story is fun and silly, and maintains a nice balance between the humor and drama, avoiding any awkward or jarring transitional moments between scenes (if nothing else could be said, at least take note of that element, which I found refreshing, as I've seen quite a few "blockbusters" of late that failed at it, unable to decide whether they're action or comedy vehicles).

A somewhat imperfect analogy would be to reference the TV series "Chuck." Take any old Lovecraftian Hammer film and drop Chuck & Morgan down in the middle of it as the protagonists and you've got a good idea of what I believe this movie was intended to be. I wouldn't go so far as to say it completely succeeded, but in the end I think it worked well enough to make the movie enjoyable.

Ultimately it's a light-hearted Cthulhu Mythos comic book on film, with nods to geeks, gamers and Lovecraft fans everywhere. Will it necessarily be everyone's cup of tea? Nah. What movie is? But if you're in the target audience, and can go into it with a smile on your face and no Cameronesque expectations, there's a good chance you'll have a good time and even find yourself later talking about it with friends over your Mt. Dew and Funyuns as you prepare to toss the percentiles and hope your character doesn't go insane.

This isn't a perfect movie, at places the acting and writing are a bit weak, but it's obvious that most of these people aren't hardened actors and that most of their effects are on a budget, and with that in mind, it's a damn good presentation.

It's not a movie for hardcore Lovecraft fans who'll cry if someone gets their mythos a bit wrong, as the movie(which largely loyal to the concept) isn't particularly about madness and does take its chance to have a bit of fun with the silliness inherent in just about any horror situation.

The start's a bit stuttering and not ideal, but by the end of the movie I was genuinely in love with it.

Ultimately, if you approach this movie without expecting a big-budget Hollywood execution, but instead a competent indie/student movie, you won't be disappointed.

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.

When the Cult of the Cthulu uncover the first of 2 pieces of a relic needed to unlock the Cthulu's prison, it's up to the last remaining bloodline of H.P. Lovecraft to protect the remaining piece from the Cult of Cthulu's possession or the Cthulu will be unleashed on the planet. For a movie about Cthulu, there's a COMPLETE absence of Cthulu. The whole film is a giant mis-step. Our main characters are extremely unlikable, the direction seems confused and the editing does nothing but squander what's left of this ultra low budget waste of time. There's nothing wrong with low budget films. I love them. This is a prime example of the kind of movies that give low budget films a bad rep. It's too cool for school attitude gets old in the first 10 minutes. "Fu@k" is said on an average of one time per sentence and feels so forced that it's uncomfortable. I shouldn't be consciously aware of how often the characters are swearing. It unnatural and completely out of place. The character of Paul is the only highlight of the whole group although since The Hangover, it seems like every fat hairy character in a comedy has to be the same person. There are a few moments of entertainment but 45 minutes in I was already calling "bullsh@t" and there was no help on the horizon. The editing takes away every comedic beat, or moment of action and pulverizes it into a helpless mess of mediocrity. This is being compared to Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer and Shaun of the Dead. That's like comparing Shark Attack 2 to Jaws and Alien. The only good thing I can say about it, is that 90 percent of the effects were done practically. That's a rare thing in movies like this these days and it's nice to see people still making an effort to do that, even if they don't look that good. I could recommend any number of other things to watch, but you're best bet is to just grab something randomly and watch it instead of this. There were two people responsible for this. One of them directed. One of them wrote it. They both produced it and edited it. There's the problem. They should've given the job to someone else and saved a lot of people an hour and a half. There aren't enough films with this subject matter. They didn't have to ruin it for everyone else.

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!...