Forum Coordinators: RedPhantom
Poser - OFFICIAL F.A.Q (Last Updated: 2025 Feb 02 10:01 am)
"What do we know" Crawford Tillinghast said " of the world and the universe about us? Our means of receiving impressions are absurdly few, and our notions of surrounding objects infinitely narrow. We see things only as we are constructed to see them, and can gain no idea of their absolute nature. With five feeble senses we pretend to comprehend the boundlessly complex cosmos, yet other beings with a wider, stronger or different range of senses might not only see very differently the things we see, but might see and study whole worlds of matter, energy, and life which lie close at hand yet can never be detected with the senses we have. I have always believed that such strange, inaccessible worlds exist at our very elbows, and now I believe I have found a way to break down the barriers. I am not joking. Within twenty-four hours that machine near the table will generate waves acting on unrecognized sense-organs that exist in us as atrophied or rudimentary vestiges. We shall see that at which dogs howl in the dark, and that at which cats prick up their ears after midnight. We shall see these things, and other things which no breathing creature has yet seen. We shall overleap time, space and dimensions, and without bodily motion peer to the bottom of creation." From Beyond by H.P. Lovecraft, 1939, 1943 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei.
Yes, I remember that story - 'though it's been years since I read it. It's one of the better mythos short stories - but I don't remember a film based on it. (Not that that counts for much, the majority of films based on HPL's works are pretty dire, and I try to forget them as quickly as possible grin). Colour out of Space - now that's a brilliant story (and my personal favorite). The sense of creeping horror he manages to portray is excellent (and it lacks some of HPL's more... overblown descriptions). Paul
This DOES (IIRC) look like the version of Crawford Tillinghast's machine in the movie of "From Beyond" (which actually followed Lovecraft's vision, but with 70s logic instead of 20s... hence the two survivors - both insane - at the end are minorities...). The pinneal gland thing was also a 70s addition - Lovecraft never worried about a "scientific" basis for the ability to see things From Beyond... {MadRed, I read Time Machine years ago, and yes, the main character did have a name, and it was something like Filby, but I don't remember for sure. } If he had a name, it was something he claimed briefly in the story; the brilliant Leage of Extraodinary Gentlemen comic book (with option to become a movie sometime next year, or so I hear) has a back-up story in which the character introduces himself as "The Time Traveller" and claims to have no other name, or at least no name of import. And the story manages to tie H. Rider Haggard (sp), H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and H.G. Wells together brilliantly (though the main story manages to bring in EVERYTHING from the 1890s fiction - Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Jeckyll, Fu Manchu, Captain Nemo, all of it - great book).
Oh, the best Lovecraftian interpretation that I'm aware of was "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward," starring Vincent Price in the title role (I've only seen the last half hour of it on AMC, but, except for a love story tacked in by Hollywood, it followed the book fairly well - I don't know if they kept the title or not). "The Dunwich Horror" managed to catch the FEEL of Lovecraft's book, but ignored all of the elements of it except for names, and made it a very typical sixties horror film. It's a fun movie. Oh, "The Colour Out Of Space" is an interesting, disturbing story - and it spawned two movies, each taking a few steps farther from the original... Both were titled "I Married a Monster from Outer Space."
Filby as I recall is the dudes name and as someone mentioned there is a reference to another individual who he knows and then later meets again, but at the second meeting he claims to be a distant relative to himself. Man, it's been a long time since I've seen that movie. I didn't know the Dunwich horror was written by HPL, I'm currently in the process of reading all of his works. I remember seeing a book in a united store when I was about 6, the cover art really disturbed me...the book was "I have no mouth, but I must scream, I believe it was by HPL. Funny how somethings stick in your head. If I remeber right it was next to a copy The incredible Dr. Somes... As far as the movies go there were some films made about ?10? years ago...From beyond, The Reanimator, And one called Cthulu House although I don't think HPL actually wrote that last one.
The film (The Dunwich Horror) was certainly based on parts of HPL's works - Elijah and Wilbur Whatley being the brothers in the story but, like Scarab, I don't recall the actual title of the story but I'm pretty certain it wasn't The Dunwich Horror. "The Reanimator" was based (very very loosely) on "The Strange Case Of Charles Dexter Ward" And yes, "I have no mouth..." was by Harlan Ellison. I'd love to see a film based on "Colour out of Space" (done well) or "At the Mountains of Madness". Paul
{I remember seeing a book in a united store when I was about 6, the cover art really disturbed me...the book was "I have no mouth, but I must scream, I believe it was by HPL.} Nope - this was one of the first published works of Harlan Ellison. I haven't read it myself, but from what I've heard it's VERY disturbing, and very good. HPL wrote "The Dunwich Horror"; it was his (IIRC) fourth longest single story (the Dream Series was his longest "composite" story, and his longest stories were "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward", "Herbert West: Reanimator" (the VERY loose basis of the three Reanimator movies, two of which I've seen parts of, and "At the Mountains of Madness"). It featured a professor from "Miskatonic University" dealing repeatedly with the Evils of the Whately family, who may have been descendents of Salem witches and who trafficked with beings from Beyond... One of my favorite HPL stories - and one of the first I ever read - was "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," which might have made a decent (and, for his stuff, relatively low budget) movie back in the days of black and white (in color, I think it would lose some of its creepiness, though). There is a book called "Flicker" which I have yet to find a copy of but from what I've heard, it begins as a discussion of the movie adaptations of his work (including some serious reviews), but then spawns out into a horror novel in its own right... Anyone here familiar with the Canadian grunge band "Darkest of the Hillside Thickets"? They have based about 90% of their music on the Cthulhu mythos (they also use comic books for inspiration - one neat song was based on a story arc from Mike Mignola's Hellboy). Along these lines, in the sixties, a band called Traffic recorded an album called "HP Lovecraft;" allegedly also based on his works. I've seen copies of it but never actually listened to it.
Ooo yes, I'd like to see a film based on Shadow Over Innsmouth too. Flicker I read quite some time back, I don't recall the author but it was a damn' good book. Cthulhu2000 (an anthology of non-HPL stories based on the mythos) has some very good stories in too. Never heard of "Darkest of the Hillside Thickets" - I'll have to keep a lookout for their album/albums. And I think it was Traffic that recorded the album in the late 60's - I've heard of it, but never seen a copy Paul
The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets generally go around to sci-fi and game conventions. I'f found most of their stuff available only from Pagan Press or Wizard's Attic. IIRC, Pagan Press is at www.paganpress.com, but I could be wrong (I know they're linked from the site at www.gamebase7.org on the links page (I wrote that page) though...)
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