Call of Cthulhu Year: 2005 Director: Andrew Leman Written by: Sean Branney Threat: Great Old One Weapon of Choice: Fear Based upon: story -- The Call of Cthulhu -- H.P. Lovecraft Color/B&W/3D: Black & White Language: Silent w/ English titles Country of Origin: United States IMDb page:

Other movies in this series:
None

The tyranist's thoughts
I'm a bigger Lovecraft fan than anyone I know, including the guy who first introduced me to his writings when I was a teenager (but oddly enough, before I knew Rish). Occasionally, I go really overboard in my fandom, but I couldn't geek out enough when I heard that the long rumoured independent version of The Call of Cthulhu was finally finished and available for purchase on DVD. I had my doubts, though, that anyone could do it justice and ended up holding on to it until Rish came to visit and I could inflict it on him as well.
How to sum up the plot? The difficulties of the plot is the very reason it was so hard to film in the first place. Let's just say that there is a threat to man older than anything we could possibly imagine. Everyone who starts to uncover the details of this threat, goes insane. And that's pretty much the whole film.
Hmm. That probably isn't going to get any of you to rent it, is it? But then, I just checked NetFlix and they don't even have it so the only way to get it is to buy it and I'm pretty sure that if you are willing to drop the $20 on the DVD without having seen it, you are as big a fan as I am.
Filmed in black & white and in a style meant to reflect the movies around at the time the story was published (1926), the thing that really made this movie was the stylistic choices. We don't get to see a lot of silent film anymore, but there's an art and a majesty to the form that really helps capture the story in a way that makes it feel authentic.
There probably isn't much I could say to talk you into watching this one if you weren't already so inclined. I found the movie beautiful and moving in parts, a little dull in others, but mostly satisfying. The filmmakers are to be applauded for their dedication in finally bringing this to the screen and in such a way that I can't doubt they are trying to honour Lovecraft.
Posted: February 1, 2006

Total Skulls: 11

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?