Tag Archives: Lovecraftian

Spring (2014)

March 30, 2022 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Evan (Lou Taylor Pucci), a young American guy, visits Italy and starts dating an attractive woman called Louise (Nadia Hilker)… who is actually a 2,000-year-old immortal mutation.

This immortality is maintained via Louise’s habit of getting pregnant every 20 years in the spring, after which her body uses cells in the embryo she carries to recreate herself. During this phase she transforms into different creatures as the process continues.

Sometimes she can be hairy... — Sometimes she can be hairy…

...and sometimes she can be slimy — …and sometimes she can be slimy

This is a nicely-made, rather leisurely-paced romantic/body horror/monster movie: a bit like watching Richard Linklater’s BEFORE SUNRISE and finding out that the pretty girl can grow tentacles!
Actually, Roger Ebert summed it up well, saying that it was like ‘a hybrid of Richard Linklater and H.P. Lovecraft.’

Ah, the romance of young love... — Ah, the romance of young love…

It's behind you, Evan... — It’s behind you, Evan…

SPRING was directed by Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson (who also wrote the screenplay). Moorhead and Benson would go on to direct SYNCHRONIC (2019), the Marvel miniseries MOON KNIGHT (2022), two episodes of the miniseries ARCHIVE 81 (2022) and the subtly Lovecraftian film THE ENDLESS (2017).

Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson at an event for SPRING

The Void (2016)

February 6, 2022 Ken Miller 2 Comments

Slimy, Lovecraftian tentacles everywhere... — Lovecraftian tentacles everywhere…

After a person is killed and burnt at a farmhouse, a small group of characters become trapped in a hospital… where they have to deal with hooded cultists and horrible, slimy, mutated creatures .

THE VOID was written and directed by Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski (who is also a prosthetic make-up effects artist). The Canadian movie stars Aaron Poole, Kenneth Welsh, Ellen Wong & Kathleen Munroe, and it was mainly funded via normal channels, though the creature effects were actually crowdfunded on Indiegogo.

A nurse's body becomes enveloped by an enormous tumorous mass, covered in slimy skin and tentacles — A nurse’s body becomes enveloped by a tumorous mass and tentacles

THE VOID is an effective, low budget horror film that juggles such disparate elements as surgical horror, Lovecraftian cosmic eeriness & mysterious cults.

Channeling the likes of Carpenter, Fulci & Clive Barker, this movie boasts decent shock moments, some effective practical creature effects, a fairly unpredictable plot, plentiful gore and mysterious symbolism… just what does that triangle represent?

It's that triangle again... — It’s that triangle again…

...and here's the triangle once more... a portal — …and here’s the triangle once more… a portal

Maybe the story gets a little too convoluted, and some things just don’t get explained, but I think this adds to the obscureness of the whole production, which is a brutal, grim slice of 80s throwback horror/creature feature cinema. Great stuff.

That shot of the operating room looks grimly cool, so here it is again... — That shot in the operating room looks grimly cool, so here it is again…

...and again, in close-up — …and here it is yet again, in close-up

Finally, here are some cool posters/artwork for the film…

Sacrifice (2020)

July 11, 2021 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Poster crop — Robed figures and tentacles…

Isaac (Ludovic Hughes) and his pregnant wife Emma (Sophie Stevens) visit a Norwegian village to sell the house that he has recently inherited. The couple soon discover that Isaac’s father was murdered many years ago and they also find out that the locals follow an old tradition that worships a tentacled deity.

SACRIFICE is a British-made Scandi-folk horror film in which tentacled toys and artwork appear in local shops, homes and Isaac’s childhood bedroom, which gets you hoping that you will eventually get to see this Lovecraftian god-monster, but this isn’t the case, unfortunately, and there are just a couple of shots of tentacles that feature in Emma’s nightmares.

An artwork depicting The Slumbering One: we needed to see this monster in the movie!

Isaac stares at something horrific (that we never get to see)!

With Barbara Crampton as the local policewoman/cult leader, WICKER MAN-style locals, robed figures with burning torches, references to The Slumbering One and various dream sequences, the film attempts to be a Lovecraft-style horror yarn, but mainly fails. This is because the dialogue and acting lacks subtlety, the plot is rather aimless and the makers are unable to properly convey the feeling of cosmic dread needed for such a story.

Monster Zone

Tag Archives: Lovecraftian

Spring (2014)

The Void (2016)

Sacrifice (2020)

Devoted to every kind of movie and TV monster, from King Kong to Godzilla, from the Blob to Alien.