Cthulhu (2007)

Wonderful character development!

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

If you think of this as a SyFy movie of the week, then you are entering into it in the right state of mind. I would not call it cheesy, but it has that low budget feel. The script and dialog could be better, along with some of the acting. It is VERY loosely based in the Lovecraft mythos, but does hit some of the basics. Tori Spelling is mediocre in this role, however she does pull off some of her scenes rather well in the middle of the movie. I have to say her acting at the end of the movie was very over- acted and almost laughable. Luckily, she is not the lead in this movie and the lead did a fairly good job(not great, but decent). If you are looking for strict adherence to the mythos or style of Lovecraft this movie is not for you, but if you like B movies you are surely going to enjoy this movie. This move felt like a fan fiction with higher quality production than usually seen, but that is part of the charm in my opinion.

I did not have very high hopes about this movie. That was good. When I first saw the trailer I thought "Oh, for a private production by a bunch of college guys this isn't half bad" and then I found out that this was not the case. It was an actual production, a "real" movie. Oh hell.The worst thing about this movie wasn't the sometimes really bad acting, not the tendency to always follow the rule "when not knowing what to do with the story, throw in a weird montage" or even the lack of an actual plot line. The worst thing was that in some scenes it got your hopes up. It was like "Oh, oh, here they can save it! They can make it all better! Just let them make this into... no. Not this time either." It was a never ending anti-climax.And yes, the ending is yet another case of that sickness. They could have saved it a little there. They could have blackened out the last scene and then showed us just a silhouette way out in the ocean. Something that would make us understand that He is coming. That this really is the end. Instead they just goes "Let's finish this off quickly and disturbingly, come on!" This movie never ever demand any sanity rolls whatsoever, so you RPG fans can just forget to bring your D100 along.

A true to life portrayal of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulu mythology has rarely been seen over the past 40 or so years, especially installment with decent budgets. The few attempts to capture this level of pure insanity have all fallen far far short and this rendition is no saving grace. "Cthulhu" centers around and gay college professor returning home for his mothers funeral, only to discover that his once serene hometown is now the backbone of a malevolent cult, and that he himself, plays a key role in their nefarious machinations. I mention the fact the he is a gay man merely because this is what this movie is about. You heard me, "Cthulhu" is more about a mans struggle between family and his sexual orientation, than about cult worship and the resurrection of ancient deities. Imagine if Lord of the Rings was more about the strong homo-erotic undertones between Sam and Frodo, and less about complete salvation of their entire world. If you can picture that, then you have "Cthulhu"; pretty much all 100 minuets of it I would say. The fact that he is gay does play into the overall storyline, but is overly focused upon, thus resulting in a incoherent story plagued throughout with poorly ad-libbed dialog and plot progression. The story involves several intense moments of emotion and terror, but poor writing and performance by the actors leaves these scenes lifeless and disorienting. One scene literally starts with a discussion about monsters and cult worship, and abruptly ends with argument about a severe lack of jelly on his PB&J. Its OK to feel like you need to read that last sentence again. One could argue that these moments are intentionally puzzling, as to capture the sense of insanity that The Cthulhu Mythos is most know for. Sorry guys not buying it. The direction choices are neither clever nor a foundation of the film fundamentals, what ever they may be, but rather a way of filling space between love scenes and ultimately dumbing down the entire film. However, beautiful imagery and a sparse, but superbly conducted soundtrack make for a stunning viewing experience. Unique and creative camera work establish the drama in more ways than the actors themselves, but a sever lack of music during several key points of the film does little to keep audience's attention during dialog heavy scenes. Anyone interested in a career behind a camera should invest the time into this film for its great camera direction, which though stylish and well refined, is not enough to save this film in its entirety. From the start of the film, audiences are left just far enough out of the story loop to leave you guessing. Guessing what? Perhaps whats going on? Perhaps why are some of the actors incredibly loud all the time, while others can barely be heard? Perhaps why am I still watching this movie? Perhaps the eeriness of devout hordes of ancient demon worshipers is a task that can only be handled by big budget studios and a top list cast. Or, maybe, you just need someone out there who actually wants to make a movie about the Cthulhu Mythos, and not just stick a big "Cthulu was here" sticker on a homosexual love story. If your going to make a movie about Cthulhu, make it about Cthulhu. Life, please don't send me deceitful crap like this again.

Despite the name of the movie, this is actually an adaption of "The Shadow Over Innsmouth". I guess technically it's okay, since those things in that story worship Cthulhu, but still a bit misleading. I had heard bad things about it, mostly Tori Spelling being in it, but after actually giving it a chance and watching it, I was pleasantly surprised (except by Tori Spelling). And enthralled.It's very slow paced, subtle sort of movie. Very picturesque, relying on a creepy atmosphere more than actual horror. This is actually quite true to the story, which relies on that air of mystery and weirdness until the ending. That is where this movie veers off a lot. It's got a much more apocalyptic ending, something more out of a Stephen King novel or maybe John Carpenter movie than you really found in Lovecraft.I guess there are two controversial features to it. Firstly, the gay angle. I didn't even remember that until I saw the previews on the DVD. The actual movie itself isn't especially graphic in the regard, just really two scenes. Frankly, as a straight man, I found the scene of a half naked Tori Spelling more unpleasant.And speaking of that, the second controversy is Tori Spelling. While I think actually she makes a perfect visual representation of a Lovecraftian horror, at the same time, she's one of those people that you instantly and only think of as being that person, not the character they are playing (like say, Mr. T or David Hasselhoff). So when she's on screen, it really hurts the suspension of disbelief that is necessary for a horror movie. At least a serious horror movie, maybe she'd fit into one of those campy Stuart Gordon movies.But beyond that, I think it's just a very good movie. Some parts are just creepy as hell, which is I think what makes a horror movie successful.