H. P. Lovecraft's the Old Ones

This movie is absolutely pure Lovecraft cheese. It has great practical effects for such a low budget film, and it has a perfect Lovecraftian dark ending! It's strange, bizarre and weird. I suggest watching it with an open mind and don't expect anything past cheesy acting and clunky dialogue. But it's lots of fun and I enjoyed it. Of course, I'm a huge Lovecraft fan and will try out a Lovecraft movie as soon as I find one. I've read many of his stories, and even like most adaptations. The only actor missing from the movie is Jeffrey Combs. If you get past the first third of the movie, you'll love the ride.

The film is actually a remake of the famous '80s "From Beyond," a former videotape hit. Of course with a much reduced budget, but instead a strange humor, and a few sequences changed here and there. It's not a badly made movie, if you compare it to other bigger or lower budget movies, for fans of the genre it's worth watching. And for those who haven't seen the original "From Beyond" yet, take the time to watch it. ("Something is coming").

The ending is predictable and leaves the impression of a hopeless situation for the "Good Samaritans", those who try to help. The funny thing is the leftovers sequence. Greatness, I have brought you gifts. What gifts? Leftovers?

See, this was a really low budget film with obviously not prime acting talent. But, you know what? They had fun with it. They knew their shortcomings and worked with what they had.

So it's a schlocky, campy, horror/comedy.

Proof that an entertaining Lovecraftian film CAN be made by an indie film outfit on a low budget and still not anger the Lovecraft fans (like WAYYYYYYY too many HPL movies do).

The creature effects weren't great, but they used practical effects and had fun with them. Made it have that campy 80s schlock horror feel.

I thought it was all worth a watch and I'll probably watch it again sometime.

OMG!!!!! What did I just watch? A horror movie? Or a comedy?

I think they tried to make a serious movie and totally misfired.

The script is low level moronically bad. The acting is non-existent.

Early on a kid's father gets murdered and he shows little remorse. The creatures all have the worst rubber masks you can ever imagine. And they used way too much red in the Karo syrup for the blood.

It's got dialog like: "You said it was dead." "It appears I was wrong."

Who wrote this crap?

Sorry, unlike some other reviews, I just don't think this was so bad it's good. It's just plain bad. Sorry.

Clearly made for next to nothing, this little movie still manages to effectively evoke the spirit of H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulu mythos of madness and despair. It also adds a twist in the shape of a spry and dry sense of humour. Lovecraft fans will get it, even if most viewers may be bemused and befuddled.

Limited resources aside, there are some memorable scenes from the David Lynch playbook and the plot involving the Old Ones, eldritch terrors, time travel, mind control, insanity and more is creepy fun.

Drawing inspiration from several Lovecraft classics, it gets the basics right.

The script, direction and some of the performances may be evocative of Ed Wood, but a thick slathering of humour - and even occasional outright comedy - shows the filmakers do not take themselves too seriously.

Rubber monsters, dime store costumes, bizarre locations and weird set dressing (the giant fire hydrant in the scrapyard is a doozy!) give it "so bad it's good" vibes, but it's better than that. It's got an authentic atmosphere, some surprisingly decent horror effects and gore, a good ending. And could well attract a cult following...