H.P. Lovecraft in Film and Series - The Lovecraftian Movie List
A list of titles based on, inspired by, or with echoes of H.P. Lovecraft's works. Adaptations as well as Lovecraftian works in chronological order. The list is a constant work in progress as I'm adding new titles and notes regularly.
I've also started adding a score from 1-5 to the films I've watched, 5 points being the most Lovecraftian in my humble opinion (mostly direct adaptations). The HPLP (Howard Phillips Lovecraft Points) rating has nothing to do with the quality or enjoyment factor of the films, just the amount of 'Lovecraft' I experienced and found in them. Anthologies and series are purely rated on the segments and episodes noted in the commentaries. And again, it's just what I got out of the works. Also a work in progress, some titles I have yet to see, others I should rewatch through a Lovecraftian lens I guess, before adding a score. Use the 'detailed view' to see the scores and explanations.
I've also started adding a score from 1-5 to the films I've watched, 5 points being the most Lovecraftian in my humble opinion (mostly direct adaptations). The HPLP (Howard Phillips Lovecraft Points) rating has nothing to do with the quality or enjoyment factor of the films, just the amount of 'Lovecraft' I experienced and found in them. Anthologies and series are purely rated on the segments and episodes noted in the commentaries. And again, it's just what I got out of the works. Also a work in progress, some titles I have yet to see, others I should rewatch through a Lovecraftian lens I guess, before adding a score. Use the 'detailed view' to see the scores and explanations.
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- DirectorsLeopold WhartonTheodore WhartonStarsJean SothernHoward EstabrookAllan MurnaneMyra Maynard, is plagued by a wide variety of metaphysical assaults by the corrupt Black Order, a secret organization which uses magic, curses and any supernatural means possible to achieve its ends.Occult mysteries in the era of H.P. Lovecraft. Aleister Crowley stars in this serial.
HPLP: 2/5 - DirectorDuke WorneStarsBen F. WilsonNeva GerberWilliam DyerCarter Holmes, master criminologist, must help the oft-kidnapped Ruth Stanhope to find the 9 daggers that will unlock the secret of the cursed Devil's Trademark!Occult mysteries in the era of H.P. Lovecraft. If Lovecraft ever saw these is unknown but they do have a lot of themes Lovecraft used in his work. In this case ancient curses, secret societies and the imagery of an octopus.
HPLP: 2/5 - DirectorsWill S. DavisFred SittenhamStarsJ. Robert PaulineViolet MacMillanPaul PanzerA murderous gang of mysterious creepy killers mark a young heiress for death. They are led by a ghostly voice known only as the "The Mystery Mind." Will her finance save her just in time, and stop the gang from finding the lost Treasure of Atlantis? Who is "The Mystery Mind"? Alas, we will never find out the answers, as the serial is believed lost. Or will we? Stay tune.Occult mysteries in the era of H.P. Lovecraft. If Lovecraft ever saw these is unknown as but they do have a lot of themes Lovecraft used in his work.
HPLP: - DirectorStuart PatonStarsGrace DarmondHarry CarterGeorge ChesebroThe true story of Lord Francis Hope, who inherits the Hope Diamond and marries showgirl May Yohe'. Lord Francis Hope gambles away the family fortune and May Yohe' leaves him--another suspected curse of owning the Hope Diamond.Occult mysteries in the era of H.P. Lovecraft. If Lovecraft ever saw these is unknown but they do have a lot of themes Lovecraft used in his work. Here the titular Hope Diamond itself with it's ancient Egytian roots, which is portrayed as being cursed with a dark, ancient power that brings relentless misfortune, madness, and death to all who possess it.
HPLP: - DirectorFrank LloydStarsLeslie HowardHeather AngelValerie TaylorA young American man comes to believe that he can will himself back to London in the time of the American Revolution and meet his ancestors, who lived in the house he has just inherited.Of Lovecraftian interest. Supposedly inspired H.P. Lovecraft's The Shadow out of Time. The deep psychological and existential themes of distorted reality, alienation, and the idea of consciousness extending beyond the limitations of time and space, appealed greatly to Lovecraft personally and reflected his own cosmic philosophy. Shown at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival 2011.
HPLP: - DirectorsChristian NybyHoward HawksStarsKenneth TobeyMargaret SheridanJames ArnessScientists and American Air Force officials fend off a bloodthirsty alien organism while at a remote arctic outpost.Lovecraftian themes and overtones. An alien entity in an Arctic setting, that defies human understanding and threatens humanity's place in the natural order. Echoes of At the Mountains of Madness. John Carpenter based the 1982 The Thing on this film. Adaptation of Who Goes There? (John W. Campbell).
HPLP: 3/5 - DirectorWilliam Cameron MenziesStarsRichard CarlsonVeronica HurstKatherine EmeryA Scotsman named Gerald breaks his engagement to Kitty, moves to his uncle's castle. Kitty and her aunt follow him weeks later, finding Gerald aged.Lovecraftian themes and overtones. A monstrous, frog-like, and profoundly ancient being that is revealed to be the centuries-old, hideously devolved patriarch of a Scottish noble family. Elements from Charles Dexter Ward, The Outsider, The Lurking Fear and Clark Ashton Smith's Tsathoggua.
HPLP: 3/5 - DirectorJack ArnoldStarsRichard CarlsonJulie AdamsRichard DenningA strange prehistoric beast lurks in the depths of the Amazonian jungle. A group of scientists try to capture the animal and bring it back to civilization for study.Lovecraftian creature mostly. The Gill-man resembles a Deep One, a terrifyingly ancient, amphibious humanoid, a living fossil representing a missing link from a primordial era. Shown at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival 2014.
HPLP: 2/5 - StarsReginald TateIsabel DeanHugh KellyFollows the first manned space flight from Australia. In its return to Earth, from the crew of 3, only Victor Carroon, is still aboard. Examinations reveal that something attacked the crew as they were on course back to Earth.Lovecraftian themes and overtones. A truly alien entity that defies human understanding, leading to body horror through grotesque transformation and highlighting humanity's powerlessness and scientific hubris when confronted with cosmic forces beyond its grasp. Only the first two episodes of this serial survived.
HPLP: 1/5 - StarsJohn RobinsonMonica GreyHugh GriffithProfessor Quatermass is trying to perfect a dangerously unstable nuclear-powered rocket engine. After a disastrous test firing in Australia, his soon-to-be son-in-law, Captain John Dillon, draws the Professor's attention to a strange hollow meteorite which interrupted an Army Training exercise. Quatermass and Dillon investigate, and discover a vast government production plant which has some connection with the meteorites. After coming in contact with the noxious gas contained inside the meteorites, Dillon is taken away by the plant's security guards. When Quatermass presses this issue with an old civil service acquaintance, he learns that the plant is supposedly making synthetic food. Both men learn that this is untrue, and that the true products of the plant will threaten the world itself.Lovecraftian themes and overtones. Whether it's the 1955 serial or the 1957 film, Quatermass II is strongly Lovecraftian due to its themes of cosmic conspiracy, infiltration, an unfeeling alien intelligence, and the terrifying loss of individual identity.
HPLP: - DirectorVal GuestStarsBrian DonlevyJack WarnerRichard WordsworthProfessor Bernard Quatermass' manned rocket ship returns to Earth, but two of the astronauts are missing and the survivor seems ill and unable to communicate.Lovecraftian themes and overtones. While the core story and themes are similar to the BBC serial, the film version often heightened the visual and visceral horror, making its Lovecraftian elements even more pronounced for many viewers. An unfathomable, transforming alien entity that preys on humanity through body horror and assimilation, underscoring humanity's cosmic insignificance and the terrifying consequences of scientific transgression.
HPLP: 3/5 - DirectorJack ArnoldStarsJohn AgarLori NelsonJohn BromfieldMen capture the Creature from the Black Lagoon and make him an aquarium attraction, from which he escapes.Lovecraftian creature mostly. The Gill-man resembles a Deep One, a terrifyingly ancient, amphibious humanoid, a living fossil representing a missing link from a primordial era.
HPLP: 1/5 - DirectorsLeslie NormanJoseph LoseyStarsDean JaggerEdward ChapmanLeo McKernA radioactive, mud-like creature terrorizes a Scottish village.Lovecraftian themes and overtones. Cosmic dread through its portrayal of an unfeeling, all consuming force that emerges from beyond human experience, embodying a primal, undefinable horror. Echoes of The Colour Out of Space.
HPLP: 3/5 - DirectorVirgil W. VogelStarsJohn AgarCynthia PatrickHugh BeaumontA party of archaeologists discovers the remnants of a mutant five-millennia-old Sumerian civilization living beneath a glacier atop a mountain in Mesopotamia.Lovecraftian themes and overtones. The depiction of an isolated, decaying, and ancient civilization hidden deep beneath the Earth. Echoes of The Shadow over Innsmouth, The Lurking Fear and At the Mountains of Madness. Eventually more Jules-Vernesque though.
HPLP: 1/5 - DirectorEdward L. CahnStarsChester MorrisTom ConwayCathy DownsA mysterious hypnotist reverts his beautiful assistant back into the form of a prehistoric sea monster that she was in a past life.Lovecraftian creature mostly, allthough this has some Lovecraftian ideas as well involving a creature from the sea being summoned from beyond time and space. It plays with notions of ancient life and altered states but its narrative and thematic focus remain firmly within the realm of a conventional monster movie.
HPLP: 1/5 - DirectorJohn SherwoodStarsJeff MorrowRex ReasonLeigh SnowdenA scientist captures the Creature and turns him into an air-breather, only for him to escape and start killing.Lovecraftian creature mostly. The Gill-man resembles a Deep One, a terrifyingly ancient, amphibious humanoid, a living fossil representing a missing link from a primordial era.
HPLP: 1/5 - DirectorDon SiegelStarsKevin McCarthyDana WynterLarry GatesA small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.Lovecraftian themes and overtones. Both the 1956 and 1978 versions effectively translate the fear of an insidious, alien threat that erodes identity and instills cosmic dread. The 1956 film, in particular, achieves this with remarkable subtlety and atmosphere for its time, making it a classic example of cosmic horror.
HPLP: - DirectorJohn SherwoodStarsGrant WilliamsLola AlbrightLes TremayneRocks from a meteor which grow when in contact with water threaten a sleepy Southwestern desert community.Lovecraftian themes and overtones. The sheer, unfeeling alienness of an unstoppable natural phenomenon from space, which highlights humanity's fragility and insignificance in the face of vast, cosmic processes. Echoes of The Colour Out of Space. Big monoliths instead of an alien colour.
HPLP: 2/5 - DirectorVal GuestStarsBrian DonlevyJohn LongdenSidney JamesProfessor Quatermass, trying to gather support for his Lunar colonisation project, is intrigued by mysterious traces that have been showing up.Lovecraftian themes and overtones. The film adaptation of the BBC serial Quatermass II, significantly deepens the Lovecraftian themes established in the first film by introducing cosmic conspiracy and infiltration, portraying an unfeeling alien intelligence that views humanity as a mere resource, leading to a chilling sense of paranoia and the terrifying loss of individual identity.
HPLP: 2/5 - DirectorJacques TourneurStarsDana AndrewsPeggy CumminsNiall MacGinnisAmerican professor John Holden arrives in London for a parapsychology conference, only to find himself investigating the mysterious actions of Devil-worshipper Julian Karswell.Lovecraftian themes and overtones. A skeptical protagonist facing an ancient, implacable, and ultimately undeniable supernatural force (the demon and the curse) that shatters his reality, emphasizing psychological dread and the insignificance of humanity. Adaptation of Casting the Runes by M.R. James.
HPLP: 3/5 - DirectorRoger CormanStarsPaul BirchBeverly GarlandMorgan JonesAn alien agent from the distant planet Davana is sent to Earth via a high-tech matter transporter. There, he terrorizes Southern California in an attempt to acquire blood for his dying race, the result of a devastating nuclear war.Lovecraftian creatures mostly. An unknowable tentacled extraterrestrial threat that views humanity as a mere resource, coupled with the protagonist's growing dread as he uncovers the horrific truth.
HPLP: - DirectorsRiccardo FredaMario BavaStarsGianna Maria CanaleCarlo D'AngeloDario MichaelisParis. Young girls are found dead, drained of their blood. A journalist investigates these murders while the beautiful Gisele, from a noble family, tries to seduce him.Lovecraftian themes and overtones. The ancient Countess Du Grand (and her descendant), who sustains an unnatural, prolonged existence maintaining a semblance of youth while embodying a horrifying, primeval hunger. Faint echoes of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.
HPLP: 1/5 - DirectorQuentin LawrenceStarsForrest TuckerLaurence PayneJennifer JayneA series of decapitations on a Swiss mountainside appear to be connected to a mysterious radioactive cloud.Lovecraftian themes and overtones. Massive, cyclopean, tentacled alien eyes that descend from a mysterious, radioactive cloud dwelling over a remote Swiss mountain. Echoes of At the Mountains of Madness.
HPLP: 3/5 - StarsAndré MorellCec LinderAnthony BushellA team of scientists search for the origin and purpose of a mysterious capsule found on a building site.Lovecraftian themes and overtones. The discovery of an ancient, abominable extraterrestrial spacecraft buried deep beneath London.
HPLP: 3/5 - DirectorsIrvin S. Yeaworth Jr.Russell S. Doughten Jr.StarsSteve McQueenAneta CorsautEarl RoweAn alien lifeform consumes everything in its path as it grows and grows.Lovecraftian themes and overtones. A shapeless, rapidly growing, gelatinous mass of extraterrestrial origin that consumes all living matter in its path. Echoes of The Colour Out of Space.
HPLP: 3/5
