Beyond the Wall of Sleep

This movie is very loosely based on Lovecraft's original short story, and that only as a premise upon which the film makers desperately attempted to make a movie. Even the cover art of the DVD was misleading because none of the imagery on it ever appeared in the final version. Anyone who claims that this movie remains faithful to the original short story either read a different story or watched a different movie than I did. There was nothing even remotely resembling Amducious in the original story (where did that come from?), just as there was no rampant blood and guts, no conflict amongst the "alienists" in the asylum, no woman with an exposed brain (rip off of "Hannibal," no doubt), no brains in bottles, and no "evil" entity attempting to break through Sam's body. Taking some creative license is expected, but this movie just blatantly ripped off a Lovecraft premise and turned it into a lame joke. As a Lovecraft reader and fan I was offended and angry that his name and the title of his short story were stapled to this travesty just to sell tickets and DVD's. What a rip off! No, this is not a work of comic film noir genius and wasn't the least bit scary, people. If the DVD had any special features with the directors or producers stating that they were not really serious and that it was supposed to be more like a cheesy serial comedic send up with tongue firmly implanted in cheek I would go along with the joke, but I see no indication that the joke was intentional. Simply stated, this movie just plain sucked, and if I actually believed in such things I would have to say that H. P. Lovecraft is probably spinning in his grave.

I found this on the $1 rack at the video store and said "ooh, Lovecraft." and thusly rented what I thought would be a fun movie to scare the crap out of myself with at 2am on a Friday Night.

Well, it scared me all right, but not with the unspeakable horrors usually expected of something with the name H.P. Lovecraft on it, but with some pretty horrific acting, poor sound equalization and camera angles even my mom could pull off. I expected cheese...you can't watch a movie like that and not expect at least 40-50% cheese but sheesh, there's a limit! It might have been OK had it not been for some pretty unimaginative camera work (a low budget is no excuse for doing nothing more than pointing and shooting, unless the budget didn't include bendable wrists or tripods) and the acting was so distracting that I lost track of what the heck was going on.

A couple of handsome guys in the movie didn't quite make up for the "What the *beep* just happened?" feeling when the end credits finally rolled around, leaving me with the thought that I could have bought some M&Ms with that $1 instead.

I've seen hundreds of B-horror movies and direct-to-DVD schlock, but this film has managed to take the trophy prize for worst ever. Trust me when I say that is NOT an easy prize to win. I've seen movies that I thought would make me tear the eyes out of my head...but, somehow, none can compare to "Beyond the Wall of Sleep."

When trying to make a list of all of the things wrong with this movie, the task becomes so overwhelming that it's easier to say that nothing is right with it. From the bad wigs to the 2nd-grade-school-play acting, it's just one abomination after the next until the credits roll. Parts of the film are actually unbearable to look at because the editing is so intentionally spastic and flickering, it feels like you're going to have a seizure. Other parts are so slow and unedited, you feel like you're going to hang yourself if they don't end. Suffice it to say that none of the movie manages to be in between those two extremes. Truly a terrible attempt at...whatever it was they were attempting.

Best line: "My brains!!!!"

My friends and I rented this movie thinking it would be a creepy adaptation of a good Lovecraft story, since a couple of us are Lovecraft fans. However, what we got was something very different than what we bargained for. In short, to us this was not a straight horror movie; it's a dramatic, sardonic comedy that just happens to have a horror-based plot. To me, its overall execution seemed more like a film noir parody than anything. One look/listen at the cheap visuals, low-quality audio, melodramatic acting, horrible scripting, and downright hilarious one-liners makes it fairly obvious that this is not a movie to be taken seriously. At least, we hope not. For what it is (or at least what we hope it is), it was very well-done in that it was pure entertainment, nothing more. If you want some gore, insanity, and slight creepiness to accompany your laughter, then this is the film for you.

If this is what the makers of this film take from Lovecraft, I pity them. Lovecraft gives you the skeleton of something horrible and lets your imagination flesh in the rest. That's what makes him so fun to read. You come away from the story IMAGINING other worlds and endless possibilities. This movie leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination. In fact it takes particular delight in showing you every gory detail. This should have "Fangoria" on the top of the box not "H.P. Lovecraft's". If you are a fan of Lovecraft and want to see a good tale about Elder gods, don't rent this one. I know it's hard not to grab anything with "Lovecraft" at the top but don't fall for it. The makers of this film stuck his name on their product to get more viewers. You will waste your time and fall for their ploy if you rent this because you like Lovecraft. Don't say I didn't warn you.