Shuttered Room, The (1967)

The Shuttered Room, by all accounts, should have been much better than it was. Carol Lynley and Gig Young star in this piece based on a Lovecraft/Derleth short story, but the film leaves behind its Mythos roots in favor of a more conventional mystery plot: Susannah Whateley (Lynley) returns to her rural childhood town with her rich husband to use her long-deceased parents' old mill as a summer cottage. A family curse is supposedly afoot, and a mystery lingers about what horror lurks in the shuttered room connecting house and mill. Lynley, an actress I've never really cared much for, plays the part no different from what I remember in other pictures - fragile, doe-eyed, stilted. Young plays her rich, older (MUCH OLDER) husband who has a Thunderbird and a knack for karate - this sounds like it ought to contribute more camp factor than it does, but sadly it does not. A somewhat redeeming factor is a pre-Devils Oliver Reed (employing his dreadful American accent) playing a lascivious country boy hellbent on getting with Lynley... whom I believe was also his character's first cousin. Basil Kirchin's jazz-steeped score is unsettling and interesting if not a bit out of place at times (he would go on to use a similar style to much better effect for Robert Fuest's camp masterpiece The Abominable Dr Phibes (1971) starring Vincent Price). While the production is pretty slick, the reveal at the end is rather unexciting - especially for those expecting something Lovecraftian - and getting to that point is a bit of a chore. I would only recommend this one to die-hard Oliver Reed fans, or Lovecraft cinema completists.

5/10

From Beyond (1986)

Hot off of Re-Animator (1985), Stuart Gordon and crew sought to make another Lovecraft hit with From Beyond. While the film has an interesting premise--a scientific device called the Pretorious Resonator allows interaction with a parallel dimension via stimulation of the pineal gland, causing the death of its creator and the suffering of other witnesses--the script had too many flimsy moments. At the center of the film is Jeffrey Combs, wonderfully playing his neurotic scientist character. The supporting cast is hit and miss: Ken Foree and Ted Sorel both give solid performances as Bubba the cop and Dr Pretorious, respectively. On the other hand, Barbara Crampton's psychiatrist character was irritating and inconsistent. She's unrealistically rash and irresponsible, even with the film's attempts to explain. The subplot involving her rivalry with the head psychiatrist at the Miskatonic Hospital was painfully unprofessional and a chore to witness. Additionally, I felt many of the elements of the film, especially those involving sex and bondage, were juvenile. What I did enjoy was the color aesthetic--saturated neon pinks and purples--harkening back to the Corman days of yore and the Thing-inspired special effects, with a generous supply of gibbering, shape-shifting masses and 80s lightning.

6/10

Haunted Palace, The (1963)

From B-movie production company American International comes The Haunted Palace (1963), directed by Roger Corman and starring Vincent Price. Based on the HP Lovecraft novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, The Haunted Palace is chock full of delicious gothic set pieces and some great necromantic sorcery. What stood out immediately was the color palette: bright blues and dingy browns but most distinctively was the hint of brilliant, sickly green that just oozes evil. Vincent Price gives a performance that is somewhere between pure evil and hammy (he seems quite comfortable with those kind of roles). Debra Paget is gorgeous as his wife. The supporting cast includes mediocre performances from Lon Chaney Jr. and Elijah Cook Jr, among others. Surprisingly, the budget doesn't show through much. Corman maintains an ominous atmosphere and peppers in a few nice shock moments. The film dragged a bit towards the end, but it's definitely worth a watch.

7/10

In the Mouth of Madness (1994)

An interesting film with a strong lead performance by Sam Neill. John Carpenter steeps the film in atmosphere so thick you could cut it with a knife. Taking great influence from Lovecraft, the film succeeds in being crazy, moody, and altogether fascinating. It was really nice seeing David Warner. The special effects are fantastic but seem almost sparingly used compared to the number of abstract shock sequences Carpenter throws in.

7/10

Resurrected, The (1992)

Also known as Shatterbrain. A bit slow, a bit strange. The acting is borderline painful to watch from a couple of the actors. Based on The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, this film is one of the better Lovecraft efforts ever released. Although released direct to video, the film is very polished. (I suspect it failed to find a distributor.) The second of two films Dan O'Bannon directed (the first being the excellent Return of the Living Dead), the film is solid but not nearly as strong as his previous effort. The atmosphere, mood, and pace of the film successfully evokes Lovecraft (something very hard to do and still make a good movie), but something is still not quite right. Maybe I'll just have to chalk it up to its shifty Lovecraftian nature. For a low-budget effort, the special effects during the climax of the film are especially noteworthy.

6/10