The Call of Cthulhu (film)
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This film is about the 2005 film titled The Call of Cthulhu. For the 2000 and 2006 films titled Cthulhu, see Cthulhu (film)
| The Call of Cthulhu | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Andrew Leman |
| Produced by | Sean Branney Andrew Leman |
| Written by | Sean Branney |
| Music by | Troy Sterling Nies Ben Holbrook Nicholas Pavkovic Chad Fifer |
| Editing by | David Robertson |
| Distributed by | H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society |
| Release date(s) | October 1, 2005 |
| Running time | 47 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English, Norwegian, Tongue of the Great Old Ones |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Call of Cthulhu is a silent movie adaptation of the H.P. Lovecraft short story of the same name, produced by Sean Branney and Andrew Leman and distributed by the HP Lovecraft Historical Society. It is the first film adaptation of the famous Lovecraft story, and for its use of Mythoscope, a blend of vintage and modern filming techniques intended to produce the look of a 1920s-era film.
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[edit] Synopsis
The film adheres very closely to Lovecraft's story, but there are a few changes. A scene near the beginning indicates that the narrator's great uncle had known about the journey of the Alert to R'lyeh, while in the original story, the narrator discovers that on his own. Also, the sailors aboard the Emma first encounter the Alert abandoned at sea, rather than crewed by Cthulhu cultists as in the original story. Additionally, the film depicts the narrator present at the time of his great-uncle's death, who dies peacefully in his sleep, rather than being summoned upon the mysterious death of his great-uncle, who was presumably killed by Cthulhu cultists in the original short story.
The narrator notes as well that Inspector Legrasse, who had directed the raid on cultists in backwoods Louisiana, had died before the narrator's investigation began.
[edit] Production
Early on in production, Branney and Leman decided to film it as a black-and-white silent movie. While the official site claims this was done to show what the film would have looked like had it been made in 1926, when the story was first published, on the DVD commentary the producers admit that shooting in black and white provided many other benefits. When using black and white cinematography, a filmmaker does not need to be as picky about the materials and decoration of sets, as the colors will not appear in the final product.
[edit] Release
The film is currently in DVD release. It has been selected to appear at numerous film festivals [1], including North America's largest, the 2006 Seattle International Film Festival, where it sold out both screenings thanks in part to a glowing review from The Stranger, a local paper.
Despite the long-standing conventional wisdom that this story was inherently "unfilmable"[citation needed], the film garnered a mostly positive reception from genre reviewers. Paul di Filippo of Science Fiction Weekly [2] went so far as to call it "the best HPL adaptation to date," labeling the decision to adapt it as a silent film "a brilliant conceit."
[edit] Cast
- The Man - Matt Foyer
- The Listener - John Bolen
- Professor Angell - Ralph Lucas
- Henry Wilcox - Chad Fifer
- Landlady - Susan Zucker
- Prof. Webb - Barry Lynch
- Prof. Bell - John Klemantaski
- Prof. Quintana - Jason Owens
- Prof. Tutchton - D. Grigsby Poland
- Bartender - Kalafatic Poole
- Inspector Legrasse - David Mersault
- Eskimaux Shaman - Dan Novy
- Sgt. Bacon - John Joly
- Officer Stanton - Jason Peterson
- Officer Langfield - Matthew Malcomson
- Officer Cassidy - Daryl A. Ball
- Swamp Papa - Ed Ruffin
- Swamp Mama - Erika Zucker
- Swamp Aunt - Rebecca Marcotte
- Swamp Boy - Aidan Branney
- Swamp Girl - Hannah Rose Jabaley
- Swamp Baby - Ike “E.Z.” Jabaley
- Thibidoux - Richard Lucas
- Claude - Bruce Graham
- Tilly - Jennifer Knighton
- Louis - Ramón Allen, Jr.
- Nancy - Erin Emmalee
- Tyler - Steven O’Connor
- Hector - Carlos Linares
- Castro - Clarence Henry Hunt
- Nameless Cultists - Aaron Vanek … Kirsten Hageleit … Jonathan Putnam … Mona Weiss … Dan Novy … Ryan Oliver … Chia Evers … J. David King
- Captain Collins - Noah Wagner
- Johansen - Patrick O’Day
- Briden - Matthew Q. Fahey
- Parker - Chris Lackey
- Hawkins - Josh Thoemke
- Guerrera - Mike Dalager
- Ångstrom - Daniel Kirsner
- Rodriguez - David Pavao
- Pub Man - Sean Branney
- Unhelpful Bureaucrat - Andrew Leman
- Museum Clerk - Vivica Prentice
- Mrs. Johansen - Leslie Baldwin
- Nurse - Andra Carlson
