Lovecraftian Horror

No this is not a "Your mom" joke

However it's a shame how overlooked and underrated this genre of Horror is. In my opinion this is the best kind of horror there is, way better than those slasher films full of gore and those found footage films that have gotten stale now.

This is what Lovecraftian Horror is - From Wikipedia

Lovecraftian horror is a subgenre of horror fiction that emphasizes the cosmic horror of the unknown (and in some cases, unknowable) more than gore or other elements of shock, though these may still be present. It is named after American author H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937).

The film Prometheus from 2012 explored this genre of horror in a way, since the engineers were these beings that we knew little about, but they came from somewhere in our galaxy and are ancient beings responsible for the creation of mankind.

In the first Alien film there is a scene that shows this huge fossilized alien species -



This is one of the best examples of Lovecraftian Horror I know of, it makes the viewer's imagination question where this being came from, what is it doing in that planet?

Lovecraftian Horror does not rely on gore or your typical haunted house film gimmicks, it relies on messing with the viewer's mind and imagination.

Can anyone list some good films with lovecraftian horror?

a reply to: muse7

I totally agree with you. It's too bad all the Lovcraft inspired movies are bad. One that I do really like is "Dagon". Not a great movie, but it has that authentic Lovecraft feel.

In the mouth of madness with Sam Neil.
Really thought it was very lovecraftian.
I did enjoy the 80s reaminator movies despite them being more camp thenn scary.

'John Dies at the End.'
A must see.

originally posted by: boymonkey74
In the mouth of madness with Sam Neil.
Really thought it was very lovecraftian.
I did enjoy the 80s reaminator movies despite them being more camp thenn scary.

You should check out Event Horizon another sam neil flick it also has a bit of lovecraftian horror in it.

a reply to: boymonkey74

Great minds think alike, BM...I was going to say that movie.
Although there are biblical elements to it, I would also put another of Carpenter's up there, "Prince of Darkness". Dreams, a cosmic horror in the basement of an old Spanish church in San Francisco, college professors trying to figure it all out.

One of my all time favorite horror movies.

"Cast a Deadly Spell" isn't so much horror as straight up urban fantasy with Lovecraftian elements. It was a made for HBO picture. Never been released on DVD. I guess youtube has it. Setting is post WW2, everyone uses magik in the US, a gumshoe that has a name based off of HPL doesnt follow the trend, guest appearance by an Elder God at the end.

originally posted by: skunkape23
'John Dies at the End.'
A must see.

I have that qued up on my free trial of amazon (I needed new hikers, so I did the prime day thing).
Heard good things about it, but honestly dont know a thing about it so I'm going in blind.

Ex Machina.

The implications terrified me.

I am still hold out hope that Guillermo del Toro will get his At the Mountains of Madness film green lit.

a reply to: muse7

I am surprised nobody mentioned The Thing by John Carpenter. At the mountains of madness would be a great run if done properly, but also the colour out of space. I also didn't notice The Dunwich Horror being mentioned as that one was made in the 70's I think.

Cheers - Dave

Ooooh, good thread! I agree with you! There are too many movies that are all blood and gore with lousy story lines. Prometheus was a great movie!! I'm going to check out the other movies listed in the thread later. Thanks!

a reply to: muse7

Of all the topics that you and I do not agree on, I'm pleased to say that horror (especially Lovecraftian horror) is not one of them.

a reply to: muse7

Some X-files episodes could be described as Lovecraftian horror.

Eugene Tooms is a great example-he was a monster of the week that defied every possible preconception of what a monster is. Sure Tooms is not a movie monster but he deserves a mention.

Maybe you will enjoy this then, I just found it while looking up H.P Lovecraft's From Beyond, which was a movie in the 70's, but was ok.
I think they should redo the actual movie though.

This may help:

Lovecraftian Movie Listing

One of my favorite genres.

I think the Sam Neil Mouth of Madness flick is probably the best one that really captures the idea of Lovecraftian horror.

Some big name movies explore this too though, for example, Hellboy. Basically, Rasputin was trying to gate in the Old Ones.

If camp is more your thing, To Cast a Deadly Spell (where the main guy is even named H. P. Lovecraft).

Great minds think alike, BM...I was going to say that movie.