Another Hammer choice, since I am in the mood. This movie is a classic. Rarely does Sci-fi and horror blend so well as with Quatermass and The Pit (1967). I remember watching this one as a kid and thought how fantastic it was. It has stayed surprisingly up to date.
Like the Creeping Flesh and the Image of Fendahl, this one features a near-human skeleton that is at least 5 million years old. Found in a subway station under Hobbs End (formerly Hobs End) brings into question not only the origins of humankind, but of our concept of evil.
Quatermass is one of the iconic British characters, one I would say is right up there with Sherlock Holmes and the Doctor. In fact I am wondering now why Steven Moffat hasn't given us a modern version of Prof. Quatermass. We are overdue. Note: After I typed this all up, I found a 2005 Quatermass serial starring Jason Flemyng and long-associated Doctor Who folk David Tennant and Mark Gatiss.
This movie also was the first that got me onto my research of Hobs which would eventually lead to my decision that hobgoblins are a diabolic breed of goblins. A "hob" is a type of devil. The creature movie is often described as a goblin.
This movie also uses the ages-old trope of women being more psychically sensitive than men.
The ending of this one is still surprisingly effective and scary.
Like I mentioned in the Creeping Flesh a skeleton that should not exist is a fantastic element of horror and sci-fi. Like Image of Fendahl, this one brings a pentagram into the mix having it as being older than mankind.
Maybe I can combine these various ideas and go 2001: Space Odyssey here. A NIGHT SHIFT game taking place in the early 70s discovering a skeleton that just should not belong. Horror ensues. Then a BlackStar game where the USS Protector investigates a planet with eerie similarities.
I do love a long-game plot covering multiple generations.
Been in a Hammer mood lately, so I thought I would revisit some old favorites. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that The Creeping Flesh, starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, and directed by Freddie Francis was NOT a Hammer Film. But more on that later.
This film scarred me crazy when I was little, but it also is responsible for me becoming more curious on both psychology, anthropology, and the Victorian era. Christopher Lee plays a psychologist and Peter Cushing an anthropologist.
Emmanuel Hildern (Cushing) has come back from a trip abroad to Papua New Guinea where he has found the skeleton of a giant humanoid. It was buried in a lower stratum than Neanderthal, and thus much older (note, Neanderthals have only been discovered in Europe and the Middle East). He is being financed by his younger half-brother James (Lee), who is a psychiatrist.
The skeleton (which my wife and I agree is actually that of a Klingon) begins to grow new flesh when exposed to water.
There is a bit about his dead wife, she died in his brother's insane asylum, and maybe his daughter inheriting her madness. Oh. And an escaped mental patient Lenny. "Lenny the Lunatic" would a focal point of many nightmares after that. Not so much him but how he was killed.
Cushing plays the absent-minded professor with his head full of science. Lee plays the scientist looking for fame and money.
Eventually, Emmanuel concocts an idea of using the Klingon's blood as a vaccine against evil. Of course, the doctor injects his "unruly" daughter (Lorna Heilbron) with it (she went into her mother's room where she was forbidden!) but not before he sees what it does to his test monkey. In pure Victorian fashion turning evil makes you hotter, his daughter Penelope starts tarting around London. Oh and she turns from a blonde to a red-head in a red dress. Not at all subtle really.
There is some back and forth between Lee and Cushing (as there should be, they were the best as antagonists) with the skeleton getting stolen and caught in the rain.
The movie is remarkably uneven, but still quite a lot of fun really. Lorna Heilbron is absolutely adorable in this, first as the "Good" Penelope and then as the "Evil" Penelope. Christopher Lee is his typical commanding self. Not evil, but certainly amoral.
The ending bugged me then. Was it all in Emmanuel's head or has some ancient evil been released in the world? Now I think it is great.
Finding an ancient skeleton that should not exist is a hallmark of sci-fi horror. Doctor Who would cover the same ground five years later with The Image of Fendahl about a 12 million-year-old human skull. Quatermass and the Pit did it a few years back with a 5 million-year-old skull. I would use a similar idea in Ghosts of Albion: Dinosauria with a screaming skull.
My wife, who never watches horror movies with me, watched this one. We both thought the skeleton looked like a Klingon. So what about this. A Federation archaeological survey has turned up a 12 (or 5 or 6 or whatever) million-year-old Klingon skeleton on a planet far outside of the Klingon Empire, and millions of years before the Klingons achieved warp. Since this is the dawn of the Federation-Klingon peace accords, everyone is on eggshells. The survey team goes silent. The Klingons send a ship. That goes silent. The closest ship in the sector is yours. You intercept a Klingon transmission. It is the captain of the Klingon ship, he is covered in blood and screaming, "HeS'a' wa' tu'lu'bej!" (The Devil is here!)
I would avoid saying it is actually Fek'lhr, but that doesn't mean the characters don't know that.
We thought the skull looked a lot like a Klingon's.
And it was tall like Fek'lhr is.
It makes sense. Kahless pointed to a star and said to his followers "you would find me there" and was the planet of Boreth, home of the Klingon Time Crystals. If there can be holy planets then there can be profane ones as well.
When regular "family" channels start showing Halloween movies then you know October is in full swing. These were on today and I thought I'd catch them while do other things. Are they Horror? Maybe not. But they are certainly in the spirit of Halloween and that is what matters to me.
The Addams Family (1991)
Gomez: Tish, when was the last time we waltzed? Morticia: Oh, Gomez. Hours.
I have said it before, I'll say it again. Gomez and Morticia Addams might be the two most loving characters of all time. And no one does Gomez with the same flair and attitude as the late Raul Julia. Sorry John Astin, but it is true. If he were the only bright spot in this movie that would be enough. But we have chameleon actor Christopher Lloyd as Fester, a very young, but already brilliant, Christina Ricci (who claimed to be channeling Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz for her role), a regal Anjelica Huston as Morticia Addams, and a great supporting cast.
The movie deals with the return of Uncle Fester, but that is really not the point. You don't enjoy the Addams Family for its plot. You enjoy it for its wonderful campiness, its weirdness, and to paraphrase the old Addams Family TV series, its creepiness, and cookieness.
Addams Family Values (1993)
Morticia: Wednesday's at that very special age when a girl has only one thing on her mind. Ellen: Boys? Wednesday: Homicide.
Why this movie wasn't spun off into a Wednesday Addams featured movie (or direct to video) still raises questions, because seriously. Christina Ricci outright stole this damn movie as teenage homicidal maniac Wednesday. It is easy to see why Wednesday eclipsed the other characters here because she is just so much damn fun. It would later give us Adult Wednesday Addams from Melissa Hunter (which was taken down).
The plot of this one, such that it is, is reminiscent of the first. Fester being manipulated to steal all the Addams' money. Maybe why it didn't fare as well in the box office. But that doesn't matter, the movie is fun and funny.
Frankly, it would not be Halloween if I didn't catch one or the other of these.
I have talked about witch families in the past. I think what we have here is a very functional, loving family that just happens to be really weird. It got me thinking, why do all D&D characters have a tragic backstory and are orphans? Well I guess that loving families don't produce adventurers any more than they produce Batman. But what would an adventuring party of siblings be like? Wouldn't that be fun? I get along great with my sibs, taking them on an adventure would be fun.
So what are the D&D classes of the Addams?
Gomez: Rogue Morticia: Bard Fester: Artificer (basing this on the old TV series) Pugsly: Barbarian Wednesday: Assassin Grandma: Witch Lurch: Golem Fighter Thing: Familiar?
Ok, not a perfect fit, but something to have some fun with.
It's Friday! It's October! Let's start some Friday Night Videos!
Since I am also doing my October Horror Movie Marathon posts I am writing these posts early to autopost.
So let's get started.
Last week I did the Hex Girls, a fake all-girl band. Tonight lets do a real all-girl, witch-themed band. And these women have more in common with the Ostrogoths than they do with eco-goths.
This is the first video of the Witches I ever saw and features their former lead singer Seraina Telli (now of Dead Venus) and former guitarist Sonja "Anubis" Nusselder.
After this Lead singer Laura Guldemond took over and oh does she has some energy!
And just released two weeks ago, The Circle of Five! With new Witch Larissa.
I am looking forward to seeing some more new material with Larissa!
Watching Bigfoot this morning made me think of this oldie and how much it freaked me out as a kid.
This movie typifies the later 70s, post Exorcist, mood of American Horror. Lots of psychic phenomena, some satanism, and if you can work in Native American or Eastern mysticism all the better.
Tony Curtis is great as a fake psychic and tarot card reader that gets pulled into the drama around a tumor growing on his ex-girlfriend's, Susan Strasberg's, back. X-rays show the tumor to look like a rapidly growing fetus.
Karen (Strasberg) goes to see Harry (Curtis) the day before her surgery (and they drink a lot of wine before hand). Harry does a tarot card reading for her and they all come up the same (the tower, the moon, the devil, and death).
That night Karen mutters something in her sleep in a language that Harry doesn't understand (he thinks it is Swahili).
The contact a Native American Shaman played by the always amazing Michael Ansara (Kang of Star Trek and Kane of Buck Rogers) and learn that this tumor is really the ancient Shaman Misquamacus. At one point Misquamacus tells John Singing Rock (Ansara) not to help them. I was half-hoping he would stand up and tell them "you are on your own white people."
Misquamacus is born (I seem to recall it being scarier in 78) but is held in place at first by John's circle.
The "demons" summoned by Misquamacus are quite cool. They have a sort of Lovecraft/August Derleth quality to them. They are even called "the great old ones." In the end, the evil spirits are destroyed by computers, manifesting as laser blasts from a naked Karen. Lest we forget this was the 70s.
This really is a cut above my normal fare in terms of acting ability even if the story is a little silly.
First, there is a wealth of material in Native American folklore that I just have not explored and honestly, I am just not even remotely familiar or even qualified to write about them despite all the stories I have read or watched over the years.
I'd love to get more of this sort of thing for my Valhalla, AK game. While the Bigfoot stuff from earlier today went on the silly side, this would be more of the horror side of things.
I talked about this movie back in June. So I added it to my Amazon watchlist. And then I forgot about it. I decided to pull it up for today.
This one can only be described as Previously Watched. I think I might have watched it a few dozen times back when my family got Showtime back when it was new to our town. Not a bad choice though for my first re-watch of the season.
The movie is a pseudo-documentary about the "North American Wildlife Research" group taking a group into British Columbia. It had the same feel of a lot of pseudo-documentaries on various "alternative science" that were popular in the late 70s.
Watching it then, when I was about 10 or so, it seemed like the real deal. Watching it now? Yeah, I am a little embarrassed I was taken in.
The movie is not great, or even good, but it was a good distraction. And for a G-rated movie it has some scares in it. I still remember that howl of the Bigfoots.
It is not a stretch of the imagination at all to consider this movie the "Event Zero" of what became my Valhalla, AK game. Of course, the sasquatch in Valhalla is a bit different than this one.
In a normal NIGHT SHIFT game, the Sasquatch would be more of a threat, like this movie. In my Valhalla, AK game...well the sasquatch was more of a nuisance.
Every night the townspeople of Valhalla would be awoken by the sounds of moose braying in the night followed by the unholy sound of something else. I would play the sasquatch sounds at this point. The old locals of course know this is a sasquatch. So the PCs investigate, expecting to find dead moose. They don't find any at all. Quite the opposite really, they find all these female moose just hanging about this one strange clearing. Turns out that there is a young male sasquatch, a teen really, and has been having sex with the female moose (mooses, moosen, miice?) after the sun goes down. The townsfolk have been hearing his amorous escapades. The adventure resolves when they can lure the sasquatch back to his own people.
A bit silly? Yes. A bit ribald? Sure. But that is exactly the sort of thing I want to happen in Valhalla, AK.
We continue this first full week of October with full witch classes from the DMSGuild.
I grabbed this one because I rather liked the cover. Let's hope the text can live up to my expectations. For those following, I have set up some rules for myself that you can see here.
This PDF is listed as 9 pages, but the revised PDF is actually 13. There is a cover page, but the rest is content. Unlike many of the other products on DMSGuild this one has it's own style of layout. In truth, it is a nice change of pace.
We get all the expected elements for a full class for 5e; level advancement charts, quick builds, as well class and spell information. This witch is a Wisdom caster.
A couple of things stick out. One, this witch needs a special sort of spell focus known as a Staff of Hexes. Without it she can't cast spells. Also this witch has something called "Magicka" points. So a little different than other casters.
The archetypes or subclasses for this witch are called different "Wonders"; ie "Wonder of the Grimoire", "Wonder of the Cauldron", "Wonder of Voodoo", "Curse of the Hag" (not Wonder of the Hag), "Wonder of the Hedge Witch", "Wonder of the White Witch", and "Wonder of Prophecy". While I am not overly fond of the name I do like what they do. I think I would have gone with "Path of the ..." myself.
The archetypes seem well balanced and thought out.
There is a spell list, but no new spells. There is no art, save for the cover.
This is another PWYW item with a suggestion of $2.00.
The layout is crisp and very utilitarian. It doesn't scream "Witch" to me, nor does it feel "D&D." Although it is attractive and very functional.
I certainly would try a couple of these archetypes/subclasses out. Some interesting ideas.
I am sure I had seen this one. But like SO MANY Italian, French and Spanish horror films from the late 60s and early 70s plots, scenes and even whole movies were recycled. I mean this one even has the same music as "The Night She Rose From the Grave" which I am getting too later and is on the same DVD as this movie. Though that could even be because of the disk.
This movie has been known as "Malenka", "Fangs of the Living Dead" and "The Vampire's Niece" with various dates between 1968 and 1969.
Anyway, this one features Anita Ekberg, so that is a good reason to check it out.
The movie starts with a nice creepy, "Dracula's Guest", feel to it. Sylvia Morel (Ekberg) learns she has inherited a fortune, a castle, and a new title. Julián Ugarte plays the Count, Sylvia's uncle, Count Walbrooke. Sylvia becomes the Harker stand-in and Walbrooke is Dracula.
I think I was getting this one confused with the Thirst from 1979. But while the beginnings are similar, they become quite different movies. This movie was the obvious prototype for Satan's Slave (also known as Evil Heritage) in 1976 and many Franco movies like A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973).
We learn that Sylvia's grandmother was burned at the stake as a witch and she was able to turn her children into vampires.
The basic story cleaves very, very close to the Dracula tale. So nothing really new here.
Until the end, and there is a neat little twist. It really saved the movie for me.
So many of these movies have old cursed families with a suspension of witchcraft and vampirism.
I think what I need, both for NIGHT SHIFT and maybe even my various witch books is a family of witches, in decay, whose members become vampires after death. Not all are powerful vampires, some are little more than ghouls really, but a few. Take notes from the Karnsteins and movies like this.
In some ways the Montblancs in NIGHT SHIFT's "Ordinary World" can cover this. Maybe this is a direction I could take them. The American Montblancs are an old family, but the European Montblancs are ancient and maybe a little more evil. Combine this with my Byleth idea from last week.
Maybe that is how I separate them, the American Montblancs are featured in NIGHT SHIFT but the "European" Montblancs would be featured in my Witch books for Basic-era. I would need to have a map for the run down, but still better than anywhere you have lived, Château Montblanc.
Tonight is the premiere of the FINAL season of Supernatural. I can't believe it.
With the Supernatural RPG out of print, NIGHT SHIFT is the best choice for playing a Supernatural-style game, where the PCs are largely normal people fighting against something far beyond their own power levels.
So this seems like a perfect time to bring back my favorite show that never was, Wayward Sisters!
Note: If Jody is the mom, then Donna is the fun aunt.
Annie Jones
3rd Level Survivor/1st level Sage, Human
Strength: 12 (0)
Dexterity: 12 (0)
Constitution: 15 (+1)
Intelligence: 15 (+1) s
Wisdom: 16 (+2) s
Charisma: 15 (+1) P
HP: 19 (3d4+1d6)
AC: 9
Fate Points: 1d6
Check Bonus (P/S/T): +3/+2/0
Melee bonus: +0 (+1) Ranged bonus: +0 (+1)
Saves: +3 to death saves
Special Abilities: Open locks 35%, Bypass traps 30%, Sleight of Hand 40%, Move Silently 40%, Hide in Shadows 30%, Climb 75%, Danger Sense 50%, Perceptive 50%, Sneak Attack x2, Read Languages 80%, Lore 25% (special bouns +5% for vampire lore)
Skills: Medicine (Int), Science (Int), Notice (Wis), Deceive (Cha)
Languages: English, Spanish
Notes: Use to be "bait" for a vampire family and was a vampire once. Now she is a nurse. Of all the Wayward Sisters Annie/Anne/Alex wants to have a "normal" life the most.
Claire Novak
1st Level Theosophist/3rd Level Survivor, Human
Strength: 12 (0) s
Dexterity: 13 (+1) P
Constitution: 15 (+1) s
Intelligence: 15 (1)
Wisdom: 14 (+1)
Charisma: 14 (+1)
HP: 22 (1d6+3d4)
AC: 8
Fate Points: 1d6
Check Bonus (P/S/T): +3/+2/0 Melee bonus: +0 (+1) Ranged bonus: +0 (+1)
Saves: +3 to all wisdom saves
Special Abilities: See Dead People, Turn Undead, Protection from Undead, Open locks 35%, Bypass traps 30%, Sleight of Hand 40%, Move Silently 40%, Hide in Shadows 30%, Climb 75%, Danger Sense 50%, Perceptive 50%, Sneak Attack x2, Read Languages 80%, Lore 25% (special bouns +5% for angelic lore)
Notes: She Began as a theosophist due to her religious background and her ability to be a perfect angelic vessel for Castiel. Was a werewolf once. She is in love with Kaia. She is the one Wayward Sister that is most like the Winchesters.
Patience Turner
3rd Level Psychic, Human
Strength: 12 (0)
Dexterity: 14 (+1)
Constitution: 14 (+1)
Intelligence: 18 (+3) P
Wisdom: 16 (+2) s
Charisma: 17 (+2) s
Notes: Kaia is a Dream Walker which can be covered by the Psychic class. Her stint in the "Bad Place" gave her a level of Survivor. Kaia is also a former drug user to keep herself from dreaming. She is in love with Claire. #dreamhunter.
Episodes/Adventures would have to be named after rocks songs by women-fronted bands; like Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Halestorm (naturally), The Pretty Reckless, Doro, Garbage, and Lacuna Coil. Taking a page from Supernatural music would have to play an important role. Come to think of it, you could just use my Daughters of Darkness playlist. At 39 songs, that's 3 "seasons" of 13 "episodes" each. I love it when a plan comes together.
This PDF was 17 pages when I first downloaded it. It grew to 29 sometime between then and now. The PDF is full color and sells for $5.00 suggested PWYW.
The cover is fantastic and the artist, Diana Nock, is credited. So far this is very good.
The table of contents is hyperlinked. It looks like some great content inside too. Witches are called the "Acolytes of the First Magic" next to the art of their iconic witch Nathilda Pickingill and her familiar Malefelies. She wears a proper witches hat, carries a proper witches broom (with a dream catcher no less), and her hooded cloak is clasped shut with a triple goddess symbol.
At this point, I feel like I am being flirted with.
There is a full 20 level Witch progression table. A note about Gender. Even the 20th level power is "Grand Old Wytch." I guess "Grand Olde Wytch" was a step too far. This witch is an "Intelligence" caster.
There are rules for Ritual Casting in line with D&D 5's ritual casting. Rules on familiars (with great art) INCLUDING backgrounds for familiars! How great is that?
If Pathfinder witches get Hexes then these witches get Jinxes. Ok, I like that. Magical powers for potions and brooms.
Sub-classes are known as Covens (perfect) and there are Covens of the Dark Moon, Full Moon, Half Moon, Crescent Moon, and. There is even a Coven of the Eclipse and a Coven of the Lost Moon. There is even a sidebar about what to do if your moons on your world are different. Ok, now I feel positively flirted with and I am beginning to blush.
There is a very extensive list of Witch Spells from various sources and 12 new spells. There is even guidance on which of these new spells can be used by other classes.
All in all, this is one of the best Witch Class books I have seen on DMSGuild so far. A significant cut above the rest. I would happily play one of these witches.
I am a sucker for a weird Klaus Kinski movie. The trouble with this one was that he really wasn't in it much nor very central to the plot.
We watch the disjointed (and told in weird flashback) events of the life and death and life of Greta. She is dead and mourned by her brother Franz. We later learn that Franz used to abuse and rape Greta till she ran off with a mysterious Dr. von Ravensbrück. Then we jump to a scene where Greta is in a coach accident. Her driver is killed and she is rescued by a young married couple, Walter and Eva. Greta has no memory and is soon living with, and having sex with, Walter and Eva.
Klaus Kinski comes in as their doctor and he sees an amulet on Eva's neck that perplexes him. He goes off to run experiments on corpses. Meanwhile, Gertrude is bothered by Greta and keeps seeing Greta's rapey brother in hallucinations.
Gertrude eventually flees the house but is shot in the face by someone she knows but we never see.
Later Eva finally gets jealous of the sex Walter is having with Greta (she wants her to herself) and seals Greta up in a vault The Cask of Amontillado style. Of and around this time Kinski's Dr. Sturges has revealed that Greta's amulet is a formula for bringing the dead back to life. He succeeds but is killed by someone soon after.
A few weeks later the search for Greta is winding down and Eva and Walter throw a party. At the party, Eva sees Greta and chases her throughout the house. Greta's face is young one moment and a corpse-like visage the next. Greta kills Eva, but no one sees her do it.
Greta goes on to kill Walter, Walter's father who was...wait for it...Dr. von Ravensbrück! We learn then that Greta was pregnant with Dr. von Ravensbrück's child but she died in childbirth. The whole thing was witnessed by Gertrude!
Rapey Franz then brought her back to life, but she kills him. She also kills the butler of the von Ravensbrück's just because she can.
We see Greta in the end. I guess she must be immortal now.
Not a bad flick, but very disjointed. Ewa Aulin as Greta is great to look at, but she isn't much of an actress. Granted my copy is dubbed, so it is harder to tell. Klaus Kinski is his typical weird-ass self.
Woman with amnesia is found, either by the characters or people they know. Turns out she is a reanimated corpse intent on killing everyone that was responsible for her death.
What separates this from say the plot of "The Crow"? Well, in this case, she is killing everyone even remotely associated with her death whether they had an active role or not. So less "The Crow" and more "Dr. Phibes."
If you name your publishing label "Basic Witch Games" you are going to get my attention.
So last night I got a new PDF from a just-as-new company. The PDF is The Muse and the company is Basic Witch Games. Now full disclosure, I knew about this class a while back and gave the author a tiny bit of advice about it and encouraged her to add a bit and publish it.
So ethically I can not provide you all an unbiased review.
Also, the book uses some of my own OGC, so there is another reason.
But I do want to tell you this is a fun class. It's not for every group, but that is true of all classes really, but for the right group this can be a lot of fun.
The Muse is the first in what I hope will be more Basic era content from Basic Witch Games. The class is something of a tempter or even a seducer. I am immediately reminded of the old Houri Class from White Dwarf.
The class itself is 14 level B/X style class. The cover has a nice visual transition from red to blu to cover the red and blue of the beloved Basic and Expert books. In addition to the spells from my witch classes, there are new spells too. There is also a new magic sword.
Basic Witch Games will be coming out with more material and even a Dark Fantasy / Romantic Fantasy setting. So I am looking forward to seeing what they do.
I am, without a doubt, a huge fan of the witches for Dragon Magazine. I have spent hours reading and rereading those articles. I have many witch characters I have made using those rules and spent many, many more hours playing them. So if you say that your class is based on those, you have my attention.
The Witch Class from David Belmonte is a 10 (1 cover, 1 title, 1-page addendum, 7 pages content) page PDF that is Free on DMSGuild. So the price point is already good. It also presents a full witch class.
The pdf is sparce really. There is no art save for the cover art and the artist is not credited.
The witch in this case is a Wisdom spellcaster. (They were Intelligence and Wisdom in Dragon #20).
The powers this witch gets are in line with the witch from Dragon #20. Though the witch in Dragon got a lot more powers, this witch is a little more inline with the D&D 5 rules. There are no subclasses listed even if the obvious choice would have been High and Low Order witches with some different powers.
There are 8 new spells. One of the Spells "Oracle" only works "in obscure woods" whatever that is supposed to mean.
So nice effort, but it falls a little short for me. Though it is tough to argue the price I guess.
I have heard that some people didn't care for this one, but you can't watch it thinking it is a Lovecraft movie. Lovecraft never translates well on screen. Watch this one thinking it is a crazy Nick Cage movie.
Sadly I did not see this one when it came out, but I had heard a lot of good (and bad) about it. Well the movie itself did not disappoint. I mean really, Lovecraft, Nick Cage? This has disaster written all over it but it gets pulled together well.
So the movie follows the story rather well. Well, as can be expected.
Our narrator, the unnamed surveyor, becomes Ward Phillips a hydrologist played by Elliot Knight. I have to admit I did enjoy that the narrator, our POV character, is played by a mixed-race, Nigerian-British actor who is very active in gay rights. Lovecraft would be so happy.
Nick Cage is at his Nick Cage best. Super serious when he needs to be, and bat-shit insane with an accent when the movie needs that. He reminded me of his characters in Vampire's Kiss and National Treasure. And let's not forget, Cage has won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award. He is great as troubled Nathan/Nahum Gardner.
The sons are changed and there is a daughter, Lavinia played by Madeleine Arthur (who has some solid geek cred with credits in "Supernatural", "Legends of Tomorrow", "Tomorrow People", "X-Files", "Magicians", and "Spooksville"). Oh, and Lavinia, who plays a Wiccan, also has a copy of the old 1980 Simon Necronomicon. That made me rather happy to see, to be honest.
And Tommy Chong. Seriously.
Tommy Freaking Chong playing the "crazy man" Ezra/Ammi Pierce.
The hardest thing I think is to capture the horror of Lovecraft on film. I am not sure how many half-failed attempts I have watched over the years. In fact, I think the only good ones have been "From Beyond" and "Re-Animator". Maybe, MAYBE, 1970 The Dunwich Horror with Dean Stockwell.
What I REALLY enjoyed about this was I watched it with my two boys. We all love Lovecraft and we all love Nick Cage movies. So this was a nice treat.
This is supposed to be the first of a shared universe of Lovecraft films, but it did rather poorly in the box office.
What NOT to use here? Might need to grab my 5e Cthulhu Mythos book and give this one a go using the Night Shift game. The characters can play the parts of investigators to the scene. My kids would LOVE that.
