BEYOND THE WALL OF SLEEP
If my review of The Dunwich Horror proved anything, it was that neither H.P. Lovecraft or the gothic horror films of American International Pictures are areas in which I am particularly expert. It’s for that reason that, when word came down that October was going to be yet another month O’ Lovecraft here at Teleport City, I eschewed making the obvious choice of tackling Dunwich director Daniel Haller’s earlier Die, Monster, Die! I just didn’t think I had that much more to add to what I’d already said on the subject.
But that left me at a bit of a loss as to what film I would cover. Keith helpfully reeled off a list of yet-to-be-claimed titles (I won’t call them the dregs, exactly), one of which, Beyond the Wall of Sleep, I had never heard of. I darted over to the IMDB and perused the user reviews for Sleep, of which subject lines like “Quite possibly the worst film I’ve ever seen”, “Avoid at all costs”, and (emphasis mine) “The single worst movie I’ve ever seen” were fairly representative. “Yes,” I thought to myself. “That just might be the one.”
#1 by Blake on October 8, 2009 - 2:35 pm
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Hmm…I think I’ll have to read the story now. Good review. I love it whenever mainstream filmgoers accuse films of being the worst (I had a colleague that accused “The Replacement Killers” as being the worst film she ever saw).
#2 by lyzard on October 8, 2009 - 3:43 pm
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As I may have mentioned before, I had a colleague who would not stop telling the world that the worst film ever made was Don Juan De Marco. I finally snapped and shouted at him, “If you don’t shut up, I will tie you to a chair and make you watch an Al Adamson marathon!”
I suppose that threat would have carried more weight if he’d ever heard of Al Adamson…
#3 by Todd on October 8, 2009 - 3:44 pm
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And the immediate reaction I have when I hear something like that is to feel a sort of smug condescension, which, when I stop to think about, really makes me wonder at the state I’ve driven myself to. To feel anything other than envy for someone who has never seen a movie worse that “The Replacement Killers” is completely insane.
#4 by Alaric on October 8, 2009 - 5:37 pm
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Have any of you B-Masters seen the amateur film version of The Call of Cthulhu?< It’s amazingly close to the story, and much of it’s surprisingly good. It’s a silent film, made as if it had come out the year the story was published or thereabouts, which, stylistically, helps make the typically-Lovecraftean characters’ emotional states work- in fact, the scenes of characters sitting around consumed by cosmic horror are probably the best parts of the movie. I suspect it helps if you’ve read the story, though- in fact, I’d recommend you read it immediately before seeing the movie.
#5 by Blake on October 8, 2009 - 5:39 pm
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I remember coming home from the mission and talking to my brother about films that I missed. He mentioned “28 Days Later” and said that he thought it was pretty stupid (in his defense, he was never big on horror films, nor did he like “Trainspotting”). I wonder how he’d react to having to watch an Andreas Schnaas or Todd Sheets film.
#6 by DamonD on October 9, 2009 - 2:48 am
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Alaric – haven’t seen it, but I have heard of it and knew it had quite a bit of critical praise. Does sound worth checking out.
Really enjoying the ‘Dunwich Month’!
#7 by The Rev. D.D. on October 9, 2009 - 8:08 am
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Alaric–Mr. Shumate of Cold Fusion Video has a review of that at his site. If any of the others have seen it, I don’t know about it.
#8 by DaveC on October 9, 2009 - 9:33 am
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I also recommend the silent “Call of Cthulhu”. I echo Alaric-read the story first, if you haven’t read it in awhile.
#9 by KeithA on October 9, 2009 - 9:40 am
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Call of Cthulhu is a worthy effort. I’m hoping that crew manages another movie, because they really seem to get it.
#10 by Ed on October 9, 2009 - 9:54 am
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Lyz, if it helps at all, the threat of an Al Adamson marathon would make me tremble with fear.
As for the review itself, good stuff as usual.
#11 by Blake on October 9, 2009 - 10:19 am
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Keith – After two years of script doctoring, they’ve started filming their 1930s Horror Film homage/adaptation of “Whisperer in the Darkness.”
#12 by KeithA on October 9, 2009 - 10:49 am
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TWO YEARS of script doctoring??? It’s…It’s almost as if…they give a crap about the script. That simply will not do!
#13 by Blake on October 9, 2009 - 2:37 pm
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According to their blog, they figured that a literal adaptation of that particular novella was out of the question, so they wanted to a sort of “what came after” story.
#14 by KeithA on October 9, 2009 - 3:58 pm
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This has started me thinking, which is rare — Who would you like to see make a Lovecraft adaptation?
My top two picks: Alejandro Jodorowski, for the obvious batshit insane aesthetic he brings to so much of his work, and Jose Morica Marins, since his concept of what’s scary is nearly as bizarre sometimes as Lovecraft’s (case in point: ol’ coffin Joe assumes, probably correctly, that in a devoutly Catholic nation like Brazil, one of the greatest horrors with which you would confront audiences is a brazen blasphemer).
#15 by Ed on October 9, 2009 - 4:31 pm
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How about David Cronenberg? If you thought his early stuff was freaky, imagine what he could do with Lovecraft!
#16 by Blake on October 9, 2009 - 8:43 pm
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Keith – For the record, Pentecostal-type churches have enjoyed quite a surge in popularity in the last couple of decades, so much that some Catholic priests have sought to imitate their high-energy sermons (with bands, congregation throwing their arms in the air and waving like they just don’t care, emphasis on paying tithes, etc.) in order to stop losing members.
#17 by Thomas on October 9, 2009 - 9:03 pm
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I think Gore Verbinksi could do good things. The Ring was scary, and those pirate movies had really neat monsters. Logically, the two extremes should mesh well?
What I’d really love is an adaptation of The Shadow Out of Time, but while I think it would make a good movie, I have no idea who could pull it off.
#18 by Anon on October 10, 2009 - 5:10 pm
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I put a vote in for Dave McKean.
#19 by Rel on October 11, 2009 - 2:52 pm
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If Guillermo Del Toro gets the funding to make the version of At The Mountains of Madness he’s talked about wanting to do, I for will be delirious with expectation.
It’s a shame Kurosawa Kiyoshi has sworn off genre fare – he has a gift for oppressive horror. Kairo may have bored a few of my friends, but it crushed me.
#20 by Joshua on October 11, 2009 - 4:16 pm
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I recently read an interview with Del Toro in which he reveals that he has brought in Gahan Wilson as a consultant for the film. That alone merits a thumbs up, from me at least.