n.   hoop·la fac·tor
(hoomacrpprimelälprime  fabrevekprimetschwar)

degree of entertainment attained irrespective of critical worth

Cthulhu Cinema


Since it looks like Guillermo del Toro's much anticipated version of At the Mountains of Madness is finally going to happen, I thought it might be a good excuse to go through as many of the Cthulhu-themed films I could in the lead up to its release. Whilst H.P. Lovecraft's work is immensely popular, and referenced with astounding regularity in short stories, books, comics and movies, there are very few straight adaptations of his work. Even more surprising, there are practically none that are considered great pieces of cinema, or indeed films that have found success in the mainstream.

Here's hoping that del Toro and James Cameron's film finally bucks this trend. In the meantime, I'll do my best to give you a rundown on some other cinematic Cthulhu Mythos outings.


Dagon posterDagon

The other major flaw with Dagon would have to be a single scene that suddenly veers into torture porn. This particular piece of grossness is truly difficult to watch and, again, feels out of place. Lovecraft's horrors were never really graphic.


Rating: Rating = 7
Hoopla Factor: Hoopla Factor = 8
Review by Stuart Wilson


Re-Animator posterRe-Animator

Re-Animator is quite nasty, really - like many horror films from the 80s. Even the humour doesn't manage to hide just how unpleasant most of the film is, though I suppose this is part of the cult appeal of Gordon's most fondly remembered film.


Rating: Rating = 5
Hoopla Factor: Hoopla Factor = 4
Review by Stuart Wilson







home  ::   review archive  ::   coming soon
articles  ::   faq  ::   sitemap  ::   links  ::   contact
  ::   forum  ::  

Australian Film Critics AssociationAll original site content is copyright © 2004-2012 the authors of hoopla.nu. All rights reserved.
Posters/images copyright © their original owners. Original illustrations © Tineke
Privacy		Valid HTML 4.01!
web counter