The Last Lovecraft: The Relic of Cthulhu (V)
| release date | February 15 2011 |
| studio | Dark Sky Films |
| director | Henry Saine |
| writer | Devin McGinn |
| starring | Devin McGinn, Kyle Davis |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
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14 Comments
Man this movie was great. If your a fan of Lovecraft or horror/comedy you need to check this one out. Sure the acting isn’t all that great but you grow to like some of the characters. The make-up and effects were really great. I loved it. I really hope the make a sequel for this.
I expected more from this one. Yes, I know it had a limited budget and limited time to shoot, but I didn’t think it was anything great. The creature effects were okay, but the creatures did not appear much at all. The story was cool and all, but besides a few laughs, it didn’t bring much to the screen.
Although the trailer is pretty fantastic, it’s probably best to go into this film with low expectations, as the budget restraints are significant. That being said, the effects were pretty solid, the animation was super cool and there were a few laughs. In the end, I would have been a whole lot more forgiving if there had been less emphasis on making the film feel big and more emphasis on the funny.
It’s worth mentioning that Barak Hardley (the guy from countless commercials) kills it in every scene he’s in!
H.P. Lovecraft must be rolling over in his grave. I watched this recently and I honestly can’t remember the movie. That’s how forgettable this one is. Rent Dagon, now THAT’S an pretty good Lovecraft movie. Dagon wasn’t really one of Lovecraft’s best either. Dan O’Bannon’s The Resurrected was a really good Lovecraft movie as well. I’d pass on The Last Lovecraft if I were you and find The Resurrected on VHS.
I had a blast with this movie! Looney fun!
“The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu” is for those manly men out there who – aside from being ever so manly – also happen to dig comic books and classic horror literature. You can tell everything by the name and by the premise; indeed, this is sort of homage to the works and creations of H.P. Lovecraft, faithful to its influences and respectable enough at that. It knows what it wants to be; a road-buddy movie made specifically for a male audience (since, as I recall, there were like two females in the entire thing, both in minor roles) with beasts from the deep popping up from time-to-time to remind us that this isn’t just another run-of-the-mill exercise in the horror-comedy genre. That director Henry Saine and writer-producer-star Devin McGinn have such ambitions is enough for me to respect the flick; but at the same time, the great ideas behind this film-that-could-have-been are what make it so difficult for me to be the bearer of bad news, in that the finished product just isn’t all that good.
Best friends Jeff (Kyle Davis) and Charlie (Devin McGinn) work boring-ass cubicle desk jobs at a company called Squirrely Squirrel Gift Baskets. When on the job, they are uninspired and fidgety; finding amusement in pissing off their boss. When at home (the two share an apartment); they are a couple of comic book nerds. One day, an elderly man breaks into their home and informs Jeff that he is the last living relative of horror literature pioneer H.P. Lovecraft’s bloodline, and that the Cult of Cthulhu is active yet again and attempting to free Cthulhu himself (perhaps the most popular of H.P. Lovecraft’s creations). To do so, the “Star Spawn” must unite all the proper pieces of the titular relic, although the one piece he doesn’t have is the one that the old man gives to Jeff. Frantic, the two are on the run, unsure of what to do. Then, Charlie remembers an old high school acquaintance named Paul (Barak Hardley) who still lives with his grandmother, is still quite overweight, and still loves Lovecraft.
After they prove to him that the relic is the real deal, Paul agrees to accompany Jeff and Charlie on their quest. But Paul admits that he’s not quite the expert on the real-life implications of the universe and monsters that Lovecraft once envisioned; that man would be an old sea captain named Olaf, who we learn lives in his RV somewhere out in the desert. He shares with us his compelling tales of fish rape, and dreams of turning a “deep one” that he captured into a freak-show attraction to make some extra profit. But the trio must protect the relic, for the Star Spawn and his minions – the Great Old Ones – are never far behind wherever they may carry it. Apparently, they’ve got people everywhere.
Whether you enjoy this film or not will probably depend on just how familiar you are with Lovecraft’s “Cthulhu Mythos”. I am aware of it, but I’m not one of its loyal followers; although I do know a few who are. It’s a popular universe indeed, and the filmmakers try their best to explore it on a limited budget without insulting the fellow fans. But therein lies the biggest problem; the budgetary restraints of the thing. This project would have been better off if the filmmakers handling it had access to great creature effects and costumes. I would also suggest that the filmmakers had taken some time to develop their skills in the fields of screenwriting and editing. The film looks pretty good for something low budget, but it lacks consistency in a lot of scenes; and due to this, some of the acting feels wooden and the humor will often fall kind of flat.
But then again, it’s only half as funny as it wants to be in the first place. “The Last Lovecraft” gets big laughs, mostly from the quirky characters that the protagonists encounter along the way to their destination – such as a creepy motel owner named Jimbo (Harry Karp) who makes awkward sexual advances on Jeff in one particularly hilarious scene – and Paul is an absolute riot (since Hardley plays the epic geek role VERY convincingly). However, the film too often confuses cheap vulgarity for something more clever and genuine. There’s a big old heart somewhere underneath this film, but the crude humor doesn’t work and neither do most of the buddy movie tropes. Therefore, you’ve got a movie that flops like a dead fish and refuses to die for about 80 minutes or so. That’s enough for it to be endurable – and any movie that has its pleasures certainly is – but I cannot recommend it for the reasons stated. I see a bright future for the director and a lot of these actors; although sadly, this isn’t the kind of movie that really gets you anywhere if you’re looking to kick-start a successful career.