The ‘90s often get a bad rap with horror fans. After the numerous successful slashers and creature effects films of the ’80s, the ‘90s offered a different variety of horror fare. Though there were plenty of hits, hidden gems, and misunderstood classics, the ‘90s usually don’t get the kind of love that other decades get when it comes to horror. It’s time to change that.
The works of H.P. Lovecraft have inspired a number of films for nearly sixty years. Surprisingly, it took until 1993 for someone to look at the many short stories of the prolific author and decide to make an outright anthology film.
Necronomicon brought together the talents of Brian Yuzna (Society), Shûsuke Kaneko (Death Note), and Christophe Gans (Silent Hill) in order to adapt three of Lovecraft’s short stories. Though, the level of direct adaptation varies from story to story. It’s probably more accurate to call these tales “inspired by” efforts rather than outright translations from page to screen.
But, the inspirations we get are right in line with the kind of Lovecraftian fare horror fans have come to love. The wraparound tale cast genre stalwart Jeffrey Combs as a fictionalized version of Lovecraft. He visits a monastery where he is able to read the Necronomicon, an ancient book that contains a number of dark and disturbing tales. This wraparound is solid but is more functional than fantastic. Thankfully, the way it ends features some delightful creature effects and leaves the whole endeavor on a high note.
The first segment, “The Drowned”, combines elements of “The Rats in the Walls” and Lovecraft’s nautical horror stories, “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” and “Dagon.” Gans is the director here and sets the exact right mood for the rest of the movie. We get a number of wild creature effects that include a demon priest from the sea, octopus-faced zombies with glowing green eyes, and a Cyclopean tentacle monster that is one of the best on-screen realizations of a giant Lovecraft monster. All around, the practical effects work in the movie is top-notch, and “The Drowned” is no exception. Gans also establishes the right balance of grim and gonzo that typifies the best parts of Necronomicon. It’s likely that this first entry is the best of the bunch.
However, the second story, “The Cold”, approaches everything with a slightly more classical and nuanced delivery. Kaneko plays the story out at a measured pace. In this way, it mimics the source material, “Cool Air”, with its deliberate mystery. And the central performance from the ever-excellent David Warner is elegant and entrancing. As the middle story, it feels the longest but it pays off with some extraordinarily goopy special effects work in the end. If you’re a fan of melt movies, you’ll enjoy how this one turns out.
The final story, “Whispers”, is directed by Brian Yuzna and is both the nuttiest and the least interesting. Taking vague inspiration from “The Whisperer in Darkness”, it follows a police officer in pursuit of a serial killer. When her partner is captured, she follows the perpetrator into a warehouse where she comes across an oddball couple that takes her down into the bowels of the warehouse. What she finds there is an ancient temple and a race of extraterrestrial bat creatures that are just wild in design and execution. The motivating story isn’t especially well-handled but the monster effects in this one need to be seen.
Frankly, it’s the combined strong direction and the focus on big effects gags that makes Necronomicon a must-see movie. Anthologies are always going to have ups and downs, but Necronomicon balances that by putting good actors, great effects, and stellar direction into every entry. I wish we had more Lovecraft anthology films like this. As it stands, this is one of the better movies to be inspired by Lovecraft’s writings. It’s a gem of a flick that carries the same kind of fun energy you get from Shudder’s Creepshow.
If you’ve enjoyed that so far, you have got to track Necronomicon down. You won’t regret it.
