Cthulhu (2007)

Studio: Liberation Entertainment

DVD Release Date: March 31, 2009

Directed By: Dan Gildark

Cast: Jason Cottle, Scott Patrick Green, Cara Buono, Tori Spelling, Robert Padilla

Review By: Dustin Hall

As a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, I’m used to the fact that movies based on his work are hard to find. Most studios argue against the mainstream appeal of Victorian-style horror with a Nihilistic edge. With the very polished trailer for Cthulhu rocking the internet 2-years ago, I was hoping for a wide, or at least a solid limited release for this one adaptation of one of the man’s masterworks. But this movie, both on the big-screen and for the home theater, has been very hard to find.

And that is because this movie is gay. Not, like, in the derogatory sense used by Junior High brats, but as in this movie is distributed by Here! Films, a group that distributes movies with a particularly homosexual slant. As such, don’t expect to see Wal-Mart or Best Buy carrying Cthulhu anytime soon. This is a special order only title.

Though I think that Cthulhu should be judged entirely of its own merits as a film, and not by its decidedly gay slant, I mention it first because there have been many murmers and much derision surrounding the movie because of it. If you can live with a little gay masturbation and one homosexual love scene, then there’s a decent movie here. If you’re bashful, there’s a skip button on your remote for a reason. Still, it’s a shame so many Lovecraft fans will miss out on the movie, and a chance at giving it an honest review, due to a little homophobia. I’ll grant you, Lovecraft himself probably would have flipped his shit at the idea of a gay movie based on his work, but at the same time, Lovecraft hated Black people; it’s time to drop his prejudices and move on.

Cthulhu isn’t actually based on “Call of Cthulhu”, the name is used for its current popularity amongst the literary underground. Rather, the movie is based upon “Shadow over Innsmouth”. For the uninitiated, the tale centers around a sea-side town where a strange cult has gained a strong footing, granting them power and wealth at the cost of their humanity. In the original tale, the Innsmouth investigator is a stranger to the town, but this time around, it’s a townie, Russ (Jason Cottle), estranged from his home by his homosexual tendencies. He returns home for his mother’s funeral (mysterious circumstances, of course) to find his father’s cult in full swing, children disappearing from the town, sewer mutants, and everyone preoccupied with the idea of him turning straight and making babies.

It’s here that the homosexual slant really works in the story. Lovecraft’s original work features a theme that occurs very often in his work; that of failed or cursed heredity. This time, rather than focusing on inbred genes or cursed bloodlines, the entire world seems to have its eye upon Russ and his loins. The town seems to be convinced that Russ is meant to be a Prince of some sort, and that he and his child will call up the Deep Ones and conquer the Earth for the cult. The cult is willing to rape and kill, basically do anything, to get him to go straight again. An interesting take on the story that works well logically.

The trouble with the movie is that it does try to cram the gay-angle down your throat. Rather than be a standard movie that features a gay character, the movie is constructed in a way that does tend to alienate its heterosexual viewers. Often the movie makes decisions about scenes and their focal points that make dramatic or mysterious moments lost in homosexual erotica, or at least melodrama. Do we need Russ to remind us that he’s homosexual and an outcast every five minutes? No. Does the teenage masturbation scene serve any real purpose to the plot? No. Of course, many of these same editing decisions, down to the needless sex scene, are included in heterosexual movies as well. Still those are usually ‘lower class’ movies, and with the quality the rest of this film exhibits, one would expect more.

For this reason that Cthulhu reminds me of the anime Kite and Mezzo Forte from Yasuomi Umetsu. Both of those anime are excellent action-adventure miniseries with interesting premises and amazing animation. Of course, the only reason the studio afforded such great animation is that both of these shows feature needless hardcore sex scenes in every episode. By having giant penises penetrate the main characters at random moments, the show as able to be marketed as both an action series, and a porn series, and picked up extra financial support from a variety of distributors. That seems similar to what’s happened to Cthulhu; an adaptation was written about a gay protagonist, but to get more financial backing and entry into gay film festivals (where the film won several awards), they needed to shoot extra shower scenes and gay it up a little more. It just doesn’t mesh with the work as a whole.

Overall, the film is good. Not to say it isn’t flawed at several moments. Russ’s crossover in his character arc from History Chair at Seattle’s UW to half-crazed killer, typical of Lovecraft works, isn’t convincing at all. Also, while some moments are brilliantly shot by someone who knows the landscape and a camera very well, there are some second unit scenes (primarily at the bar and the quieter home scenes) are incredibly amateurish, and even the sound is lower quality. There’s just a strange unevenness about the whole work. Even when it comes to the acting, Cottle plays Russ very competently, and his father is played perfectly by Dennis Kleinsmith (obviously a good actor AND a fan), but gay lover Mike seems to have all of his lines ad-libbed, poorly at that, almost to the point of grunting and pointing on screen. Tori Spelling does well in her role, though I didn’t realize she was in the movie when I popped it into my player. I kept asking myself, “Wow, who is this girl that looks like Tori Spelling’s ugly sister?”

Despite the film’s flaws, Cthulhu is a fine addition to a Lovecraft film library. There are some great shots and a general eeriness to the film that show a lot of love for the original stories and a great deal of talent from the creative team. Given some tighter editing this movie really could have been something, often looking surprisingly good for its budgetary shortcomings. The storytelling is overly obtuse, but most who haven’t read the original story will be rewarded by sticking it out, while Lovecraft fans will find an adaptation that keeps to Innsmouth’s spirit. Compared to many past adaptations, Cthulhu is on par, and often exceeds its peers. It makes an interesting comparison to Stuart Gordon’s Dagon, also based on Innsmouth, and also named after a wholly separate story.

If you’re don’t mind looking through the ‘special interest’ section of your local video store for this film, give it a go. It lacks some of Dagon’s visceral quality and fast pace, but it also doesn’t fall into camp, a rare solid effort at creating a serious Lovecraft film. Far from perfect, but Cthulhu deserves what success it receives.

“Now, look into the face of your red-eyed God!”

Brutal As Hell Rating:

3 out of 5