DVD Review: Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown (2008)
Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown (2008)
Studio: Cinevolve Studios.
Release Date: October 27, 2009
Directed By: Frank H. Woodward
Cast: Caitlin R. Kiernan, Guillermo del Toro, Neil Gaiman, Ramsey Campbell & Stuart Gordon
Review By: Annie Riordan
Eccentric. Xenophobic. Anglophilic. Racist. Introverted. Every devoted fan of Howard Phillips Lovecraft has heard these terms applied to the acknowledged father of cosmic horror at one time or another. And anyone who knows me even slightly knows that I am a huge dweeby squishy Lovecraft geekoid tentacle worshipping fangirl. I own all of his stories, will watch anything even remotely associated with the genre he invented and have a rubbing of his headstone framed and mounted over my bookshelves, where I can see it from my bed. I would sleep with it underneath my fucking pillow if I didn’t think it would smudge the rubbing wax. Yes, I am a nerd.
Given that admission, you’d think that I’d have every detail of Howie’s life committed to memory and available for rote repetition on demand. However, this hour and a half long documentary – featuring some of my favorite Lovecraft disciples – actually contains some tidbits I hadn’t previously been aware of…or which I perhaps just forgot. Considering my complete and utter lack of a short term memory, that’s always a distinct possibility.
Starting out humbly enough, Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown documents Howard’s early life, from the tragic death of his father, to his strange relationship with his mother (which smacked of Munchausen Syndrome by proxy) and the vast feelings of inferiority and insecurity which led to Howard’s sickly and reclusive adolescence, a well established collection of facts of which most Lovecraft fans are already well aware.
With its foundations firmly in place, the story of Lovecraft is then handed over to his devoted “descendants”: author Caitlin Kiernan (whose literary works come the closest to capturing the spirit of Lovecraft), directors Guillermo del Toro, Stuart Gordon and others openly and frankly discuss the clumsiness of Lovecraft’s prose, his clunky writing style, his overuse of words (“eldritch” “cyclopean” etc), the correct pronunciation of Cthulhu (turns out there really isn’t one), and their deep, genuine love for Howard despite his flaws. The issue of Lovecraft’s perceived racism and anti-Semitism are also discussed and, without ever really forgiving him, also puts into perspective the attitudes of the times and the similar writings of other just as “prejudiced” authors.
Filled with old photographs, glimpses of Lovecraft’s vast collection of correspondences and featuring some of the gorgeous artworks that his stories inspired, the documentary clips along quickly and ends much too soon, not unlike Lovecraft’s own too-short life. I stupidly thought I could watch this by halves, and ended up staying up way past my bedtime, having become sucked into the rich, colorful narrative and unable to stop watching. It was definitely worth an hour of lost sleep.
Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown is a lot like sitting around with your hopelessly geeky friends, discussing the intricacies of Lovecraft’s alternate dimensions, insanity inspiring voids and cold, indifferent gods with nerdy enthusiasm; I found myself nodding along with opinions shared and interjecting my own thoughts into the dialog, all the while happy that no one was around to see me dorking out all over the place. But whether you watch it alone, or with a gaggle of your plush-Cthulhu-owning friends, this is a documentary not to be missed by any of Lovecraft’s dearly devoted.
Brutal As Hell Rating: 3 & 1/2 out of 5
