Some time in the very early '80s, when I was really getting into H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos, I bought a back issue (not sure of its date) of “Heavy Metal Magazine,” a “Special H.P. Lovecraft Issue.” One of the articles mentioned that a new movie was in production, to be called “Cry of Cthulhu.”
And then I never heard anything about the movie after that. Does anyone know what happened to the project? Why it died? Whether it might, possibly, someday be resurrected? ("That is not dead which can eternal lie . . . ")
I only ask because I’ve seen a few screen treatments of Lovecraft’s horror fiction and I’ve never been entirely satisfied. The best effort so far was the recent “Dagon,” and even that took too many liberties with the basic premises of “Shadow Over Innsmouth.” What I want to see is something as faithful as possible to the spirit of the original – e.g., a story set in the 1930s, where all the protagonists are creepy New England shabby-gentry like Henry Armitage and Randolph Carter – and the theme of racial prejudice = fear of humanoid hybrid monsters really comes across, the way HPL himself would have done it, fuck the PC police – and there’s no soppy sex or romance or ordinary emotional interaction between human beings. Something really HPL! I have no idea whether “Cry of Cthulhu” would have been like that.
http://www.dragoncreststudios.com/ mentions “budget restrictions and studio executive conflicts,” the bullet in the heart of potentially great but never made movies everywhere.
A VISITATION! [falls to the floor, pentagramming herself violently] I’ll never blaspheme again! The horror! O, the unspeakable HORROR!
Have you ever seen a 300-foot squid cry? It is so sad! If you ever come across him when he’s in one of those moods, do him a favor and don’t mention Shub-Niggurath. The less said about that heartless bitch-goat, the better.
You make like you’re pronouncing “R” but you use the “H” sound instead, and put a little “L” inflection at the end. At least that’s how sentient beings without gills have to do it.
I know this thread is very old, but in case the guy who asked the question is still around, here is exactly what happened to the film. I happened to have spoke to the man who was going to create the special effects for the movie. He had artist renderings all made up and they were ready to create miniatures and give it an “old school” treatment. This is circa late 70s. The problem is, the guys behind the movie had little experience and no contacts in the film industry. Still, they got a meeting with a studio and the lady who heard their pitch said she liked it, but they weren’t interested. A year later, IRS contacted them with a request for $500,000. Turns out, the woman greenlit the project after they left for 3 mil, took the money and created a paper trail that led to them. She’s supposed to be still in jail to this day. The creators became completely disenchanted with the whole Hollywood thing and dropped it all together.
If the movie is to ever be made, somebody else will have to pick up the torch.
On a vaguely related note, I used to have that issue of Heavy Metal. It had about seven or eight stories based on or inspired by the work of HPL, plus lots of other mythos-related odds and ends.
Of all the “tribute” HPL material I’ve ever owned, this magazine really stood out. Definitely worth tracking down if you’re an HPL fan.
