# The Shadow Over Innsmouth- the Movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 17, 2001, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shadow-over-innsmouth-the-movie/87933 "2001-10-17T07:06:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2001, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shadow-over-innsmouth-the-movie/87933/21 "2001-10-18T17:24:19Z")
Fiver-In the same way that D&D halflings are Tolkien’s Hobbitts, The Koa-Toua ARE Lovecraft’s Deep Ones. I suspect that The Mind Flayers {Illithid) are also taken from the Cthulhu Mythos. Besides their resemblance to Cthulhu, they: are a race of unimaginable evil dwelling in caves of endless night, drive men mad without even trying, and worship strange and unfathomable gods. ``` Again, Lovecraft's writing moves slowly. But he excelled at atmosphere. If you DM, his writing is great training for making even the most mundane thing menacing. RE OP-So far it's been suggested that Zadok's tale include a series of visual flashbacks or that the history of Obed be used as the first half of the film and the present day as the second. Even here, we begin to stray slightly from the original. Throw in a bunch of corporate VP's and market research, and it becomes clear why a faithful adaptation hasn't been made. Slight Hijack- I found Mouth Of Madness to be true to the spirit of Lovecraft, although it was not actually based on one of his works. Any one else have a film that they feel this way about? ``` ---
**Author:** ![ScriptAnalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@ScriptAnalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScriptAnalyst)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2001, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shadow-over-innsmouth-the-movie/87933/22 "2001-10-18T18:08:01Z")
ALIEN clearly owed a debt to Lovecraft, although it was not an adaptation. In a weird way I felt that SEVEN was Lovecraftian. I can’t really argue the point logically; it just seemed to convey a sense of the universe’s indifference to humanity that was in line with the author’s work. GHOSTBUSTERS, of course, suggests THE DUNWICH HORROR. Steve Biodrowski [http://www.thescriptanalyst.com](http://www.thescriptanalyst.com) ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2001, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shadow-over-innsmouth-the-movie/87933/23 "2001-10-18T22:57:07Z")
Fiver: My introduction to Lovecraft, and a good “starter set,” was a paperback compilation from Del-Ray (I think) called “The Best of H.P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre.” I still see it regularly in the horror section of most book stores. It’s a good introductory volume, as it contains a smattering of his early, Poe-inspired work, a single example of his Dunsanian fantasies, and most of his mature, “Cthulhu mythos” stuff. It contains every story that **Cal** mentions, except for “Charles Dexter Ward” and “At the Mountains of Madness,” both of which are quite long. His writing style does take some getting used to, and it’s not for everybody. I’ve also found that it’s easy to misinterpet Lovecraft. This may be why so few good movies have been made from his work (to drag this back to the topic). It’s tempting to focus on the monsters, and that’s what most movies do. But the monsters are really only symbols, and in and of themselves kinda silly. Lovecraft’s real point, the immense vastness of the unfeeling cosmos contrasted with the puny insignificance of human life, is much harder to convey on film. I have a sneaking fondness for **The Haunted Palace** as well. Maybe it’s just because, the first time I saw it, I had a wonderful, “Oh my God, this is Lovecraft!” moment. ---
**Author:** ![Reemul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Reemul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reemul)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shadow-over-innsmouth-the-movie/87933/24 "2001-10-19T03:55:02Z")
There actually is an adaptation of **The Shadow over Innsmouth** being made. It goes the by the title of **Dagon** , but isn’t really based on the H.P. Lovecraft short story of said name. So long as there are Deep Ones, i’ll be happy. [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0264508](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0264508) > **[Wez gives a peek at Stuart Gordon's next H. P. Lovecraft film, DAGON!!!](http://legacy.aintitcool.com/node/10398)** > > Hey folks, Harry here Last night I was lucky enough to experience a tad of DAGON myself. I was lucky enough to see two rather creepy as hell extended trailers for the latest from Stuart Gordon. There was an icky feel to the coastal city,... It’s being directed by Stuart Gordon, who helmed the Lovecraftian films **Re-Animator** and **From Beyond**. Personally, i can’t wait. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shadow-over-innsmouth-the-movie/87933/25 "2001-10-19T12:17:58Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s being directed by Stuart Gordon, who helmed the Lovecraftian films Re-Animator and From Beyond. . Oh, Cthulhu! I have to admit that I liked these two films (I never saw **Bride of Re-Animator** ), but that’s because I’m a fan of Bad Cinema. And these two are definitely Bad Cinema, and not Good Lovecraft. They’re characterized by over-the-top gore and weird, not atmosphere, and they don’t _feel_ at all like Lovecraft works. If he’s doing **Dagon** , then it won’t feel like LOvecraft, either. But there’ll be plenty of foam-rubber (and maybe CGI) uglies. ---
**Author:** ![ScriptAnalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@ScriptAnalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScriptAnalyst)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shadow-over-innsmouth-the-movie/87933/26 "2001-10-19T21:50:36Z")
But there Herbert West serial, as written by Lovecraft, was over-the-top. Lovecraft didn’t take it seriously (he considered it hackwork) and let his hair down a bit. The first REANIMATOR film captures that element. Not that it’s a faithful adaptation, but it is, at least in some sense, true to the spirit of the source material. Steve Biodrowski [http://www.thescriptanalyst.com](http://www.thescriptanalyst.com) ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2001, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shadow-over-innsmouth-the-movie/87933/27 "2001-10-20T03:14:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fiver \* > \*\*I’ve never read Lovecraft and all I know about his work is what I read in the “God, Demigods and Heroes” manual for Dungeons and Dragons (does that make me a bad person?). > > What’s the best place to start? > > And, is his writing in the public domain yet? That would make it much more attractive to producers, I’d think. \*\* The question of the status of his copyrights are very convoluted. To make a long story short, it appears that Lovecraft never renewed his copyrights, and thus his work entered the public domain abnormally early. However, since the usual 75 years (or however long it is nowadays) hasn’t run out yet, his publisher claims they still hold the copyright. Here are most of his works online: [http://www.gizmology.net/lovecraft/](http://www.gizmology.net/lovecraft/) My personal favorites are “Dreams in the Witch-House” and “The Shadow Out of Time.” -Ben [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shadow-over-innsmouth-the-movie/87933.md?page=1)