# What Lovecraft story would make a \*good\* movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2003, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lovecraft-story-would-make-a-good-movie/176049 "2003-05-18T14:14:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Short\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Short\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lovecraft-story-would-make-a-good-movie/176049/1 "2003-05-18T14:14:32Z")
Inspired by the Stephen King thread, and mainly because I don’t like King, I started wondering which Lovecraft story would make a good film. To my knowledge, no actually _good_ film was ever made based on a Lovecraft story (if anyone has any recommendations, however…), so here are my two favourites: -Herbert West: Reanimator. I’ll admit I haven’t seen Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator, but I hear it has almost nothing to do with the actual story. I think, given the right adaptation, it would make a great film, creepy and gory at the same time: lots of atmosphere. I’d very much like to see a serious adaptation of this. -At the Mountains of Madness. From a visual point of view, this would be great: majestic vistas of snow-covered mountains, scenes of hardship as the explorers struggle through the snow, the immense cities… I suppose the ‘monster design’ would have to be somewhat altered (the whole animal-vegetable-mineral thing might not really work on screen) and I fear the ‘twist ending’ wouldn’t really have that much impact on today’s audience. But as it is, the story has a lot going for it, and again, I’d be very excited to see a film. So what do you think? Which Lovecraft story would be best suited for adaptation to cinema? How should it be done? Hell, suggest directors/actors/make-up artists, if you want. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lovecraft-story-would-make-a-good-movie/176049/2 "2003-05-18T14:20:50Z")
The Tree ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lovecraft-story-would-make-a-good-movie/176049/3 "2003-05-18T14:29:22Z")
Actually, I think Re-Animator was a fair adaptation; remember that the original story is supposed to be schlock. Admittedly, it doesn’t go for plot details, however. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lovecraft-story-would-make-a-good-movie/176049/4 "2003-05-18T14:51:07Z")
There were a couple of decent “Night Gallery” vignettes done based on Lovecraft stories. I think that venue is probably a better one than a movie. Any number of them would fit in well with the new “Twilight Zone” for example. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lovecraft-story-would-make-a-good-movie/176049/5 "2003-05-18T15:46:50Z")
I’ve always wanted to direct an adaptation of **At the Mountains of Madness**. Of course a lot of the “science” would have to be changed to fit with what we know now. But I’d still like to do it as a period piece. _Teke lili!_ ---
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lovecraft-story-would-make-a-good-movie/176049/6 "2003-05-18T17:27:58Z")
How about **The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath?**