The deceased writer from Providence, Rhode Island struggled to make a living in his life, only to go down in history books for his mindbogglingly visions of the unknown worlds. He’s even spawned his own subgrenre of horror; the “Lovecraftian style”.
While yes, there have been over 200 movies, TV shows and video games based on his work, only a small chunk of them really captured the Lovecraftian essence. The sense of otherworldy fear, the greatest fear there is; the fear of the unknown. The fear that you don’t know what lies beneath you, what lies above you, what could be right behind you and what they’ll due to you when the time is right.
The films I’ve heard of that are considered “true” to Lovecraft’s world and were sucessful, were 1985’s “The Re-Animator”, and the more recent film “Color Out of Space” starring Nicolas Cage.
Also worth mentioning, Guillermo del Toro was attatched to direct an adaptation of “At the Mountain of Madness” which would have starred Tom Cruise. Though it seems unlikely he’ll get it made soon, he’s made his passion for the project beyond clear. Given his ability to create bizarre creatures and atmospheres, he’d probably be an excellent choice. So let’s see if this does indeed happen.
So without furtherado, my top picks for who should direct a Lovecraft movie.
David Lynch
If you’re familiar with Lynch, this should pretty much explain itself. If not, I’ll explain. Lynch is famous around the world for his utterly bizarre pieces of cinema. Much like Lovecraft himself, he’s a mind that can imagine the unimaginable. His works only truely make sense to himself and a very small handfull of people willing to reach deep inside their souls to find it’s meaning. In many ways, Lynch is a modern day Lovecraft.
Lynch is also known for his unique, disturbing, empty atmosphere, something I think would blend excellently with Lovecraft’s work. Also like Lovecraft, Lynch isn’t overly focused on his characters, instead focusing on the “Lynch” stlye, which is what makes David Lynch David Lynch, and what made H.P. Lovecraft H.P. Lovecraft.
If he were still alive today, I recon Lynch would be the only man Lovecraft would trust with his work. It’s out of these reasons that I think Lynch, if willing to return to feature films, would be the perfect choice. Though there are a few others I’d recommend.
Robert Eggers
Robert Eggers is a rising director of modern day horror. His cinematic debut “The Witch” starred Anya Taylor-Joy as a teenage girl who desires to become a witch in 19th century New England. What seperates this film from the work of most others was, as Willem Dafoe graciously stated “It’s a period piece doesn’t point to itself”. The Witch truely allows it’s viewers to be sucked into the world without being bashed on the head with 19th century New England politics, Geography, characters, etc. It feels “real” even though it takes place in a nearly unbelievable place.
His other film I’ve actually read the screenplay for, but haven’t gotten around to watching. “The Lighthouse” stars Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe as YOUNG and OLD. Dafoe is a crazy old lighthouse keeper who won’t let his new assistant go ontop of the Lighthouse. Based on the trailer alone I can tell that the film is a completely different world and atmosphere than the screenplay would tell you. His way with dialogue, and the fact that most of Lovecraft’s films could be considered period pieces, he would respect the source material while still taking his own spin on things, this truely does sway to Eggers being a near perfect choice, maybe even better than Lynch himself.
Are there any other directors you think would be a perfect fit for a Lovecraft film? If so, lemme’ know in the comments below.
-The Screenwriter
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