" It is new, indeed for I made it last night in a dream of strange cities: and dreams are older than brooding Tyre, or the
contemplative Sphinx, or garden-girdled Babylon" The Call of Cthulhu

Friday, March 29, 2019

HPL in the movies; Aquaman and The Dunwich Horror

 
My wife and I watched the 2018 film Aquaman last night. We enjoyed the various special effects, especially the less human groups, like the fish-like merpeople (The Fishermen), the monsters of the Trench and the crustacean forces of the Kingdom of the Brine. Early in the film there is a shot of a snow globe resting on a copy of The Dunwich Horror by H.P. Lovecraft. The film itself had no real elements of Lovecraftian horror, although it did deal with a Lovecraftian theme, the birth of a character, whose parents represented two very different groups. It is interesting that Lovecraft's work still seems to be part of such a strong cultural dialogue between artists of various mediums. Slate did a thoughtful piece on this element of the movie, the link is here;

"Aquaman Owes a Lot to H.P. Lovecraft. It’s Also His Worst Nightmare." by Keith Phipps

https://slate.com/culture/2018/12/aquaman-movie-hp-lovecraft-racism-miscegenation.html

Edition pictured, 1945 by Bartholomew House,
Cover artist uncredited.

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