Charles P. Mitchell - The Complete H. P. Lovecraft Filmography (Bibliographies and Indexes in the Performing Arts)

Cover

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The Complete H.P.Lovecraft Filmography

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Charles P.Mitchell

Bibliographies and Indexes in the Performing Arts, Number 26

GREENWOOD PRESS

Westport, ConnecticutLondon

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mitchell, Charles P., 1942
The complete H.P.Lovecraft filmography/Charles P.Mitchell.
p. cm.(Bibliographies and indexes in the performing arts, ISSN 07426933; no. 26)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-313-31641-4 (alk. paper)
1. Lovecraft, H.P. (Howard Phillips), 18901937Film and video adaptations. 2.
Horror tales, AmericanFilm and video adaptations. 3. Horror filmsHistory and
criticism. I. Title. II. Series.
PS3523.O833 Z77 2001
791.436164dc21 2001040437

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.

Copyright 2001 by Charles P.Mitchell

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2001040437

ISBN: 0-313-31641-4

ISSN: 07426933

First published in 2001
Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881

An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
www.greenwood.com

Printed in the United States of America

The paper used in this book complies with the
Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.481984).

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Copyright Acknowledgments

The author and publisher gratefully acknowledge permission for use of the following material:

Frontispiece illustration by Roberta D.Mitchell.
Principal photographs courtesy of Robert Brosch Archival Photography.
Additional photographs from the collections of Christian Matzke and Paul Parla.

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This volume is dedicated to three superb performers who helped bring Lovecraft films to life:
Jeffrey Combs
Christopher Heyerdahl
David Warner

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Unnumbered photo essay follows page 126.

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My deep interest in H.P.Lovecraft and his works developed in my youth, after obtaining and reading through a slim paperback collection of stories entitled The Dunwich Horror and Others. My fascination only increased after I obtained my first professional position, in 1972, as Music and Fine Arts Librarian at the Paterson (N.J.) Public Library, giving me ample opportunity to explore the adjacent Paterson Museum, which had once planned to hire Lovecraft as assistant curator. HPL (Lovecraft, like FDR and JFK, is among those individuals who are frequently identified by their initials alone) used the setting of the Paterson Museum in one of his greatest stories, The Call of Cthulhu. At the museum, I also had the thrill of examining a number of HPLs handwritten letters to James F.Morton, his friend who worked for many years as curator of the museum. At that time, I pledged to make my own contribution to the Cthulhu Mythos, a pledge that I now redeem with this volume, intended to serve as a comprehensive guide to the films inspired by Lovecraft and his writings. The works are also sometimes called Cthulhu cinema, since most of them are based on what is known as the Cthulhu Mythos, the invented mythology that Lovecraft created as the background for his work, including novels, short stories and poetry, and which was later adopted by other writers as well.

Although it is difficult to come up with an absolute number of films that encompass Cthulhu cinema, this book identifies sixty-eight titles that fall within its parameters. The Complete H.P.Lovecraft Filmography is divided into three

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parts. The overview which comprises the first part will briefly examine Love-crafts life, his writings and his influence, as well as the difficulty in adapting his work to the screen. In addition, it will evaluate in minute detail the elements that characterize these motion pictures. Finally, it will provide a primary and secondary list of feature motion pictures that may be categorized as Lovecraft films, the difference in the two lists reflecting the degree of overall influence.

The middle section is an in-depth study of the thirty-three films from the primary list that are full-fledged examples of Cthulhu cinema. The entries themselves are arranged alphabetically by title, as well as any notable alternate titles. This is followed by a subjective rating by the author, which should be interpreted in the following manner: