Product Details

• Actors: Jack Donner, Bryan Moore
• Directors: Bryan Moore
• Format: Black & White, Collector's Edition, NTSC
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Lurker Films, Inc.
• Run Time: 140 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0006HCT3S
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #246,034 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

The H.P. Lovecraft Collection on DVD brings together for the first time films screened over the last 10 years at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. The first volume is Cool Air, based on Lovecraft's famous short story, and follows Randolph Carter as he moves into a squalid boarding house in the summer of 1925. There he becomes friends with a mysterious doctor who revives him after a near-fatal heart attack. Soon after Carter discovers the awful truth about the doctor, and the fragile line that separates life and death. Cool Air features a stellar performance by Jack Donner (Star Trek, Mission Impossible, Stigmata) as Dr. Muñoz, and remains a haunting reminder of the power of the human will. The volume also includes the following short films: Nyarlathotep, The Hound, An Imperfect Solution, and The Hapless Antiquarian, in addition to exclusive interviews with the cast & crew of Cool Air, and an interview with author and scholar S.T. Joshi. See also Volume 2: Rough Magik and Volume 3: Out of Mind.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Feast of Lovecraft material!, November 8, 2004

By 

Peter West "Danger Seeker" (Roseville, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The H.P. Lovecraft Collection Volume 1: Cool Air (DVD)

The Story:

Renting a small one room apartment Randolph Carter continues his writing of short stories for pulp magazines. Suddenly he is stricken by a heart attack and seeks assistance from Dr. Muñoz, his upstairs neighbor. Once a prominent physician Dr. Muñoz leads a hermit like existencein a artificially cooled room. While recovering from the attack, Carter learns more and more the secrets of the mysterious doctor and why he has the need for "cool air".

The winner of the 1999 H.P. Lovecraft film festival, Bryan Moore's Cool Air is now available on DVD thanks to Lurker Films.

The Picture:

Cool Air is presented in a full frame 1.37:1 aspect, identical to what it would have been if it was filmed in 1925. Shot on 16mm film, Cool Air has all of the visuals that you would expect from a film of that period. Imperfections are intentional, the film is light and grainy. Since this film was intentionally shot to look like it was 75 years old. I'll give a perfect score for accomplishing it tremendously!

The Sound:

A Dolby 2.0 mono track that is again period driven. You get the feeling that you're thrown back to the era of the silent films and early talkies.

Extras:

Here's where this DVD becomes a invaluable treasure for any H.P. Lovecraft fan! Included are the following:

Christian Matzke's An Imperfection Solution (a short film taken from Herbert West: Re-Animator) and Nyarlathotep (told in Lovecraft's first person narrative style, a story of a prophet with visions into the future).

Anthony Penta's The Hound (a grave robbery unleashes a hound from Hell) and The Hapless Antiquarian (it's not always easy to get rid of the most evil book in the world).

A cast and crew interview about the making of Cool Air.

An informative interview with Lovecraft scholar S.T. Joshi.

An eight page booklet on Lovecraft and these films.

Two opening ads for the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival.

Put together with the extra's Cool Air becomes a 140 minute plus jammed packed DVD!

Summary:


If you're not familiar with H.P. Lovecraft's influence on the genre of horror, it's about time you learned! A writer in the 20s and 30s, Lovecraft penned short stories for publications such as Weird Tales and Astounding Stories. Dying at a young age, Lovecraft's body of work is becoming more and more appreciated with every new generation. The most famous adaptations of his work have been brought to the big screen by Stuart Gordon with Re-Animator and From Beyond. Other notable Lovecraft adaptations have been The Dunwich Horror and The Terror. Still in print to this day, you can find all of his works in hardcover at Arkham House Publishers.

Cool Air is the start of a multi volume series called "The H.P. Lovecraft Collection". This series will contain the best of the films submitted at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, now entering it's twelve year. Bryan Moore has given this short tale a treatment that is heads above anything previously submitted. From choosing renown actor Jack Donner (Star Trek, Mission Impossible, Stigmata, and Exorcism) to play Dr. Muñoz, to his decision to shoot this on 16mm film, Moore has brought Lovecraft's story to life in a wonderful way! The other shorts included in the collection all reflect the period which they were written realistically thus creating a Lovecraft fan feast of material.

I anxiously await the subsequent volumes and encourage hardcore Lovecraft fans and even novices to buy this collection. If you're not familiar with Lovecraft's works, visit arkhamhouse.com and buy the books. If you're just a fan of the Stuart Gordon treatments, enrich yourself further with this fine collection!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent horror movies!, November 3, 2004

By 

Aaron Vanek (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The H.P. Lovecraft Collection Volume 1: Cool Air (DVD)

It took me a while to view my copy of "The HP Lovecraft Collection Vol. 1" featuring "Cool Air", but I am so glad I did. The packaging and design of the disk, including the supplemental booklet (laid out as an 18th century pamphlet), are exceptionally classy and informative. The disk itself contains the featurette, "Cool Air", which is a very moving adaptation of Lovecraft's story of the same name and starring Jack Donner ("Star Trek", "Man from U.N.C.L.E", many others) and shot on black and white 16mm film. The amazing set, costumes, writing and acting, led by Bryan Moore (writer/director, and playing lead Randolph Carter) will show you what can be done with a little amount of money and a large amount of talent. The "making of" bonus materials explain how much went into completing the film; that in and of itself is a tear-wrenching story.

There are four other short films on the disk, including two by Christian Matzke, called "An Imperfect Solution" and "Nyarlathotep." Both are great period adaptations of two of Lovecraft's stories, and "Solution" manages to do the "Herbert West: Re-Animator" story seriously, as opposed to Stuart Gordon's over-the-top satirical feature. There are also two dark gems by Tony Penta: "The Hound" (based on Lovecraft's story) and "The Hapless Antiquarian", which is a funny homage to Edward Gorey's "The Gashlycrumb Tinies". There's also an interview with Lovecraft scholar ST Joshi on the disk.

The DVD is not only entertaining, emotionally powerful (and creepy!), but educational as well. Any fan of H.P. Lovecraft, non-splatter horror films (although "An Imperfect Solution" has some very gory bits), and atmospheric "weird tales" will love this.

There's no nudity or swearing in any of the shorts (although one of the actors from "Cool Air" uses some profanity in the making of material), and only "An Imperfect Solution" has serious gore, so this DVD would also make a great gift for a teenager who likes gothic movies or literature (adults will love the seriousness as well).

If you're sick and tired of the same ol' cheesy makeup and CG effects from non-sensical Hollywood horror movies, but you still want to be spooked late at night when the lights are out, be sure to pick this one up.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovecraft done right, November 3, 2004

By 

Dead Eric (WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The H.P. Lovecraft Collection Volume 1: Cool Air (DVD)

A great collection of HP Lovecraft shorts. This is a fine disc with a lot of nice extras. Cool Air is a great example of Lovecraft on film. If you are any kind of a fan of Lovecraft or independent intelligent horror films this is a disc to get.
I am waiting impatiently for the next installment in what looks to be a very promising series.