Customer Reviews

The Lurker in the Lobby: The Guide to Lovecraftian Cinema

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This is a light, crispy diversion for fans of Lovecraft and genre cinema, that asks the compelling question: "What in the name of Yog-Sothoth is a 'real' Lovecraft film adaptation?" It is sprinkled with droll witticisms that lovers of Lovecraft will relish. For example, of the silly-sounding eldritch lines spoken by Dean Stockwell's Wilber Whateley, in "The Dunwich Horror" (1970, which faithfully try but painfully fail to bring Lovecraft's written word to soundtrack life, the authors astutely observe: "Lovecraftian incantations like ygnaiih or thflthkh'ngha ... look more blasphemous than they sound." Or, their general reference to film versions of Lovecraft works as "these flickering blasphemies." The appreciation and love of HPL's works, and the intentions (if not always the results) of cinematists who have tried to honor them in film, come through in the pages of this book, endearing the attentive reader. The authors profess this is not a comprehensive work, so I cannot fault them for anything left out. Still, if not presumptuous, I would lobby (ahem) for inclusion of a film that deserves consideration in a work such as this, in a presumptive future, enlarged edition: "The Kindred" with Kim Hunter, Rod Steiger, and a starring cast of younger, lesser-known actors. It is chockful of Lovecraftian themes, moreso than many a work explicitly claiming Lovecraft as the source. On the whole, this is a good book, with plenty of photographs and illustrations. But alas, it is over too quickly, leaving one wanting more, but mainly as a tribute to its enjoyable style and concept.

The only thing keeping this book from greatness is the horrible (lack of) proofreading. That Swedish country is called "Sweeden" for instance. Perhaps the most cringe-inducing is on page 332, where we read "a theif is wounded .... but runs into the isolated home of a Viet-nam vetrtan instead."

Another helpful thing would have been the labeling of some of the photos, especially in the "Short Films" section, so that we would know where the photos came from.

This is a fun book that could only be improved by a little spell-checking.

This is a good guide to Lovecraftian films. Of course, there are films I would have left out and films I would have included, and I don't agree with their opinion on every film. Still, it's an interesting read and covers a wide selection, including shorts and TV shows.

I did not know quite what to expect when I ordered this book. It is fascinating - reviews of films I did not know existed. Book was in good shape - paperback, thoughtfully written, reviews seemed very fair and unbiased. The extra for me was the great reviews with filmmakers. I recommend the book. Ed Rogers