Out of Mind: The Stories of H.P. Lovecraft

Audience Reviews

View All (3) audience reviews

Audience Member This film is an exploration of Lovecraft's motivations behind the stories, why he wrote, and what he thought of his own efforts, intertwining with his own stories and themes. (Especially the dreamlands stories of Randolph Carter)--Lovercraft would have liked it!! Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member This 10-year-old made-for-Canadian-TV film has a clever conceit at its black little heart: the historically real Howard Phillips Lovecraft becomes entwined in a Lovecraftian story not of his own device. The film's protagonist, one Mr. Randolph Carter (hah!), inherits a copy of the accursed grimoire "Necronomicon," inadvertently speaks aloud certain incantations while reading it, and begins to flip back-and-forth between his (our) objective reality, and the "dream world" Lovecraft conjured forth in his fiction. Shoggoths ensue, weirdness abounds, and our hero finally meets up with Lovecraft for a most interesting conversation at the film's end. (Where the Gentleman from Providence is most amazed to see his likeness and name emblazoned on Carter's T-shirt.) It sounds goofier and more convoluted than it really is, and writer/director Raymond Saint-Jean nicely wraps the whole thing in a beautifully-photographed, creepily atmospheric production. It's all more talk than actual scares, but this is one of the better depictions of Lovecraft's world committed to film. Special mention needs to be made of Christopher Heyerdahl's performance/portrayal of Lovecraft -- he accurately captures the pasty, gaunt, uncomfortable-in-his-own-skin recluse we all know from biography, but he also gives him a dignity and kindly humanity befitting a man who saw himself as more properly belonging to the 18th century. To the best of anyone's knowledge, there are no filmed or sound recordings of Lovecraft extant; the scratchy, black & white, faux-documentary "footage" of Lovecraft (speaking actual words taken from his correspondence) gives us a wonderful sense of the man we'll never be able to get otherwise. This short (56 minutes) film is required viewing for anyone who considers themselves a Lovecraft fan; more casual readers of his weird tales will find this interesting and entertaining as well. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member A tribute to H.P. Lovecraft, not an adaptation of any of his works. Rarely have I encountered a film that so vividly captured the atmosphere and texture of Lovecraft's prose. This is a polished production where all the elements work together to generate a sense of inexplicable creepiness. The fact that the narrative arc is woefully incomplete (this the 3rd installment in a series) does nothing to detract from the experience. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Out of Mind: The Stories of H.P. Lovecraft

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW