VOD of the Dead - H.P. LOVECRAFT'S WITCH HOUSE (2021)
Of all the authors in the horror genre, H.P. Lovecraft is arguably the most difficult to adapt to film. While many have tried, few succeed in effectively capturing the ambiguity and scope of his stories. Some of this is due to the prose, which is usually first-person and clinical sounding, and some of this is just because of interpretation and artistic liberty. The cream of the H.P. Lovecraft cinematic universe is minimal, yet most of them are not faithful adaptations to their source material. This issue with interpretation and transition to a different medium account for a lot of the success the film adaptation may or may not have. STUART GORDON and BRIAN YUZNA had a run of mostly successful Lovecraft adaptations ranging from the classic RE-ANIMATOR to the aquatic cult horror of DAGON, and the common thread amongst these films and others is that they diverge from their source material just enough to make the transition to screen entertaining.
On the other hand, the most unsuccessful adaptations like THE UNNAMABLE and LURKING FEAR take liberties themselves that fail to capture either the source material or a vision for the film medium. So when a new Lovecraft adaptation is announced I, and I’m sure other horror fans as well, meet the announcements with a heavy dose of skepticism and glimmers of hope that we could have another Lovecraft cinematic adaptation added to the pantheon of prior successes. Enter H.P. LOVECRAFT’S WITCH HOUSE. Releasing on JULY 5, 2002 this production seeks to adapt “The Dreams in the Witch House” for mass consumption in the hopes of entering the elite circle of classic Lovecraft cinematic adaptations.
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Graduate student Alice Gilman is running from an abusive past. She seeks refuge in the infamous Hannah house; a historic home with an ominous past. Determined to prove the possibility of alternate dimensions, she unknowingly unlocks a gateway to unimaginable horror. Facing a series of bizarre and violent events, Alice is plagued by nightmarish dreams of these evil entities. Trapped between the 4th dimension and reality, the diabolical truth is revealed as Alice fights for her sanity and her very soul.
HOW IS IT?
For all intents and purposes, I’m mixed on H.P. LOVECRAFT. While I enjoy some of the stories for the world-building and eerieness, it can also be quite a chore to get through his style of writing. This is not even mentioning the moral quandry of endorsing someone who was overtly racist, beckoning to the age old cunumdrum of separating art from artist. Nevertheless, opinions on Lovecraft and his literary work are separate from BOBBY EASLEY and KEN WALLACE’s take on the material. This is not the first time that “The Dreams in the Witch House” has been adapted to screen, as STUART GORDON covered the material in his inaugural contribution to the 2005 SHOWTIME SERIES, MASTERS OF HORROR. It’s been some time since I’ve seen that episode, so we shall refrain from comparison to this take which has flashes of horror brilliance marred by sloppy storytelling and some strange directorial decisions.
Let’s start with what works, and that is the surrealism horror visuals that overcome Alice throughout the story. One of the hardest aspects to capture with Lovecraft has long been visually defining the creatures he provides sparse description of, leaving the interpretation overwhelmingly in the hands of the adapter. Part and parcel with that is the constant sense of madness and paranoia that works so well in his writing, and translating that onto a medium that is vastly different. H.P. LOVECRAFT’s WITCH HOUSE succeeds in creating scenarios where Alice’s dreams/hallucinations feel as disorienting and terrifying as Lovecraft describes. These highly stylized sequences offer up a visual palette akin to SUSPIRIA with dashes of modern neon to provide contrast. Alongside these trippy and technically interesting visuals are some truly admirable practical effects that are anything buy amateur. I commend the team behind this as so often independent horror films forgo good practical and makeup effects either out of necessity or omission, and in this case it elevates the material and helps to engross you in the horror on-screen.
Sadly, however, the visuals and technical prowess are hampered by some jarring decisions around plot and character decisions. Starting with the latter, we are introduced to Alice as someone who has recently fled an abusive ex who caused her to have a miscarriage. Her decision to go stay at the house where our story takes place occurs because she thinks she will be found at her friends apartment, but itisn’t clear if that’s an actual threat or imagined. Which makes the decision to leave the comfort and safety of a friends apartment for the isolation and errieness of an old house in the middle of nowhere a hard decision to swallow. In addition, Alice’s tragic history doesn’t really serve much of a purpose in the grand scheme of the story and could have easily been removed in favor of the other angle to her interest in this house, her academic thesis. Not only are her academic pursuits more interesting and relevant to her placement at this house, they also avoid defining her as primarily a survivor of domestic abuse. The threads that are used at the end to connect back to the abusive past feel like a lazy attempt at creating sympathy when it isn’t needed, and since the abusive past only shows up in the beginning and the end there is never any rationale as to why this matters for this story.
Alongside issues with characterization the acting also suffers from some inconsistency. While none of the acting was bad, it was also at times unconvincing. It wasn’t unique to one person as it was endemic to the whole cast, and while I’m all for nudity in films the sex scene between Alice and Tommi felt like it was ripped right out of a Skina…I mean CINEMAX late night movie. There really isn’t any chemistry between the two of them as the story goes on, and it offers yet another example of padding and distraction in the script. At a story level, we are never actually told what Alice is studying and what is offered makes it sound like something that would be hard to cover in the old school world of academia. This goes back to the characterization of Alice, what she seems to be studying is highly technical, yet we don’t get to see her be technical and display that intelligence as much as we see her dabble in the more mystical elements of her studies. All of these issues are additive, which further seeks to reinforce the opening thoughts of this review around adaptation. The original Lovecraft work was a short story, and to elongate that to 80 minutes requires a significant amount of indulgement. While that can work in some cases, in this one it does not.
LAST RITES
H.P. LOVECRAFT’s WITCH HOUSE should be commended for strong practical effects and stylized visuals that pronounce the sense of madness Lovecraft is known for, and yet, in the process of adaptation many narrative and character decisions were made that bring those aforementioned positives down.
THE GORY DETAILS
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Where can you watch it?
From Horror Wasteland Pictures International, H.P Lovecraft’s Witch House will be out on July 5, 2022 for the first time on VOD and DVD!
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