The Comedy, The Horror
The Weird World of H.P. Lovecraft

When a call went out to filmmakers to submit short films based on the work of H.P. Lovecraft, many devoted fans created films that were true in spirit to his stories of horror and dark fantasy. The resulting feature is a weird and uneven amalgamation that teeters between homage and parody in LovecraCked! The Movie.

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A re-enactment of H.P. Lovecraft's childhood if he had been abducted by aliens in LovecraCked! The Movie. (Biff Juggernaut Productions, 2006)
Directed by: Elias, et al.
Written by: Elias, et al.
Starring: Elias, Lloyd Kaufman, Ryan L. Johnston, Chad Bernhard, and Brian A. Bernhard

Rated Not Rated
Running time: 87 min.

FilmGuru's Rating : 3 out of 10.

As with such films as Twilight Zone: The Movie and Tales from the Darkside, LovecraCked! The Movie uses a running narrative to tie together a series of short films. In this case, the framework is provided by a clueless investigative journalist (Elias) who tries to uncover the "truth" about H.P. Lovecraft.

From the onset, it is clear that the humor in this journalism piece is not subtle. Fake bats, fog machines, and overacting set the tone. Unfortunately, the comedy bits do not reflect the tone of the majority of the short films.

A few of the shorts, including "BugBoy," "Chaos of Flesh," and "Remain," seem to be a serious attempt to bring horror to film. The inspired film "Alecto," about a violin teacher who was traumatized as a child, is far and away the best of the bunch. Although these films have no discernable connection to his work, they are in the spirit of Lovecraft.

The segment "The Statement of Randolph Carter" is one of the few short films based on a Lovecraft story. In it, two men investigate a tunnel into the earth with dire consequences. Although a low-budget production, the film actually evokes a sense of dread about the unknown. It's quite well done. Directed by Jane Rose, this short film has been screened at numerous festivals, including the HP Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, Oregon.

The entire narrative of the film, including a mini-interview with Lloyd Kaufman (of Troma fame), seems to be leading up to the final segment, a soft-core porn version of Lovecraft's "Herbert West--Re-Animator" called "Re-Penetrator." In this short film, a scientist (Tommy Pistol) reanimates a dead girl (Joanna Angel) to be his zombie sex slave. Sadly, this sophomoric crudeness is the low point of the film.

Humor, as always, is a subjective thing. What is funny and outrageous to one person may be juvenile and amateurish to the next. While the humor used in LovecraCked! The Movie was not to my taste, I recognize that it might be funny to others. Nevertheless, I felt that the humor conflicted with the horror being demonstrated by serious filmmakers. Unlike the macabre humor in Creepshow or Tales from the Crypt, which gives viewers a chance to recover from their fright with bits of nervous laughter, the humor in LovecraCked! The Movie merely distracts from the film.

Although H.P. Lovecraft may not be a household name, to fans of the horror genre his work is a foundation for the pillars of greatness. His contributions include the creation of the Cthulhu mythos and the famed Necronomicon. For those looking for adaptations of his work, this collection has little to offer. For horror fans, it offers a few disturbing moments but nothing scary.