Interestingly, when you look at the breakdown for how different demographics voted on the Intenet Movie Database, you will notice that the women voted this film about twice as good as men did in all age groups. I have no idea why this would be, but something to keep in mind, I suppose.
This is an H. P. Lovecraft film from someone besides Stuart Gordon (although I consider him the master of Lovecraft) and an admirable attempt. An intern in an insane asylum does brain experiments and stumbles across a being from another world ("beyond the wall of sleep"), who in Lovecraft fashion has tentacles on his chin.
Let me mention the negative qualities of this film. First, the acting was awful. Almost all the characters were exaggerated and over-acted in Broadway style. This does not bother me, though it does make it more difficult to get into a film and let yourself escape reality. Second, the director is not familiar with the adage that "less is more" because after using some quick scene cuts (I don't know the technical term) where we see about twenty different things in a minute, he uses this same technique about fifty more times in the film. Luckily I am not prone to epileptic seizures. And third, along with these quick flashes, the director also seems to think repetition of lines is helpful. If they had said "Mama had a baby and its head popped off" or "ring around the Rosie" one more time, I would have shot the television Elvis-style.
But it was not all bad. The imagery itself was excellent, setting the tone for an old asylum (from 1911) very well. The use of arcane artwork was excellent, and the monster from beyond was well-crafted. Oh, and then there was Tom Savini... a legend of horror in his own time. Sadly, his part was rather small.
I suppose if you are interested in an asylum film, this is better than many you could choose (though not nearly as good as "In The Mouth of Madness"). And if you like Lovecraft, this film is fine. And the Savini. I guess what I'm saying is take it or leave it, you're not likely to regret your decision either way.
This is an H. P. Lovecraft film from someone besides Stuart Gordon (although I consider him the master of Lovecraft) and an admirable attempt. An intern in an insane asylum does brain experiments and stumbles across a being from another world ("beyond the wall of sleep"), who in Lovecraft fashion has tentacles on his chin.
Let me mention the negative qualities of this film. First, the acting was awful. Almost all the characters were exaggerated and over-acted in Broadway style. This does not bother me, though it does make it more difficult to get into a film and let yourself escape reality. Second, the director is not familiar with the adage that "less is more" because after using some quick scene cuts (I don't know the technical term) where we see about twenty different things in a minute, he uses this same technique about fifty more times in the film. Luckily I am not prone to epileptic seizures. And third, along with these quick flashes, the director also seems to think repetition of lines is helpful. If they had said "Mama had a baby and its head popped off" or "ring around the Rosie" one more time, I would have shot the television Elvis-style.
But it was not all bad. The imagery itself was excellent, setting the tone for an old asylum (from 1911) very well. The use of arcane artwork was excellent, and the monster from beyond was well-crafted. Oh, and then there was Tom Savini... a legend of horror in his own time. Sadly, his part was rather small.
I suppose if you are interested in an asylum film, this is better than many you could choose (though not nearly as good as "In The Mouth of Madness"). And if you like Lovecraft, this film is fine. And the Savini. I guess what I'm saying is take it or leave it, you're not likely to regret your decision either way.