Lovecraft: fear of the unknown

Finally, the excellent documentary by Frank H. Woodward entitled Lovecraft: fear of the unknown is out on DVD. I have been waiting to see this since I first heard about it a year ago. The film gives you what you would expect: the facts of Lovecraft's life and his influences. But more to the point it give you interviews with Authors and Filmmakers who have been influenced by Lovecraft, including Neil Gaiman, John Carpenter, Stuart Gordon, Peter Straub, and my personal favorite, Guillermo del Toro.

I was particularly interested in Guillermo del Toro's take on Lovecraft since he is set (one day) to direct At the Mountains of Madness, a film I am sure is going to be so awesome that I already nominate it for "Best film of the Year" for whatever year he gets around to making it.

These Artists are not shy about expressing their love for Lovecraft, nor do they shy away from the more troubling aspects of his life including his xenophobia and anti-Semitism, issues that Lovecraft detractors love to bring up and Lovecraft fans continuously have to deal with. There is little "defending" of Lovecraft here, except pointing out the obvious fact that he was a product of his time. The film also delves into Lovecraft's involvement with "amateur journalism," which introduced him to a whole new world of like-minded individuals (reminds me of our blogging community) and his relationship with his Jewish wife, Sonia H. Greene. Interspersed throughout this timeline are in depth examinations of Lovecraft's work, including Dagon, The Outsider, Herbert West: Reanimator, The Rats in the Walls, and At the Mountains of Madness.

Add to this a collection of Lovecraft inspired art by the likes of Lee Moyer and Tom Sullivan and you have a pretty complete primer on all things Lovecraft.

I find myself, with great regularity, falling into what I call my "Lovecraft Obsessive Phase." For a good amount of time I will read, devour, buy all things Lovecraft until I find that I have to pull myself out before I lose all sanity. For me reading Lovecraft is like having a terrible fever. The hallucinations are fun but when you start to feel better you go "what the hell was I thinking?" But I love the crazy guy.

By the way, one of the best parts of the film is a section where all of the talking heads argue on how to pronounce Cthulhu. I am still not sure how to say it.