Name: In Search of Lovecraft (2008)
IMDb: link to page In Search of Lovecraft
Genres: Horror Country of Origin: USA
Cast: Renee Sweet (Rebecca Marsh, TV reporter), Tytus Bergstrom (Mike, the cameraman, who has seen too much), Denise Amrikhas (Amber Martin, the high school intern), Saqib Mousoof as Dr. D'Sousa, Rachael Robbins as the white witch, Keja.
Written, edited, and directed by: David J. Hohl
The Three Acts:
The initial tableaux:
Reporter Rebecca Marsh starts with Halloween interviews, and for some reason asks crowd members questions about H. P. Lovecraft.
One new contact leads to another. Mike, her cameraman, and Amber, her intern, follow her as the story unfolds.
The delineation of conflicts:
As is often the case in Lovecraft films, the main confrontation is the searcher versus general lack of information. The searchers here start with reality based reporter tools.
The pursuit is all rather ordinary until a Professor Sutton, who was to be interviewed, is found dead instead from a magic attack. They get a set of directions on Sutton's voice mail, and locate a mysterious movie from 1933.
The reporting team keeps following leads, but someone/something keeps doing in their contacts. Along the way, they pick up more Lovecraft lore, and more leads to more murky information. For instance, an aborted attempt for one of the gods to find purchase in the real world is detailed, and an assertion that another 75 years must pass before the next gate opens. That would be in 2008.
Dark passages and foul dreams come before the climactic encounters. As with many Lovecraft films, the protagonists only get a full information set (under the floorboards in an abandoned flat) about an hour before civilisation-ending disaster is about to strike.
Resolution: In the abstract, all Lovecraft films end the same way. In the particular, one needs to watch the film carefully.
One line summary: Lovecraft mythos pursued by reporters.
For a much better Lovecraft film, see: The Dunwich Horror with Dean Stockwell.
Statistics:
Cinematography: 2/10 The film is in 1.33 to 1.00 aspect ratio. I suppose that is meant to make it more 'true' to Lovecraftian lore, but it looks like shit.
Some of it is well lit, in focus, and decently framed. Other pieces are dark, very low in contrast, and in grey and grey (not good enough to be called black and white). Some sections are rife with jumpy camera work and careless zooming. Of course, some of it is washed out by too much light. Some of the 'old' footage is much, much worse than the rest of the film. Of course, the crappiness of archival footage is beloved by some fans.
Sound: 4/10 Many of the actors were not well miked, and the sound suffers for it. It sounds hollow more often than not. If not for the subtitles, I would have been lost in some passages.
Acting: 2/10 Sad. Saqib Mousoof and Rachael Robbins were probably the best, and have much better accomplishments after this film. Denise Amrikhas was beyond bad, as were the leads, Renee Sweet and Tytus Bergstrom.
Screenplay: 1/10 Associating Halloween with Lovecraft? Hm. The case for the pantheon in Lovecraft's writings being 'real' was 0% convincing. Unfortunately, most of the film goes with that premise. Motivation? Apparently that was not considered necessary. The fans of this type of film are pre-sold on the mythology.
Special Effects: 1/10 Between unconvincing and laughable.
Final Rating: One of ten. Three black holes for cinematography, screenplay, SFX.
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