Lovecraft Regained

Set out the birthday cake. Light up the candles. And wish him a happy birthday.

Though it’s someone you may not heard of. Most likely, it’s a person you have no idea exists. But he does have his appreciative audiences who once started out in the hometown of Saul City, Wisconsin where fans tried to salvage his writings. It was Arkham House who made the case that his books were worth salvaging.

He’s not even from Wisconsin. In fact, he’s a Providence, Rhode Island scribe who spent many days writing the horror genre with portions of science fiction. He’s probably the first writer really to use both areas of fiction very well to achieve the cosmic edge that he sought to describe his entire life.

It’s his birthday today.

H.P. Lovecraft would have been a hundred and twenty years old today. But it was true that he grew more cranky with every passing year and his atheist views became more pronounced as he favored the scientific route. He hated seafood and liked chocolate. His eccentric qualities made him something of an outcast.

Not even in his own city was he well known during his lifetime.

Lovecraft managed to earn a meager living through the consistent writings published in the pocket of a literary venue called Weird Tales. It was also the very same magazine which promoted other great talents of the 1930s such as Robert E. Howard of Conan the Barbarian fame and Clark Ashton Smith. It was Lovecraft who helped to tie all the fantastic literature together by using the background of the Cthulhu mythos featuring alien creatures that were frightening aspects of the universe.

His creatures were indifferent and often shadowy giants who become hosts to man’s nightmares. So different, and challenging, were Lovecraft’s own writings that he was often not liked during his lifetime. People didn’t much care for the overly long expositions which stretch through his stories and painted writings of horror that spoke of things “best left not described.”

Lovecraft was best known for his works during his prime years starting from 1926 right up to the very end in 1937 when he passed away in a Providence hospital. His finest stories were “Call of Cthulhu” which began his stellar cycle of stories that suggested of mighty creatures indirectly changing men’s lives during their search for knowledge. However, Lovecraft’s own favorite story “The Colour Out of Space” remains one of the best literary stories to this day due to the string of imagination… as he tried to describe a color that doesn’t even exist in our universe. Also he wrote “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” which told of an outsider trapped in a town filled with humans turning into underwater creatures. There was also the very beautiful “At the Mountains of Madness” which detailed a doomed exhibition searching for a lost city beneath a massive sheet of white snow. If I’m not mistaken, it was his longest story he’s written.

So what do we do for August 20th? We celebrate.

I usually kick back and enjoy a couple of movies based on his works. It’s probably NOT the best way to get an idea of what his works are like. You’ll have to read his own stories to get a taste of the Lovecraftian horror that fills those awesome pages. Any of the above mentioned stories would do if you want to plow through a couple of his stories. I would usually watch the one hour long movie made by local fans called “The Call of Cthulhu” which takes great strains of remaining faithful to the original source. Good for them. They should be commended. To make it even better, it’s a silent movie. A perfect setting for a story that takes place in 1926 since silent movies are popular in the theaters.

I don’t know if this movie would have made Lovecraft proud. He hated movies. But this one made by fans did keep a strong tone with his story while using actual locations used in “Call of Cthulhu.”

I always kick back and enjoy the “Re-Animator” film made in the 1980s and regarded as one of the finest horror movies of the decade. If not ever. It still works very well as a darkly humorous horror fest which follows an eccentric man who claims to have found a way to bring the dead back to life. But he’s no Lazarus. Hell, he’s not even Jesus. But the results of bringing the dead back are combined with funny results. Some particularly great scenes from the film would be the bit with the dead cat running around. And also the final set piece with the grand grandual of splatter gore makes it a great highlight.

Add to it the delightful performance made by Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West, the overly egotistical brainchild of the life serum. The usual banter of his humor is twisted further by his blinding passion for science. One of the best lines is when he suggested to his decapitated opponent, “Why don’t you get a job at a sideshow?”

There are some other pretty good short films you can dig through at the local video store. The one called “Dreams of the Witch-House” is a pretty good segment from the Masters of Horror which runs on Showtime. It’s directed by the same guy who did the Re-Animator movie. Though not as funny, there are still some very good bits as he knows how to use lighting to throw long shadows and flickering figures.

I can’t for the life of me find the first “Unnameable” which is based off one of his lesser known works. No matter what, I always find the “Unnameable II” in several used video stores. Much to my disappointment. I haven’t seen this one. But perhaps someday I may come across it deep in some twisted, crumbling abyss spiraling in the cellar of some madman’s house where I can skirt away at the very edge of my life while stealing away a rare copy of “The Unnameable.” Perhaps I'll elude some stalking presence, like some creeping thing, that follows me along the edges of time and space. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be able to give a review about it should I be lucky enough to find it.

Whatever it may be seeing the movies or reading through the stories, August 20th may not be an important date for many people. But it is a milestone for me. And many other horror fans who cherish one of the greatest literary figures of horror fiction. H.P. Lovecraft. R.I.P.

Twenty Years Into the Past

Finally, it reached the shelves of a local video store for purchase. But it certainnly took long enough.

With a show like this, you would think it’d take twenty minutes into the future.

But Max Headroom found a place in the digital archives where he belongs on August 10: in prosperity on a set of discs. It suits him.

However, the impact of the series couldn’t be easily forgotten. The computer generated character with the tall forehead and the snappy DJ voice falling into a stutter makes the audiences scratch their head and say, “Who is this guy?”

His appearance in the Max Headroom series is brief on the American channels. All too brief. With only thirteen shows to follow based on a British pilot, the series was relegated to the unfortunate casualty of the short lived.

But it was well ahead of its time. Even in today’s standards, it’s still ahead of its time. There’s the brilliant teaser luring the viewer into the show as being twenty minutes into the future. You see? The show will never be outdated. Because the setting is ambiguous.

Not only that, the show’s bold stories made some daring predictions serving as frightening revelations in today’s world. The series often told of rival networks doing anything to get their ratings. Sounds like what’s happening today. Especially with the egomaniac giant like Fox News willing to do anything, say anything to get their audience. Even at the risk of clouding the truth.

The first episode “Blipverts” is a brilliant piece on the idea that commercials may have deadly effect on those who watch. Though the episode does exaggerate, it does pinpoint on the whole idea of a network information through subliminal messages. The Coca-Cola company experimented with commercials in 2006 with their Sprite product with the "sub-lymon-al" advertising theme followed by the word “Obey.” As if making the viewer cater to his needs. Who knows? Maybe some people get up to go the grocery store to pick up the next stock of Sprite? It’s one way of trying to influence a viewer into buying something.

Commercialism is something you can’t get away from.

There is also an episode where there is a dangerous sport with people on skateboards. We’re already seeing Japanese TV shows where contestants must go through grueling, and often painful, tests to win the prize.

Is Max Headroom relevant to today’s issues?

Very.

So it’s better late than never for the series to finally be released as a full set. For some, who missed the reruns on Bravo and Tech TV, it hasn't been first seen since its initial broadcast.

Plenty of nice extras fill the entire fifth disc of the set where you can see interviews of several members of the cast. More interestingly, you can see a round of discussions from the original writers/creators Annabel Jankel, Rocky Morton and George Stone.

One of the things that stands out is how the show ended according to one of the writers. It is almost as if life imitates fiction imitates life. And series of Max Headroom was stopped in the middle of filming as it was an order coming down from an high office. Apparently, the ABC network didn’t realize the series was making fun of high strung networks and throwing them in a bad light as gung ho commercial giants.

The word was: “Stop the series now. Everyone don’t go near the props. We’re done here. Go home.” Everyone lost their jobs that one day because this series was bold enough to make statements that no one else would make. No farewell party. No goodbye song. Nothing. Just a hasty shoo-away, that’s it.

In a way, almost a fitting end to the Max Headroom series.

The TV show revolves around an investigative journalist Edison Carter well played by Matt Frewer who also jumps into the part of his alter ego Max. There is also Amanda Pays who plays a computer controller helping Edison go through a maze of dangers while he is out on the field. Max Headroom treated Amanda Pays far better as an actress than did the Flash series which came a few years later. Jeffrey Tambor is well suited in the part of the sympathetic editor in chief who occasionally buckles under the authority.

However, like an overwhelming influence, there is the Network Channel 23 which looks over your shoulder like a big brother. It’s a brilliant analogy here. It is a shadow which casts a sheet of doubt over the society reduced to countless minions. They are no longer people. They are just numbers to the network for their ratings. Sounds familiar?

The series itself also suffered failing ratings. It was seen more as a mid-season replacement. And it never really gathered an audience except for a cult following. Had the series come out these days, with a more keen audience, the series might have done better. Stone plays with the idea of bringing Max back to TV with ideas already floating around in his head should they ever decide to revive the characters. Most likely, it won’t happen. But it’s fun to imagine.

In some ways, Max Headroom was more of a fad.

But if you want to treat yourself to an oddity from the eighties which was very different than most shows in the Untied States at the time, try this one. It wouldn’t hurt. And you might see a healthy amount of creativity put into a series that never really got off the ground. Instead, it went underground. More like a myth or a legend that sleeps between whispers. Max. Max. Max. Max Headroom. There won’t be anything quite like it again.

Warning: Vampire Sleeping

Every now and then, someone gets it right.

The horror genre has noticed a number of set backs within the field of vampire movies. You’ve seen them. I’ve seen them. They seem to recycle the same old muck in the last few years. Nothing of interest comes out.

Then a movie like “Let The Right One In” (2008) comes and knocks you out of your seat. It’s a foreign movie sharply directed by Tomas Alfredson. But it is a different breed of a vampire movie. But I still like to call it a vampire movie.

But there is so much more to it than that. The film explores the cynicalism of loneliness. It deals with the way people treat each other in a world that has lost its sensitivity. Most people don’t even know their neighbors that well. It used to be in the 1950s that you knew every neighbor on the block. Not anymore. The world has gotten too big. And our hearts have grown too small.

This story revolves a rather unassuming boy who likes to keep to himself. He is shy, easily bullied by three other, older boys from his school. Sometimes he likes to talk to himself. Interestingly enough, the film is based in the 1980s in a suburb of Stockholm called Blackeberg. The fact that the film is set in this period doesn’t really add much to the film other than a few movie references. There aren't even any Michael Jackson songs to underline the 1980s. Not even the song "Billie Jean."

But the story kicks in when the boy Oskar meets the young girl Eli who seems different… like he is. You can see it right away when the girl first leaps to the ground, a supernatural presence about her. She isn’t bothered by the wintery landscape. In some way, she seems colder than the snow is.

He strikes up a very loving relationship with the vampire who is far more than she says. Her very approach gives her away. She seems more like an adult. But throughout the film, they become very dedicated to one another. They care for each other in many ways. But it is the sexuality of the film which may offend many who see the film as the children sleep with each other. Not in any sexual way. But because their friendship is so intimate. I’m surprised this film isn’t banned in many counties with its content.

The film isn’t gory, not violent. But it is very disturbing. Some images strike with a very literary quality. The vampire girl’s guardian who disfigures himself. The vampire who leaps on her prey like an animal grabbing hold. It is fierce and visual effect. The scene where Eli rips off the head of her victim is one of the highlights of the film because it is filled with such stone cold brutality. Yet it is filled with such poetry.

However, it is the friendship of the children that carries the film forward. There’s a sense of mystery around Eli: the ambiguous nature of Eli’s sexuality has many undertones in the film. The audience doesn’t even know who she is. But her voice is older, much older. She is a child that is two hundred years old, not twelve. As Eli often said: “I’ve been twelve a long time.” There are suggestions that Eli may have been castrated when much younger. Eli said in several conversations: “I’m not a girl.” Perhaps it is this ambiguous nature that makes the character so creepy… as if she steps right out of the shadows, so much older than the town itself.

There may be problems when film will be made into a United States version. That means, they’re going to mess it up. They’re already screwing it up. The film is slated to be directed by Cloverfield’s Matt Reeves, a film that I was not entirely a fan of. Because of his popularity, this director will get to throw his worthless two cents into the pot. They’re going to be avoiding the entire ambiguous gender subplot of the original. Already, they’re getting rid of the one thing that made the original version so interesting.

The writer and the screenplay author John Ajvide Lindqvist is unhappy with the news. I don’t blame him. The fact that the director of the remake will be adding nothing new to the film. Lindqvist said, “Remakes should be made of movies that aren't very good, that gives you the chance to fix whatever has gone wrong.” There was nothing wrong with the original. It was made cheaply with a good sense of creativity. There’s no real need for it.

Is the remake going to be any good? I wouldn’t hold my breath for the remake that will be aimed more towards the mainstream audiences.

Stupid remakes.

“Let The Right One In” is very sentimental about the characters, in particular the children. While the rest of the world seem so much more brutal, the children remain very close knitted. They have a very good friendship that outshines the banality of the world that surrounds them. They realize that all they need is each other. The young boy looks after his vampire friend. And Eli takes care of him like he is one of her own.

This film isn’t for everyone. It’s a slow movie. There’s plenty of sluggish atmosphere of old buildings and dark forests. You get to see many scenes of falling snow that showers whiteness across the countryside like it is heaven. But it isn’t heaven. Far from it. You see many bad things going on in the whiteness, many deaths. What gives the film so much heart, however, are the children. You can really see they do love each other. And love is something good to hang on to.

There’s so much more to this vampire movie. It blinds you with love. And it gives you a sense that two children can love each other like friends. But there is also a kind of sadness that drags the film on. You can feel it. It makes you feel like you shouldn’t open the door to anyone. You never know who it is on the other side.