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May. 5th, 2013 08:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
darchildreWhat I Saw At the HPLFF on Saturday:
- Dunderland. A Norwegian film about a troop of actors putting on a play about the last witch hunt in Norway, in the place where that witch was killed. This was nicely atmospheric and creepy, and the Norwegian scenery was absolutely gorgeous, but it didn't quite work for me. I am usually down with a good bit of ambiguity in my horror, but this had a few too many loose ends for my taste. (I wanted to know more about the mysterious bus crash, or the weird article about the disappearance of the acting troop that one of the characters sees before any of them has disappeared.) Still, not a bad film.
- Solomon Kane. This movie is ridiculous, but I found it entirely entertaining. I mean, it's not actually any good and I have no idea if it bears even the slightest resemblance to the stories on which it's based, but it was a lot of fun, in a I-have-no-idea-when-this-is-supposed-to-be-set, look-we're-sword-fighting-demons kind of way. Mostly, it reminded me that I need to read more Robert E Howard. I've only ever read a few Conan stories and a some of his straight horror stuff, but those were great. I should track down the Solomon Kane stories.
- The Stone Tape. They also showed this on Friday night, first thing, so while waiting for La Herencia Valdemar, I overheard two guys talking about it. One of them told the other that it was awful. Now, I had previously seen The Stone Tape and loved it, but it had been a couple years and maybe I was misremembering its virtues. Now that I have rewatched it, I kinda want to track that guy down and tell him that he's an idiot, because The Stone Tape is brilliant. Okay, it was made for tv by the BBC in the 70's and looks it, but the writing is fantastic, the acting is great, and it's a wonderful piece of slow-building creepy cosmic horror. And it is available to rent on Amazon Instant Video for $1.99, so you should all go watch it.
- Dark Adventure Radio Theater Live! You guys, I have loved everything I have ever seen the HPLHS do and I love radio theater anyway, so of course I was going to enjoy this. They did At the Mountains of Madness, which was the first DART program made, but replaced the Antarctic wireless broadcasts of the original recording with a really great-looking mocked up newsreel, made from actual old newsreels of polar exploration with new narration. It was awesome. They had a Q&A afterwards where they announced their upcoming projects as well - they're in the process of adapting Herbert West: Reanimator and then they're going to do Colour Out of Space! I am so excited! (I bought their two newest releases - Call of Cthulhu and Charles Dexter Ward in the dealer's room but haven't had a chance to listen to them yet.)
- The Thing on the Doorstep. I'm very fond of The Thing on the Doorstep as a story (mostly because it's the closest we get to a Lovecraft story with a major female character) and this was a pretty decent adaptation. It wasn't a completely fantastic film, but I enjoyed it. I should reread the story.
And now it is Sunday and nothing starts till 12:30, so I have several hours to just relax. Hurrah!
- Dunderland. A Norwegian film about a troop of actors putting on a play about the last witch hunt in Norway, in the place where that witch was killed. This was nicely atmospheric and creepy, and the Norwegian scenery was absolutely gorgeous, but it didn't quite work for me. I am usually down with a good bit of ambiguity in my horror, but this had a few too many loose ends for my taste. (I wanted to know more about the mysterious bus crash, or the weird article about the disappearance of the acting troop that one of the characters sees before any of them has disappeared.) Still, not a bad film.
- Solomon Kane. This movie is ridiculous, but I found it entirely entertaining. I mean, it's not actually any good and I have no idea if it bears even the slightest resemblance to the stories on which it's based, but it was a lot of fun, in a I-have-no-idea-when-this-is-supposed-to-be-set, look-we're-sword-fighting-demons kind of way. Mostly, it reminded me that I need to read more Robert E Howard. I've only ever read a few Conan stories and a some of his straight horror stuff, but those were great. I should track down the Solomon Kane stories.
- The Stone Tape. They also showed this on Friday night, first thing, so while waiting for La Herencia Valdemar, I overheard two guys talking about it. One of them told the other that it was awful. Now, I had previously seen The Stone Tape and loved it, but it had been a couple years and maybe I was misremembering its virtues. Now that I have rewatched it, I kinda want to track that guy down and tell him that he's an idiot, because The Stone Tape is brilliant. Okay, it was made for tv by the BBC in the 70's and looks it, but the writing is fantastic, the acting is great, and it's a wonderful piece of slow-building creepy cosmic horror. And it is available to rent on Amazon Instant Video for $1.99, so you should all go watch it.
- Dark Adventure Radio Theater Live! You guys, I have loved everything I have ever seen the HPLHS do and I love radio theater anyway, so of course I was going to enjoy this. They did At the Mountains of Madness, which was the first DART program made, but replaced the Antarctic wireless broadcasts of the original recording with a really great-looking mocked up newsreel, made from actual old newsreels of polar exploration with new narration. It was awesome. They had a Q&A afterwards where they announced their upcoming projects as well - they're in the process of adapting Herbert West: Reanimator and then they're going to do Colour Out of Space! I am so excited! (I bought their two newest releases - Call of Cthulhu and Charles Dexter Ward in the dealer's room but haven't had a chance to listen to them yet.)
- The Thing on the Doorstep. I'm very fond of The Thing on the Doorstep as a story (mostly because it's the closest we get to a Lovecraft story with a major female character) and this was a pretty decent adaptation. It wasn't a completely fantastic film, but I enjoyed it. I should reread the story.
And now it is Sunday and nothing starts till 12:30, so I have several hours to just relax. Hurrah!
