Amazing is the only-word I can find to express how good this short-film is. Mick Garris deserves thunderous-applause for initiating what will probably be the most-important development in horror in over 20-years. While Stuart Gordon has done Lovecraft proud with "ReAnimator", "from Beyond" and "Dagon", this simply excels-them in capturing the dread and cosmic-horror. Insofar as horror goes, this is Gordon's finest-addition so far. I read the short-story 20-years-ago, and this summarizes it well. Lovecraft-purists are going to have their hackles-up, but the omissions and changes still capture the spirit of the original and do not detract from the basic-thrust its plot.
Yes, the cloven "Black Man", and a trip to the surface of another planet are not-present, which is fine. Do we really want to see Lovecraft's racism on-display, especially when he rejected-it at the end of his life? The answer is no. People also tend-to-forget that in some areas, Lovecraft gets-tedious, often going-on for too-long with descriptions of things, or he just meanders. Yes, you can actually improve-upon some of his work, I contend. Dennis Paoli and Stuart Gordon have achieved this feat, and where Lovecraft was bad at warm-characters, the writer(s) and director compensate. I truly love and care about the characters in this story, especially the mother and her child. The fears of this story are so primal and basic--everyone fears for a baby in a movie, it's true.
What excites me so-much about this short-film is how effectively it conveys many of Lovecraft's themes: the fear of losing-one's-mind, the fear of women, the fear of the unknown, the fear of a loss-of-control, the fear of mortality, and-then-some. Also very-exciting is how well Gordon and Paoli realize the Witch--I would say this is the best-depiction of what the Puritans, and Medieval Europeans thought witches were, and what they did. Usually, they try to steal-babies to sacrifice to some dark-power. But Lovecraft's true-genius was taking physics-theory to explain witchcraft, and a witch's powers.
To the uninitiated, H.P. Lovecraft's tomes seem to have appeared, fully-formed, but he was an avid-scholar of New England folklore. Much of the rule-book he uses for the witch and her powers and actions are from the writings of Cotton Mather, and other Puritanical leaders, thinkers and witch-hunters. It's likely he even consulted the witchfinder's-manual, "Malleus Malificarum". Lovecraft didn't believe in the supernatural as a reality, but did accept the possibility that odd-phenomena did exist, and could be explained by science at some point.
So, while this tale and many-others written by him seem fantastical, some elements are not-entirely implausible based on his scientific-philosophies! "Dreams in the Witch House" is not-unlike a rational-mind trying to grasp how a witch could be possible. This little crumb-of-plausibility is a component of what makes the writings of H.P. Lovecraft so scary, and contemporary. Even educated-adults can entertain their reality, and this film captures this reality in every-respect. People tend-to-forget that modern-science comes from alchemy, after-all! The story concerns Walter Gilman, a Physics-major, who has found a room at 300-year-old house in Providence. Yes, in the short-story, Walter already knows the reputation of the house, but I think it was wise for film to omit this. Walter represents we, the audience, and this is a story of curiosity, discovery, and tragedy. Walter notices that his theories on multiple-universes, and his mathematical-maps resemble the shape of a corner of his room. In-time, he begins to have-dreams of meeting a familiar--a rat with a human-face, perfectly in-keeping with witch-lore! Eventually, it becomes-clear from an older-tenant, and other-dreams, that the witch is very-much alive within the house. She wants Walter (us) to fetch her a child, the infant-son his neighbor.
There is a sense of dread, sorrow and inevitability in Walter's situation that echoes the victims of witches in lore. It is a situation without-much-hope, the only exit being death or insanity, so very Lovecraftian. Anchor Bay/IDT have done a perfect DVD, no-complaints here. The transfer is perfect, the audio is perfect, and the extras are incredibly-generous and substantial for the most die-hard-fan of Stuart Gordon. Richard Band's score is wonderful, and makes this story all-the-more timeless in its sorrow, grimness and evocation of mystery. It has been 12-years since Band has done a score for Gordon with his excellent score for "Castle Freak" in 1994. It has been too-long, and thank-God it happened. The entire Masters of Horror series promises to be superb, a great-day for true fans of horror.
Yes, the cloven "Black Man", and a trip to the surface of another planet are not-present, which is fine. Do we really want to see Lovecraft's racism on-display, especially when he rejected-it at the end of his life? The answer is no. People also tend-to-forget that in some areas, Lovecraft gets-tedious, often going-on for too-long with descriptions of things, or he just meanders. Yes, you can actually improve-upon some of his work, I contend. Dennis Paoli and Stuart Gordon have achieved this feat, and where Lovecraft was bad at warm-characters, the writer(s) and director compensate. I truly love and care about the characters in this story, especially the mother and her child. The fears of this story are so primal and basic--everyone fears for a baby in a movie, it's true.
What excites me so-much about this short-film is how effectively it conveys many of Lovecraft's themes: the fear of losing-one's-mind, the fear of women, the fear of the unknown, the fear of a loss-of-control, the fear of mortality, and-then-some. Also very-exciting is how well Gordon and Paoli realize the Witch--I would say this is the best-depiction of what the Puritans, and Medieval Europeans thought witches were, and what they did. Usually, they try to steal-babies to sacrifice to some dark-power. But Lovecraft's true-genius was taking physics-theory to explain witchcraft, and a witch's powers.
To the uninitiated, H.P. Lovecraft's tomes seem to have appeared, fully-formed, but he was an avid-scholar of New England folklore. Much of the rule-book he uses for the witch and her powers and actions are from the writings of Cotton Mather, and other Puritanical leaders, thinkers and witch-hunters. It's likely he even consulted the witchfinder's-manual, "Malleus Malificarum". Lovecraft didn't believe in the supernatural as a reality, but did accept the possibility that odd-phenomena did exist, and could be explained by science at some point.
So, while this tale and many-others written by him seem fantastical, some elements are not-entirely implausible based on his scientific-philosophies! "Dreams in the Witch House" is not-unlike a rational-mind trying to grasp how a witch could be possible. This little crumb-of-plausibility is a component of what makes the writings of H.P. Lovecraft so scary, and contemporary. Even educated-adults can entertain their reality, and this film captures this reality in every-respect. People tend-to-forget that modern-science comes from alchemy, after-all! The story concerns Walter Gilman, a Physics-major, who has found a room at 300-year-old house in Providence. Yes, in the short-story, Walter already knows the reputation of the house, but I think it was wise for film to omit this. Walter represents we, the audience, and this is a story of curiosity, discovery, and tragedy. Walter notices that his theories on multiple-universes, and his mathematical-maps resemble the shape of a corner of his room. In-time, he begins to have-dreams of meeting a familiar--a rat with a human-face, perfectly in-keeping with witch-lore! Eventually, it becomes-clear from an older-tenant, and other-dreams, that the witch is very-much alive within the house. She wants Walter (us) to fetch her a child, the infant-son his neighbor.
There is a sense of dread, sorrow and inevitability in Walter's situation that echoes the victims of witches in lore. It is a situation without-much-hope, the only exit being death or insanity, so very Lovecraftian. Anchor Bay/IDT have done a perfect DVD, no-complaints here. The transfer is perfect, the audio is perfect, and the extras are incredibly-generous and substantial for the most die-hard-fan of Stuart Gordon. Richard Band's score is wonderful, and makes this story all-the-more timeless in its sorrow, grimness and evocation of mystery. It has been 12-years since Band has done a score for Gordon with his excellent score for "Castle Freak" in 1994. It has been too-long, and thank-God it happened. The entire Masters of Horror series promises to be superb, a great-day for true fans of horror.