Worshipper of Dagon

Richard Svensson is a dedicated amateur filmmaker who specializes in hand-animated fantasy.  Over the years he's produced dozens of short films, including a number of Mythos-inspired works.  He created this puppet to appear as the creature at the climax of his adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft's "Dagon".  It's a fantastic sculpt, built using techniques that Ray Harryhausen would be familiar with.  Click through the link for a detailed look at the film, and the puppet's construction.

 

"Bride of Re-Animator" Miskatonic Badge

Last December we featured Morsoth's very cool Miskatonic University badge based on the one in Brian Yuzna's "Bride of Re-Animator".  Now he's back with the screen accurate version of that prop, based on the one owned by Pete Von Sholly.  Wondering why it says "Natural History Museum" along the top?  Click through for the whole story, and a downloadable, high resolution version of the badge.

You'll also find his complete collection of paper props, including some of particular interest to fans of the Mythos.

 

 

My Hollywood Debut

Over the years I've contributed to a couple dozen films.  And by "contributed" I mean an indy filmmaker asks if they can use some graphics and I say "Sure".  If it's just for incidental use I request a credit to Propnomicon.    In a few cases I've produced props for their film, usually some an artifact like a stone tablet or Cthulhu idol.  

In all this time not a single one of those films was actually finished...until now.

The Lovecraftian time travel movie "Intersect" is now available on Amazon Prime Video.  It's also apparently being streamed as part of this year's online incarnation of the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival.  

All this is news to me, since I thought the project fell apart way back in 2012.  The producers were documenting the making of the movie with a blog that showed off some really impressive production design.  That included my small contribution, the Miskatonic University logo.

Filming concluded in December of 2011 and then...nothing.  I'd actually forgotten about the whole thing until someone emailed me last night to point out the film was now up on Amazon.  That sent me back to the production blog, where it appears they've actually been doing sporadic updates over the years.  I'd finally get the IMDB credit I've lusted after!

Sadly, my happiness was not to last.

The good news is that my Miskatonic University logo reportedly gets a few seconds of screen time in Intersect.  The bad news is that I didn't get a credit.  My quest for IMDB fame has fizzled out once again.  Heh.

 Worse, if the reviews on Amazon are any guide the movie is terrible.

"I was so distracted by the nose that if the movie had a point I probably would've missed it."

 "Someone had a great idea for a movie and then they tried to get slick and artsy. Utterly horrible."

"Bought this because I was desperate for a good movie... any good movie. I am still desperate for a good movie."

 "I'm still not certain what I watched."

Oh, cruel fate, you mock me so.  One of the movies I've contributed to finally gets released, and it's a disaster.

 

The Curious Case Of The Mystery Mythos Movie: Part Three

Wow.  This is quite the flashback.  Over forty years ago I first came across the ill-fated "Cry of Cthulhu" movie.  For most of that time I only had a vague memory of an article about the project from Starlog magazine in the late seventies.  Ten years ago a discussion of Tom Sullivan's mythos art lead to the rediscovery of that material.  You can read the original posts over here: The Curious Case Of The Mystery Mythos Movie, Part One and Part Deux.

Now author Byron Craft, who wrote the screenplay and served as a producer, has posted some long lost production stills from the film.  These were spotted on Ebay by Craig Mullins.  The bottom maquette was featured in the longer Starlog article, but the top figure, presumably a byakhee, appears to be unpublished before now.

Delta Green: The Movie

Oats Studios is an experimental project from director Neill Blomkamp, the man behind "District 9" and the aborted live action "Halo" movie. It's an independent production house specializing in short genre films that wouldn't make the cut in the traditional studio environment. Instead, they rely on crowdfunding and literally selling off digital props and assets. "Firebase" is their latest short, and it's essentially a Vietnam-era "Delta Green" scenario brought to life.

It's not without flaws, including some stiff acting and dodgy dialogue, but it's one of the very few films to really dip into the realm of cosmic horror. It also offers up an interesting twist on one of the major plot points of "Watchmen", both the graphic novel and film incarnations. I suspect that's not accidental.

Harbinger

It may seem that calling a Lovecraftian film "fun" is damning with faint praise, but it's the best description of  "Harbinger" from Gearmark Pictures.  The filmmakers know their limitations, budgetary and otherwise, and work within those boundaries to create a well done short film.  The production design in particular is exceedingly well done.  There are a lot of Mythos films that could take some cues from this.

Lights! Camera!

My version of the Miskatonic University seal is a very, very small part of the indy film "Intersect".



Far more impressive than my tiny contribution is the incredible "Event Chamber" set from the film.



I suspect the combination of visionary scientists at Miskatonic University and a blast-proof experimental chamber doesn't bode well for the ultimate fate of the characters.

The Road To L.

Innsmouthmania has an interesting post on "The Road To L.", a documentary about Lovecraft's mysterious journey to Italy. It's a very subtle bit of Yog-Sothery, and if you have a half hour to spare the entire short film is available on YouTube. The props are very well done and integrated seamlessly into the story.

The Cthulhu Key

Filmmaker Jason Heath, one of the earliest supporters of this blog, has started production on "The Cthulhu Key: Legacy". You can find out more about the project, and it's non-traditional take on the Mythos, at the film's website.

From Beyond

I was suprised to discover that "From Beyond" is available on Hulu. It has only a passing resemblance to Lovecraft's original story, but Stuart Gordon's over the top, cheese-laden take does have a certain visceral charm.

It also has this depiction of the Miskatonic University seal:













For comparison, here's the Brown University seal:



Based on the screencaps I think they kept the central shield design intact, but shifted the sun and clouds elements downward and trimmed off the top of the clouds.

From Below

In case you haven't seen it yet, this "sewer monster" video has been making the rounds . It was allegedly captured by a tracked sewer inspection camera under Cameron Village in North Carolina. It may not be a monster, but it could inspire a great "Call of Cthulhu" scenario.



This article in the Raleigh News and Observer says it's a real video, but that the creature is simply a colony of bryozoans. A scientist interviewed by Deep Sea News begs to differ, saying the blobs are actually clusters of annelid worms.

The Curious Case Of The Mystery Mythos Movie

Memory is a funny thing.

Yesterday I mentioned that that one of my first exposures to the works of Tom Sullivan, and the Mythos as a whole, was via an article in Starlog magazine back in the 70's. I based this assertion on my very distinct memory of reading an article about an independent Cthulhu film when I was a wee lad and this passage from Mr. Sullivan's Myspace page :

"My first significant illustration assignment was creating artwork and maquettes (small sculptures of monsters) for Bill Baetz's The Cry of Cthulhu. My first Lovecraftian film project. I was never paid for anything and the film was never made but Bill got some of my art published in articles about the film in Cinefauntastique and Starlog. I was on the board, so to speak."

Naturally, I assumed one of the articles he mentioned was the one I read all those years ago. A little Googling and I discovered that "The Cry of Cthulhu" was first mentioned in Starlog #6 back in 1977, but I couldn't find a scan of the article in question. Then a very helpful reader emailed this over:



Aha! The missing story on "The Cry of Cthulhu" from Starlog #6!

Except, despite it almost certainly being one of articles Mr. Sullivan is referring to in his recollection, it's not the article I remember reading. My article featured at least two color photographs of creatures that, I assume, were created as armatures for stop-motion animation. Both were clawed, skeletal things that were particularly notable for not having legs- from the waist down they had a segmented tail like an insect. Armed with a little more information, "little" being the key word, some more Googling revealed that some kind of Lovecraft-based film, perhaps "The Cry of Cthulhu", was featured in Starlog #24 from 1979.



Now I just have to get my hands on that issue, or a scan of the article in question, to determine if it's the one I'm remembering. Or maybe I'm relying on a three decade old memory and obsessing waaaaaaaaaay too much. In my defense, both Mr. Sullivan's sculpts and the ones from my mystery movie would be some of the oldest Mythos props in existence. It's likely they've long since succumbed to age or misfortune, but there's a chance that they're still floating around somewhere.

More On Tom Sullivan

Yesterday's post touching on Tom Sullivan's depiction of the Necronomicon in the "Evil Dead" movies, and his subsequent influence on the pop culture conceptions of the dread tome, prompted a kind emailer to point out that Mr. Sullivan has a page on MySpace . Much to my surprise, it seems I was exposed to his work far, far earlier than I had ever assumed. For years I've had clear memories of seeing special effects photos from a Mythos-based film that appeared in Starlog magazine way back in June of 1977.



It turns out that Mr. Sullivan sculpted the Cthulhoid critters that helped illustrate a story on "The Cry of Cthulhu", a failed independent film based on Lovecraft's writings. My Google-fu is weak and I can't dig up any scans of the article in question online, but I can still picture it in my mind. Then again, I spent a week reading and re-reading that magazine during a family camping trip when it rained every single day.