Lovecraftian Movies, recommended by Mike Davis
Lovecraftian-themed movies that I recommend — what I consider to be the best of the best. Note that I did not say that this is a list of movies based on Lovecraft’s stories. Some movies on this list are adaptations of Lovecraft’s work, to be sure; but there are plenty that are not. That’s not important. What is important is that the movie makes good use of Lovecraftian themes, whether it’s an adaptation or not.
For example, you won’t find The Dunwich Horror on this list, but you will find Dagon (a Lovecraft adaptation) and Absentia (not a Lovecraft adaptation). Why? Because tentacles and adaptations don’t make movies Lovecraftian.
What does make a movie Lovecraftian, in my opinion? Wikipedia writes that “the hallmark of Lovecraft’s work was the sense that ordinary life was a thin shell over a reality which was so alien and abstract in comparison that merely contemplating it would damage the sanity of the ordinary person.” I agree wholeheartedly with that definition, and I put together this movie list with that in mind.
Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20220422204133/https://lovecraftzine.com/movies/mikes-recommended-lovecraftian-movies/
For example, you won’t find The Dunwich Horror on this list, but you will find Dagon (a Lovecraft adaptation) and Absentia (not a Lovecraft adaptation). Why? Because tentacles and adaptations don’t make movies Lovecraftian.
What does make a movie Lovecraftian, in my opinion? Wikipedia writes that “the hallmark of Lovecraft’s work was the sense that ordinary life was a thin shell over a reality which was so alien and abstract in comparison that merely contemplating it would damage the sanity of the ordinary person.” I agree wholeheartedly with that definition, and I put together this movie list with that in mind.
Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20220422204133/https://lovecraftzine.com/movies/mikes-recommended-lovecraftian-movies/
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- DirectorMike FlanaganStarsKatie ParkerCourtney BellDave LevineA woman and her sister begin to link a mysterious tunnel to a series of disappearances, including that of her own husband.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsSigourney WeaverTom SkerrittJohn HurtThe crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.
- DirectorDavid PriorStarsEric LangeJohn BillingsleyRay WiseHaunted by recent events and on the run, a man finds himself the unwitting pawn of a possessed evangelical radio station and like his unfortunate predecessor must ask himself whether it is better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.
- DirectorAlex GarlandStarsNatalie PortmanJennifer Jason LeighTessa ThompsonA biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply.
- DirectorBlair EricksonStarsKatia WinterTed LevineMichael McMillianJournalist Anne Roland explores the disturbing links behind her friend's sudden disappearance, an ominous government research chemical, and a disturbing radio broadcast of unknown origin.
- DirectorNick SzostakiwskyjStarsShane TwerdunMichael DicksonCarl ToftfeltAt a cold, desolate, northmost outpost in Canada, an archaeological discovery is made. A specialist arrives Nov. 1. Strange things happen. All contact with the outside world is down.
- DirectorElliot GoldnerStarsGordon KennedyRobin HillAidan McArdleA team of Vatican investigators descend upon a church in a remote area to demystify the unusual happenings, but what they discover is more disturbing than they had first imagined.
- DirectorZev BermanStarsBrian PresleyJake MuxworthyRider StrongOn a trip to a Mexican border town, three college friends stumble upon a human-sacrifice cult.
- DirectorJ.T. PettyStarsClancy BrownDavid BusseHarley CorizIn the Wild West a rescue party sets out to find a family of settlers that has vanished from their home under mysterious circumstances.
- DirectorDrew GoddardStarsKristen ConnollyChris HemsworthAnna HutchisonFive college friends head out to a remote cabin for a getaway, but things don't go as planned when they start getting killed. They soon discover that there is more to the cabin than it seems.
- DirectorAndrew LemanStarsMatt FoyerJohn BolenRalph LucasWhile sorting the affairs of his late Uncle, a man accidentally stumbles across a series of dark secrets connected to an ancient horror waiting to be freed.
- DirectorMatt ReevesStarsMike VogelJessica LucasLizzy CaplanA group of friends venture deep into the streets of New York on a rescue mission during a rampaging monster attack.
- DirectorEvan KellyStarsSteve ChambersJames GilbertDavid Patrick FlemmingFriends on a weekend excursion take a path into a forest that leads to death and destruction.
- DirectorStewart SparkeStarsAnna DawsonMichaela LongdenDaniel ThraceA young scientist discovers a malevolent entity which sets her on a bloody descent into the jaws of insanity.
- DirectorDan GildarkStarsJason CottleCasey CurranEthan AtkinsonA Seattle history professor, drawn back to his estranged family on the Oregon coast to execute his late mother's estate, is reaquainted with his best friend from childhood, with whom he has a long-awaited tryst. Caught in an accelerating series of events, he discovers aspects of his father's New Age cult which take on a dangerous and apocalyptic significance.
- DirectorStuart GordonStarsEzra GoddenFrancisco RabalRaquel MeroñoA boating accident runs a young man and woman ashore in a decrepit Spanish fishing town which they discover is in the grips of an ancient sea god and its monstrous half human offspring.
- DirectorAlex ProyasStarsRufus SewellKiefer SutherlandJennifer ConnellyA man struggles with memories of his past, which include a wife he cannot remember and a nightmarish world no one else ever seems to wake up from.
- DirectorHuân VuStarsPaul DorschJürgen HeimüllerIngo HeiseA boy, looking for his missing father, travels to Germany and uncovers a haunting legacy that a meteorite left behind in the area. Based on H.P. Lovecraft's short novel "The Color Out of Space."
- DirectorSteve DanielsStarsLyon Forrest HillLee O. SmithA man awakes naked and confused in a isolated mountainous region, and soon encounters a strange local who offers to help him. The helpful stranger tells the man of local folklore that speaks of a murderous religious cult, a train tunnel cut deep into the mountain that leads to nowhere, and an insect-like fertility god that is said to dwell within it. The two men soon go underground in search of the truth, and find themselves in a stygian black temple of horror.
- DirectorStuart GordonStarsEzra GoddenCampbell LaneJay BrazeauA graduate student questions his sanity after he rents a room in an old boarding house which was the residence of a 17th-century witch, and he discovers that the evil forces still roam within the walls.
- DirectorJustin BensonAaron MoorheadStarsAaron MoorheadJustin BensonCallie HernandezAs kids, they escaped a UFO death cult. Now, two adult brothers seek answers after an old videotape surfaces and brings them back to where they began.
- DirectorSebastián CorderoStarsSharlto CopleyMichael NyqvistChristian CamargoAn international crew of astronauts undertakes a privately funded mission to search for life on Jupiter's fourth largest moon.
- DirectorPaul W.S. AndersonStarsLaurence FishburneSam NeillKathleen QuinlanA rescue crew is tasked with investigating the mysterious reappearance of a spaceship that had been lost for seven years.
- DirectorLucile HadzihalilovicStarsMax BrebantRoxane DuranJulie-Marie ParmentierThe only residents of young Nicholas' sea-side town are women and boys. When he sees a corpse in the ocean one day, he begins to question his existence and surroundings. Why must he, and all the other boys, be hospitalised?
- DirectorEugenio MartínStarsChristopher LeePeter CushingAlberto de MendozaWhile on the Trans-Siberian Express, an anthropologist and his rival must contain the threat posed by the former's cargo: a prehistoric ape which is the host for a parasitic life-form.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsSam NeillJürgen ProchnowJulie CarmenAn insurance investigator begins discovering that the impact a horror writer's books have on his fans is more than inspirational.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRichard ChamberlainOlivia HamnettDavid GulpililA Sydney lawyer defends five Aboriginal Persons in a ritualized taboo murder and in the process learns disturbing things about himself and premonitions.
- DirectorLarry FessendenStarsRon PerlmanJames Le GrosConnie BrittonSent to evaluate the environmental impact of oil drilling in the Arctic, James Hoffman clashes with the drilling crew's chief, who wants to get the job done.
- DirectorWillard HuyckGloria KatzStarsMichael GreerMarianna HillJoy BangA young woman goes searching for her missing artist father. Her journey takes her to a strange Californian seaside town governed by a mysterious undead cult.
- DirectorRyûhei KitamuraStarsVinnie JonesBradley CooperLeslie BibbA photographer's obsessive pursuit of dark subject matter leads him into the path of a serial killer who stalks late night commuters, ultimately butchering them in the most gruesome ways.
- DirectorFrank DarabontStarsThomas JaneMarcia Gay HardenLaurie HoldenA freak storm unleashes a species of bloodthirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.
- DirectorLuiso BerdejoStarsKevin CostnerIvana BaqueroSamantha MathisA single father moves his two children to rural South Carolina, only to watch his daughter exhibit increasingly strange behavior.
- DirectorChristian AlvartStarsDennis QuaidBen FosterCam GigandetTwo crew members of a spaceship wake up from hypersleep to discover that all their colleagues are missing. Despite this, it appears that they are not alone.
- DirectorJoe ChappelleStarsPeter O'TooleRose McGowanJoanna GoingIn the peaceful town of Snowfield, Colorado something evil has wiped out the community. And now, its up to a group of people to stop it, or at least get out of Snowfield alive.
- DirectorRobert CappellettoStarsBarret WalzMaurice McNicholasTom LodewyckAn artist, Robert Pickman, becomes obsessed by visions of unworldly horror, revealed to him through an ancient artifact discovered in an abandoned church.
- DirectorBruce McDonaldStarsStephen McHattieLisa HouleGeorgina ReillyA radio host interprets the possible outbreak of a deadly virus which infects the small Ontario town he is stationed in.
- DirectorAndrzej ZulawskiStarsIsabelle AdjaniSam NeillMargit CarstensenA woman starts exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior after asking her husband for a divorce. Suspicions of infidelity soon give way to something much more sinister.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsDonald PleasenceLisa BlountJameson ParkerA group of graduate students and scientists uncover an ancient canister in an abandoned church, but when they open the container, they inadvertently unleash a strange liquid and an evil force on all humanity.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsNoomi RapaceLogan Marshall-GreenMichael FassbenderFollowing clues to the origin of mankind, a team finds a structure on a distant moon, but they soon realize they are not alone.
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsJames DonaldAndrew KeirBarbara ShelleyA mysterious artifact is unearthed in London, and famous scientist Bernard Quatermass is called in to divine its origins and explain its strange effects on people.
- DirectorJustin BensonAaron MoorheadStarsPeter CilellaVinny CurranEmily MontagueA man imprisons his estranged junkie friend in an isolated cabin in the boonies of San Diego to force him through a week of sobriety, but the events of that week are being mysteriously manipulated.
- DirectorDan O'BannonStarsJohn TerryJane SibbettChris SarandonCharles Dexter Ward's wife enlists the help of a private detective to find out what her husband is up to in a remote cabin owned by his family for centuries.
- DirectorDavid BrucknerStarsRafe SpallArsher AliRobert James-CollierA group of old college friends reunite for a trip to a most dangerous country in Europe - Sweden, encountering a menacing presence there stalking them.
- DirectorMatt MitchellStarsLaura SwiftPatrick KnowlesChristopher TajahThe year is 1955. NATO and the Allied Forces have been conducting secret, occult experiments in a bid to win the Arms Race. Now, they have finally succeeded but what the Army has unleashed threatens to tear our world apart. One woman must lead the only survivors past horrors that the military has no way to control - and fight to close what should never have been opened.
- DirectorJon KnautzStarsAaron AshmoreCindy SampsonMeghan HeffernTwo female journalists and a photographer travel to Europe to investigate a series of mysterious disappearances, only to find themselves embroiled in a struggle against a kind of evil they never expected.
- DirectorGianfranco GiagniStarsRoland WybengaPaola RinaldiMargareta von KraussAlan Whitmore, a young American researcher, goes to Budapest to visit Professor Roth, with whom he collaborated on a secret project called "Intextus" while a mysterious killer in on the loose...
- DirectorJustin BensonAaron MoorheadStarsLou Taylor PucciNadia HilkerFrancesco CarneluttiA young man in a personal tailspin flees from US to Italy, where he sparks up a romance with a woman harboring a dark, primordial secret.
- DirectorAkiva GoldsmanStarsShree CrooksFrank GrilloAnna TorvAfter a mysterious global crisis, a young girl is left alone to hide from a malevolent power that stalks her home. Her parents eventually return and the struggle begins to save their daughter.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellWilford BrimleyKeith DavidA research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
- DirectorTom GlisermanStarsDavid BunceRob DaltonSusan Cicarelli-CaputoFantastic movie about a teleporting witch who uses other peoples life force to do her traveling it is a very different kind of witch story
- DirectorJonathan GlazerStarsScarlett JohanssonJeremy McWilliamsLynsey Taylor MackayA mysterious young woman seduces lonely men in the evening hours in Scotland. However, events lead her to begin a process of self-discovery.
- DirectorJeremy GillespieSteven KostanskiStarsAaron PooleKenneth WelshEllen WongShortly after delivering a patient to an understaffed hospital, a police officer experiences strange and violent occurrences seemingly linked to a group of mysterious hooded figures.
- DirectorSean BranneyStarsStephen BlackehartAutumn WendelP.J. KingBased on the H. P. Lovecraft story of the same name, a folklorist investigates reports of unusual creatures in Vermont only to uncover more than he bargained for
- DirectorBabak AnvariStarsArmie HammerZazie BeetzKarl GlusmanDisturbing and mysterious things begin to happen to a bartender in New Orleans after he picks up a phone left behind at his bar.
- DirectorJesse HollandAndy MittonStarsMichael LaurinoAnessa RamseyAlex Draper1940: the entire population of Friar, New Hampshire walked up a winding mountain trail, leaving everything behind. 2008: the first official expedition into the wilderness attempts to solve the mystery of the lost citizens of Friar.