Steinesongo Too many fans seem to be blown away

Helloturia I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Rob McCarthy As a long-time HP Lovecraft fan, I tend to consume with an open mind as much of the related content as I can, and this was no different. I understand a lot of what is out there has only the most tenuous relationship to any Lovecraft story or mythos and the whole 'nameless horror' thing is simply used as a device. And this in many ways is no different.So, anyone expecting a full on Cthulhu Experience (tm) will be disappointed: Cthulhu itself is referred to in only the most general terms and only directly spoken of once; the Cult of Dagon an easily missed, fleeting reference early in the film; and the acolytes themselves, while not over-done, much to their credit, could easily be avid followers of any cult or fringe religion.There are many references to entities coming from or going back to the sea, to horrors committed by and to the locals, but again these are mostly indistinct mentions with no real fleshing-out to make the feeling of creeping dread really take ahold which just left me itching for more of the old fisherman and more backstory. Having said that, there are moments during the film of desolate foreboding that work, and at brief times reminded me of the first Silent Hill game, which for anyone whose played it is high praise indeed! And these points are to the films credit. Same too with some of the other cinematography, with good use of the seascape and threatening clouds, as well as the town itself to create the impression of a coastal colonial American town with some of the history that you might expect of a Lovecraftian horror.However, there were certain points that admittedly other reviewers have covered that I feel genuinely detracted from the film, not least the whole sexual aspect of it. The fact that the main protagonist was gay was semi-relevant to the storyline, so I can grant that, but the amount of time spent on it was inordinate to the amount of time spent on other, more important things like developing tension and moving the plot along. A few minutes less of him making cow-eyes at a truck driver and a few minutes more backstory would have paid dividends! Also, the sexual aggressiveness of Tori Spelling's character, while well done and performed well, smacked just a little of misogyny, as well as a huge missed opportunity for a grander plot device. I similarly felt other female characters were somewhat sidelined, with the sister given only the most cursory of parts. Given the set-up, I would imagine the protagonist and sister to have spent a LOT more time together, or at least that time to be much more emotional.In general, I had no massive problem with the film in that I have certainly seen worse Lovecraft adaptations and much worse acting. But considering how many of these get made that are at best amateur and at worst throwaway projects, seeing that this seemed to at least have the makings of a decent version is a sadly wasted chance at submitting to a niche genre already bloated with half-hearted attempts. Having said that, it by no means sinks without trace and does stand up by itself as a half-way decent film. Unfortunately that is mostly because it's pitched itself at a subgenre with precious little competition. It is ultimately worth watching, but as a Lovecraft fan there are other films I would get to first.

Shawn Fessenden This movie has nothing to do with any printed reference to Cthulhu written by H.P. Lovecraft. It is not a Lovecraft film, doesn't even come close to wanting to be one & has no business referencing Lovecraft in any way, shape or form.It is H O M O S E X U A L P R O P A G A N D A. Yep. It's totally gay. I strongly suspect the writer believes the director should be shot. This is a story about gay lovers. It has an Innsmouth plot thrown in there, and the name Marsh figures in prominently, but one could just as easily take all that out and it wouldn't make a bit of difference whatsoever.This is a chick-flick for gay men. Period. It's completely disgusting. The director *should* be shot.

killerqueen-1 I did not have very high hopes about this movie. That was good. When I first saw the trailer I thought "Oh, for a private production by a bunch of college guys this isn't half bad" and then I found out that this was not the case. It was an actual production, a "real" movie. Oh hell.The worst thing about this movie wasn't the sometimes really bad acting, not the tendency to always follow the rule "when not knowing what to do with the story, throw in a weird montage" or even the lack of an actual plot line. The worst thing was that in some scenes it got your hopes up. It was like "Oh, oh, here they can save it! They can make it all better! Just let them make this into... no. Not this time either." It was a never ending anti-climax.And yes, the ending is yet another case of that sickness. They could have saved it a little there. They could have blackened out the last scene and then showed us just a silhouette way out in the ocean. Something that would make us understand that He is coming. That this really is the end. Instead they just goes "Let's finish this off quickly and disturbingly, come on!" This movie never ever demand any sanity rolls whatsoever, so you RPG fans can just forget to bring your D100 along.

Hick_N_Hixville For anyone who isn't a "fan," this movie is an adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft's campy, but classic 1931 novella, "The Shadow Over Innsmouth." Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) was a master of what is called the "weird tale." I cannot think of anything weirder, and ironically perhaps more appropriate, than making a homosexual version of The Shadow Over Innsmouth. After all, most of Lovecraft's stories, written in prissy overblown prose, were full of sexual repression, and dominated by the lurid tension of forbidden and unspeakable couplings. That is why they are so "weird," and for their time (and even our own) so uniquely interesting.The Shadow Over Innsmouth is just such a story, and the chief weakness of this movie is the filming locations aren't consistently decadent enough to capture the mood of its inspiration. The house where the modern Marsh prophet of the "Old Ones" resides is weird enough, and the wharf-side warehouse is acceptable, but the other scenes of night time ramblings through what looks like suburban tract housing blows the mood badly. Capturing Lovecraft well is about capturing his non linear backdrops more than anything else, and the scenes used aren't sufficiently irregular.Other than this problem, the appropriate sexual tension is there and the rest of the film is creepy enough to almost pull it off. The drugging and "rape" of the gay heir to an unspeakable genealogical legacy by rapacious Tori Spelling in full bimbo mode, assisted by her redneck husband, and done so he can be compelled to fulfill his destiny and spawn subhuman "inbred" descendants for the cause of world domination is a particularly campy and interesting homage to Lovecraftian sexual themes.Also compelling is a scene later near the end of the movie where the nerdish (and presumably fully) human brother-in-law of the gay man (the actor playing the in-law bears a passing physical resemblance to Lovecraft himself) is shown crucified to a tree in front of the family home. This occurs on the day when the earlier generations of mutant townsfolk slither in from the ocean for an "Old Home Day" reunion, and sacrifice ceremony to their "Old One" gods in preparation to take over the world. Most Lovecraft purists who don't like this movie will say this is a sly way the filmmakers tell the audience they are "crucifying" Lovecraft's work, but I think they just wanted to show he was killed presumably because he was not man enough to spawn inhuman scion with his buxom inbred wife. In the end, it took a "queer" to make "queer" babies for this "weird" tale.Lovecraft's writings have acquired a cult following among their own version of the "trekkie" sci fi con type, but the man himself was not interested in inventing a "mythos" for role playing gamers. His stories were extended metaphors for his racist views about the ethnic "degeneration" of Yankee New England because of pre-quota era immigration, and the Shadow Over Innsmouth is directly related to what he would have regarded as the undesirable infiltration, and ultimate demographic domination, of traditional Anglo Protestant fishing villages, such as Gloucester, Marblehead, etc., by Portuguese, Italian, and other Southern Europeans, and their "foreign superstitions" (Roman Catholicism).Lovecraft softened his parochial racist views late in life, and some of his better works, such as "The Colour Out of Space" represent the emergence of the modern science fiction story, and transcend this sort of thing. He was regarded as a hack writer during his lifetime by the literary establishment, but like many complicated and visionary types, his works have been reappraised by academia to the point he is now regarded as a sort of twentieth century Poe.