Out of Mind (DVD)

Anyone who reads me regularly knows that I'm not real big on Lovecraft (H.P. Lovecraft, author, 1890 – 1937). Among other reasons, I can't pronounce half the words he made up and I never have been able to warm to tentacled space monsters.

However, upon watching this DVD collection, I did get more of an understanding and appreciation for the work of this undeniably intellectual and influential writer.

The main feature on the DVD, a mockumentary movie / death dream entitled Out of Mind, is a low-budget, but very good-looking and well-acted film. The compelling story, directed by Raymond Saint-Jean, uses the actual correspondence of Lovecraft as the source for his story, as well as several "in" jokes and asides for the diehard fans.

In the short (about an hour) TV movie, a modern day artist, Randolph Carter (Art Kitching), inherits a copy of a magical tome called the Necronomicon; his hunt for the origin of the weighty leather-bound book leads him to a dream world, where he encounters a mysterious man called Lovecraft. Meanwhile, intercut with the color "real time" sequences of the film, are black and white "lost footage" missives from old H.P. himself (very believably portrayed by Christopher Heyerdahl).

This is good neophyte's introduction to Lovecraft, because the movie, without seeming condescending, explains the appeal of the author through dialogue and through the eyes of the artist, who is just learning about the Lovecraft mythos himself.

The volume also includes John Strysik's The Music of Erich Zann, and Aaron Vanek's The Outsider and My Necronomicon.

In the extras, scholar S.T. Joshi is also back for his third in the series of interviews on Lovecraft. I haven't seen the others, but the interview is a pretty static, stilted affair with somebody reading questions off-camera as Joshi sits in his chair, answering. There is one nice distraction, when a cat comes to sit on his lap for a moment as he talks about Lovecraft's love of felines — he once famously said, "A cat is gentleman, while a dog is a peasant." The cat soon leaves, but his tail lingers in the frame not unlike a Lovecraftian tentacle.

In addition, there are several commentaries, and a nice booklet.

= = =