The Last Lovecraft DVD Movie Review
The Last Lovecraft DVD Movie Review
The Last Lovecraft, directed by Henry Saine. Starring Gregg Lawrence, Barak Hardley, Kyle Davis and Devin McGinn.
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Perhaps along the lines of a much lower-budget Paul, The Last Lovecraft is a genre-geek’s guffaw-fest which succeeds of both poking fun at, and having fun with, hardcore fanboys. When it comes to the works of h.p. lovecraft, kicks and grins don’t exactly spring to mind. The famously dour author of yore created the Cthulhu, an alien intelligence with oceans of depth and at least ten tentacles’ worth of terror. The Last Lovecraft is, especially in contrast, silly and shallow as can be. But it’s fun.
The movie unites three comic book loving losers – brainy dorks (Kyle Davis and Devin McGinn) and dumb-but-good-hearted fat dude (Barak Hardley) – in a quest to defeat the Cthulhu before he can take over the world. No prob for our heroes, right? Wrong! And, comedy ensues. For awhile, anyway. The movie slows down every now again, but it’s amusing enough. When it comes to the horror aspects, there’s some pretty decent practical makeup effects and now-and-again gore when the Cthulhu monster gets angry.
The story gets underway quickly with a fun, fact-filled explanation illustrated comic-book style, about how the Cult of Cthulhu is hoping to join a relic they have, with one that’s been hidden away at Miskatonic University. If these two ancient artifacts can co-mingle, then the famed leviathan can come into his full powers and reward his minions in kind. Once it’s realized that the second relic is no longer in safekeeping, the Miskatonic staff hands it off to h.p. lovecraft’s last living relative… pedestrian cubicle dweller, Jeff. Jeff seeks the help of nerdy Charlie, who in turn finds the ultimate Lovecraft fan, Sheldon. The intrepid trio goes forth in search of the only person ever to have survived an encounter with the Deep Ones… the elusive Captain Olaf (Gregg Lawrence).
The subject matter is treated with enough intelligence and awe to please the average Lovecraft lover, while still maintaining a good comedic vibe and some pretty sweet visuals throughout. While the budget may be on the micro side, it’s obvious that the filmmakers really cared and made every effort to tell a good story and to balance the yucks with the yucky.
The DVD includes a commentary from the director and a couple of the leads, and it’s reasonably fun, but unless you’re really hardcore, you can skip it and miss a beat. There are also several extended scenes which don’t add anything to the existing story, and some notes on the artwork. Not bad stuff; merely extraneous.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson