Cthulhu (2007 film)
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''Cthulhu'' is a 2007 American
horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
directed by Dan Gildark and co-written by
Grant Cogswell Grant Cogswell (born October 24, 1967) is an American screenwriter, independent film producer journalist, poet, and political activist. Life Cogswell coauthored the Seattle Monorail Initiative, a proposal to build a citywide monorail transit ...
and Daniel Gildark. The film is loosely based on the
novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...
''
The Shadow over Innsmouth ''The Shadow over Innsmouth'' is a horror novella by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in November–December 1931. It forms part of the Cthulhu Mythos, using its motif of a malign undersea civilization, and references several shared ...
'' (1936) by H. P. Lovecraft. The film moves the story from
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
to the
Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...
. The film is notable among works adapted from Lovecraft's work for having a
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
protagonist. Screenwriter
Grant Cogswell Grant Cogswell (born October 24, 1967) is an American screenwriter, independent film producer journalist, poet, and political activist. Life Cogswell coauthored the Seattle Monorail Initiative, a proposal to build a citywide monorail transit ...
explained that he and Gildark chose to exploit the metaphor for the horror faced by a gay person returning for a relative's funeral and having to face the horrors of small-town life. The film premiered June 14, 2007, at the
Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...
and officially opened in select theatrical venues August 22, 2008.


Plot

When young history professor Russ is called upon by his sister to execute their late mother's estate, he is reunited with boyhood friend Mike, and with his father, the charismatic leader of a New Age cult. While exploring his memories, Russ wanders into a warehouse where hundreds of names are listed on the walls. As he sleeps that night, he dreams of a stone
cudgel A club (also known as a cudgel, baton, bludgeon, truncheon, cosh, nightstick, or impact weapon) is a short staff or stick, usually made of wood, wielded as a weapon since prehistoric times. There are several examples of blunt-force trauma caused ...
and awakens to find a cudgel (with the word
Dagon Dagon ( he, דָּגוֹן, ''Dāgōn'') or Dagan ( sux, 2= dda-gan, ; phn, 𐤃𐤂𐤍, Dāgān) was a god worshipped in ancient Syria across the middle of the Euphrates, with primary temples located in Tuttul and Terqa, though many attes ...
written on it) in his motel room; the town drunk warns him that it is an instrument of sacrifice. A young liquor store clerk enlists him to help find her brother, whom she believes has been taken by the cult. Russ's aunt, who has been living in an asylum, tells him that his mother left a message hidden in her house. Looking for answers in the warehouse, Russ is taken on an unbelievable journey through the small town's ancient, subterranean origins. When he escapes, he and Mike find the girl's brother murdered. Russ begins to believe preparations are underway for a mass sacrifice, and engages the attentions of a seductress in order to obtain information. He is raped and arrested for murder on the eve of the May Festival. The stakes are raised when Russ discovers that the cult intends to take over the world by raising anthropomorphic creatures from the sea. Russ is shown his children in a bathtub. The film ends with Russ and his best friend/lover being held by the cult, as Russ' father orders him to sacrifice the man he loves. Russ moves to strike someone.


Cast

*
Cara Buono Cara Buono (born 1973/1974) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Dr. Faye Miller in the fourth season of the AMC drama series ''Mad Men''; Kelli Moltisanti in the sixth season of ''The Sopranos''; Linda Salvo in the 200 ...
as Dannie * Jason Cottle as Russ *
Richard Garfield Richard Channing Garfield (born June 26, 1963) is an American mathematician, inventor and game designer. Garfield created '' Magic: The Gathering'', which is considered to be the first collectible card game (CCG). ''Magic'' debuted in 1993 and it ...
as Zadok *Ian Geoghegan as Ralph * Scott Green as Mike * Dennis Kleinsmith as Reverend Marsh * Amy Minderhout as Julia * Robert Padilla as Ancestor *
Tori Spelling Victoria Davey Spelling (born May 16, 1973) is an American actress and author. Her first major role was Donna Martin on ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', beginning in 1990. She has appeared in made for television films, including '' A Friend to Die F ...
as Susan * Nancy Stark as Aunt Josie * Hunter Stroud as Teen Russ * Rob Hamm as Jake


Critical reception

The film holds a 62% "Fresh" rating on
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
.Cthulhu - Rotten Tomatoes
/ref>
Maitland McDonagh Maitland McDonagh () is an American film critic and the author of several books about cinema. She is the author of ''Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento'' (1991) and works of erotic fiction and erotic cinema, as well ...
wrote, "it's a thoughtful and sometimes very creepy film that tackles big themes on a small budget and proves that in the right hands, ideas can trump special effects." Steve Barton of
Dread Central Dread Central is an American website founded in 2006 that is dedicated to horror news, interviews, and reviews. It covers horror films, comics, novels, and toys. Dread Central has won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website f ...
wrote, "''Cthulhu'' is high on ambition and originality and the closest we've come to a true H. P. Lovecraft film." Conversely, Mark Olsen of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' wrote, "''Cthulhu'' isn't awful, but it isn't particularly compelling either," while John Anderson of ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' wrote, "the acting is so emotionally unhinged and erratic it borders on camp."


References


External links

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Horror Asylum Release Date Article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cthulhu (2007 Film) 2007 films 2007 horror films American horror films American LGBT-related films Cthulhu Mythos films 2000s English-language films Films based on works by H. P. Lovecraft LGBT-related horror films Films shot in Washington (state) Films shot in Seattle Works based on The Shadow over Innsmouth Gay-related films Films about cults Folk horror films American mystery horror films 2007 LGBT-related films 2000s American films