The writings ofH.P. Lovecrafthave had an undeniable influence on horror cinema, with plenty of outstanding Lovecraftian movies finding success over the past two decades. As writers whose work concerned itself with the unknowable nature of an uncaring universe, the fragility of human psychology, and the cosmic dread of existence itself,Lovecraftian horrorhas remained incredibly popular. While directLovecraft adaptationslikeRe-AnimatororColor Out of Spacecaptured the appeal of the writer on the big screen, many more filmmakers have made their own Lovecraftian stories.
Some of thebest horror moviesof the past 20 years were Lovecraftian in nature and echoed the writer’s obsession with cosmic nihilism and the vast, eerie indifference of a universe filled with ancient and unknowable forces. Plenty of the most acclaimed directors working today, like Jordan Peele or Robert Eggers, have delivered their own Lovecraftian tales of cosmic dread in recent times. Althoughit’s been nearly 100 years since Lovecraft wroteThe Call of Cthulhu, the legacy of all-time great works like this has continued to be felt in the horror genre to this day.
Nothing captured the terrifying feeling of being a kid in a creepy, dark house quite likeSkinamarink. Telling the story of a four-year-old brother and his six-year-old sister who wake up during the night, this deeply atmospheric debut from director Kyle Edward Ball becomes downright horrifying when they cannot find their father and the windows, doors, and objects around their house start disappearing.
Skinamarinkwas an unsettling glimpse into the very essence of fear of the unknown, as it’s not what’s seen that drives the narrative, but what cannot be understood. With these children stuck in a house where time, space, and reality itself start to collapse, the child protagonists are totally powerless in a world they cannot control. With an abstract logic that valued atmosphere over exposition,Skinamarinkwas characterized by an overwhelming sense of cosmic horror.
Frank Darabont has been behind some of the greatest Stephen King adaptations of all time, withThe Shawshank RedemptionandThe Green Milebeing some of the best book-to-screen versions of the author’s work. However, althoughThe Mistwas yet another film based on King’s work, it brought a very different author to mind as it captured the sense of overwhelming dread many associate with H.P. Lovecraft.
As the story of a mysterious mist that starts to envelop a small town, this deadly fog was later revealed to be shadowing some truly terrifying Lovecraftian monsters. With a group of survivors trapped inside a local supermarket, the societal breakdown and fractured psychology of these victims highlighted how totally unprepared we are to confront the vast, unforgiving nature of the universe. Containing one of the most shocking and depressing endings in film history,The Mistrepresents King’s work at its most Lovecraftian.
Following the psychological paranoia ofGet Outand the allegorical doppelgänger horror ofUs, directorJordan Peele explored Lovecraftian themes of cosmic dread and unknowable terror inNope. With an unknowable, Godlike alien creature at the center of its story, the spaceship, later revealed to be a living organism, taps into Lovecraftian themes of civilizations that are beyond our remit of comprehension.
With a spare, open desert setting in Agua Dulce, California,Nopewas characterized by a sense of isolation and vulnerability as an unidentified flying object began causing problems at Haywood’s Hollywood Horses Ranch. While this alien presence was menacing, it did not target humans like a traditional villain and was instead coldly indifferent.Nopewas the perfect example of a modern Lovecraftian story done right, as it keenly reflected a key theme of H.P. Lovecraft’s work: the universe doesn’t care about us.
After writing all-time great zombie movies like28 Days Laterand making the leap into filmmaking himself withEx-Machina, Alex Garland delivered one of the most impressive Lovecraftian stories of recent times withAnnihilation. As an incredible adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer’s original novel,Annihilationexplored the incomprehensible nature of extraterrestrial life through the Shimmer, a quarantined zone filled with mutated plants and animals.
The deeply atmospheric nature ofAnnihilationbrought to mind earlier Lovecraftian films such as Andrei Tarkovsky’sStalker, which similarly saw characters explore an unknowable zone. However, rather than just simply depicting an eerie setting, what made Annihilation stand out was how the Shimmer affected the characters' identity, psychology, and sense of self. With the corruption of the self standing as a classic Lovecraft theme,Annihilationtapped into this as the group of scientists’ memories decayed, and they fell victim to consequences outside their remit of understanding.
The Endlesswas a sci-fi horror written, directed, and starring Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead that taps into classic Lovecraftian themes. With Benson and Moorhead as two brothers visiting a cult that they used to belong to as children, despite their apprehensions about revisiting their past, the two decide to return for one day. What follows is a truly bizarre story that’s elevated by believable performances.
The cult that the brothers visit hints at beliefs and rituals associated with an ancient, cosmic force, bringing to mind Lovecraft’s works likeThe Call of Cthulhu. With characters who don’t seem to have aged in the decades since the brothers last saw them, there are clear supernatural underpinnings to their eerie and uncomfortable belief system. As something in between a nightmare and a hallucination,The Endlesswas a modern Lovecraftian story done exceptionally well.
Part of the reason Lovecraftian stories are so terrifying is that they never overexplain themselves and are happy to sit in the uncomfortable landscape of the incomprehensible. This was what made Jonathan Glazer’sUnder the Skinso effective. WithScarlett Johansson as an otherworldly woman who preys on unsuspecting men in the Scottish countryside, this creature, credited as the Female, destroys these men without providing any clarity around her origin, purpose, or goals.
Under the Skinwas unapologetic in the way it depicted an alien’s total indifference to human life, and its strange, cryptic viewpoint was part of what made it such an undeniable cult classic. Despite failing at the box office,Under the Skinreceived widespread praise from critics and was even ranked the 61st greatest film of the 21st century (viaCollider) by theBBC.
The Voidwas a Lovecraftian horror from writers and directors Steven Kostanski and Jeremy Gillespie that was explicitly influenced by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. As a partly crowdfunded Canadian film,The Voidpaid homage to low-budget 1980s horror as a group found themselves trapped in a hospital by a group of cultists and grotesque creatures.
As a modern horror movie that didn’t obscure its monsters behind shaky cameras or dimly lit environments,The Voidwas a breath of fresh air in its blend of humor and genuine scares. As the film progresses and reality starts to collapse around the survivors, it’s clear that the creatures they face owe a lot to the Elder Gods or Great Old Ones of Lovecraft’s writings.
In a career filled with unhinged performances,Nicolas Cage took things even further as he delved into surreal existentialist dread in Panos Cosmatos’sMandy. This over-the-top and abrasive exploration of a man in deep grief embarking on a quest for revenge against the cult leader who killed his girlfriend was a powerful glimpse into the dread and darkness of the human condition.
Mandyshowcased the spiraling nature of madness itself as Cage’s Red Miller becomes increasingly deranged in his quest for vengeance. With nightmarish imagery that had all the intensity of a bad LSD trip, Red became an almost godlike force of destruction as he embraced the chaos of his own internal suffering.Mandywas a violent cacophony of outrageous visuals, made all the more effective by Cage’s incredibly committed performance.
Few modern filmmakers are making horror movies as interesting and unique as Robert Eggers, whose 2019 release,The Lighthouse,echoed Lovecraftian themes of madness and the fragility of human psychology. With Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe as two lighthouse keepers stranded at a remote New England outpost by a violent storm, the black-and-white cinematography and eerie atmosphere of this release captured the thematic darkness of Lovecraft’s work without the need for any cosmic creatures or otherworldly entities.
As an exploration of isolation and disintegration,The Lighthousesaw its two characters at the brink of madness as their unusual circumstances shed the politeness of everyday society. This was a film steeped in maritime mythology, andthere were aspects of Lovecraft’s aquatic horrorThe Shadow Over InnsmouthinThe Lighthouse. With great performances, a unique atmosphere, and some truly breathtaking visuals,The Lighthousewas a modern classic and a clever, thought-provoking horror.
Director Drew Goddard co-wroteThe Cabin in the WoodswithBuffy the Vampire Slayercreator Joss Whedonto make a satirical, meta, Lovecraftian horror of epic proportions. By taking every horror movie trope and cliché in the book and subverting them,The Cabin in the Woodsnot only deconstructed the horror genre itself but also featured many allusions to other works, including H.P. Lovecraft.
While an outright homage was seen through the inclusion of the Cthulhu creature, the wayThe Cabin in the Woodsshowcased a house filled with supernatural entities and untold horror was incredibly Lovecraftian. What started off as a typical slasher movie setup became increasinglyLovecraftianas the film progressed, and by the end,The Cabin in the Woodsrevealed itself as a pure cosmic horror story of unknowable gods, ritualism, and human fragility, and the price of knowledge.
