A Lazy Bear The movie is a Anthology movie based around H.P.Lovecrafts short-stories. Although based seems like the wrong word in this case, but more about that later...The movie some bad acting, mostly bad dialogue, bad story, bad characters (they don't even have any personalities whatsoever and for the most part I don't even understand their reactions/actions) and often terrible editing that simply confuses you, especially in the second story are some weird cuts. The whole concept of the movie doesn't even make sense, the stories are read from the necronomicon, which doesn't make sense since its a spell-book and none of these stories are written by anyone involved, at least we are never told so. BUT it also has its redeeming qualities, most of all the practical special effects are awesome! They actually are some of my most favourite practical gore effects ever and there are a lot of them! Also the set and sound design are quite alright.Now more about Lovecraft compared to this movie. The style is in no way comparable to Lovecrafts. There is no build-up, no subtlety (creatures EVERYWHERE), little explanation as to why all this happens (which is usually the scary part in a Lovecraft story), there is no feeling of the insignificance of humans compared to what exists out there (maybe). It feels much more like silly campfire stories.To sum it up I would recommend watching this either if you are a big fan of practical special effects (especially gore) or you like the Cthulhu universe. In my case both of these things apply which is why I enjoyed this movie despite its crap-factor.

gavin6942 H. P. Lovecraft (played by Jeffrey Combs) goes to a library of the occult to read the Necronomicon (book of the laws of the dead). But it is safely guarded and he must sneak past the monks. After he succeeds, he reads three stories from the book (each very loosely based off a Lovecraft tale) and we are treated to them from three different directors.This film shouldn't fail. Combs and Yuzna know Lovecraft... along with Stuart Gordon they're like the masters of the Lovecraft. And the anthology format has been done successfully before ("Creepshow"). But yet, this just seems like more of a mess than anything. I think this is because the three stories have nothing in common with each other (that didn't matter in "Creepshow" but it seems like it should here). And the fact it's a different director each time makes the transitions a little stranger. Maybe this could have been a short-lived television series with directors adapting various Lovecraft tales each week. As one feature film, it just doesn't slide.The first tale ("The Drowned") was awful beginning to end. I won't name names, because the actors and director don't need this on their record. Seriously, just plain bad.Shusuke Kaneko (known for his Godzilla films) gives us the second part, based on "Cool Air". Of the three, this is the only really good one, and the only thing redeeming this movie (besides Combs). We get the story of a woman who meets a doctor and falls in love with him, and gets impregnated. But the doctor has a secret -- he is ancient, and must be kept alive by using spinal fluid and avoiding all heat and light.David Warner (veteran horror actor and also the professor from "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze") plays Dr. Madden, and his presence is always welcome. Bess Meyer, whom I don't know, plays a great Emily Osterman. If all three sequences were this good, this film would have been much more memorable (and maybe available on DVD by now). Obba Babatunde (best known to me as the "Dawson's Creek" principal) shows up, also. The only good part of part three (besides the gore, which part two does better).The road to filming this movie was paved with good intentions, but I'm not convinced. If you do watch it, watch all the way through -- it gets better as it goes, I promise. But unless you're as much of a lover of Combs or Lovecraft as I am, this really can wait until the DVD edition arrives... and even then, take your time.

Woodyanders H.P. Lovecraft's gloomy short stories about obsession and the supernatural monsters that lurk all around us unnoticed by society at large naturally lend themselves to a multi-storied omnibus fright film format. Well, this trio of truly terrifying tales does the master full justice, combining both supremely sepulchral midnight-in-the-graveyard moodiness and jump-out-at-you startling straightforward shocks with often genuinely frightening results.First yarn, "The Drowned" - Wealthy Bruce Payne inherits a crumbling old seaside hotel that unbeknown to Payne has a foul carnivorous demon residing in the murky basement. Directed with exceptional style and grace by Chistopher Gans, this particularly chilling humdinger is highlighted by Richard Lynch's touching turn as a bitter man who renounces his faith in God after losing his wife and child in a shipwreck and direct-to-video erotic thriller perennial Maria Ford's strikingly eerie, ethereal and even strangely sexy cameo as Payne's dead girlfriend who's resurrected as a ghostly, pallid, mossy-haired zombie.Second vignette, "The Cold" - Sweet young runaway Bess Myer rents a room at a shabby apartment with a lonely, reclusive scientist (movingly played by David Warner) residing on the weirdly freezing top floor. When Myer befriends the sad, fragile Warner she learns that he has discovered the secret of immortality, which not surprisingly comes at an especially terrible price: Warner can only remain alive by constant fresh injections of human spinal fluid! Director Shusuke Kaneko manages to milk considerable poignancy from this haunting parable about the horrible price one must pay for cheating fate, coaxing fine supporting performances from Millie Perkins as Warner's protective landlady, Gary Graham as Myers' abusive, incestuous brute stepbrother, and Dennis Christopher as a foolishly snoopy newspaper reporter.Third and most gruesome anecdote, "Whispers" - Gung-ho female cop Signy Coleman and her more sensible partner Obba Babatunde stumble across the dark, dank and forbidding underground lair of these ancient subterranean monsters with a voracious appetite for bone marrow. Director Brian Yunza eschews the spooky atmospherics of the previous segments for a graphically visceral approach that's crudely effective in a gory, mondo disgusto, gross you out hideous sort of way. "Return of the Living Dead" 's Don Calfa and Judith Drake are wonderfully quirky as the nutty old couple guardians of the savage flesh-eating flying beasts who need new victims to keep their race thriving for all eternity.All these stories in and of themselves certainly smoke, as does the thankfully solid wraparound narrative starring Lovecraft movie vet Jeffrey ("Re-Animator," "From Beyond") Combs, who's perfectly cast as the author himself who visits a secret library to check out the legendary tome of evil "Necronomicon" and almost gets killed in the process. Barely recognizable under heavy make-up which makes him resemble a gaunt Bruce Campbell, Combs simply shines in a role he was seemingly destined to portray. Moreover, the uniformly superb special effects by such dependable artists as Tom Savini, Todd Masters and Screaming Mad George are as ghastly and grotesque as they ought to be, the splatter is likewise properly revolting and plentiful, the tone suitably creepy throughout, and, most importantly, the individual stories ultimately cohere into a provocative and penetrating meditation on man's tenuous hold on reality, exposing a scary netherworld that if intruded upon by us stupidly inquisitive mortals can prove to be quite deadly and dangerous. A superior horror anthology.

trypple6 This is a great movie, that I'm sure that H.P.Lovecraft himself would approve of. If you haven't read the books, then you may not understand the meaning of the short movies, But may still enjoy the movie. The short movies all connect in their own way. Pay attention to the meaning behind it, and you wont be so confused, as the last guy who made a comment was. This is a great buy, that i have added to my collection of Lovecraft films, and horror flicks. The ritualistic ceremony of bringing the dead back to life, in the first short movie is my favorite part, while the search for immortality through spinal fluid and in the end flick of the "chicken bats" also using spinal fluid to claim their immortality, was well worth the buy. thanks