AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS and other HP LOVECRAFT WORKS

Terraformer

I have been reading a few posts of people talking about HP lovecraft and his most famous novel. I thought it would make an interesting thread for those who are fans, know his work and those who might be interested in discovering his work.

At the mountains of madness is one of my most favourite books. It was to made into a film by Del Toro but the studio decided against it and he is talking to 20th century fox and Tim Rothman about making it (god i hope not!!!)

Prometheus fans may see a similarity but I'll give a small rough synopsis of the plot.
A Geologist named william Dyer is writing a book on his memoirs on a truly horrifying expedition he had in the past in the hopes of stopping any further expeditions. He recounts his scary expedition in great detail.
His expedition is paid for by a big company that runs most things on our world. The expedition is to go into an uncharted location in Antarctica (at the time of the book it was mostly unexplored) and he and his party discover 14-16 foot tall deceased humanoid bodies. As the team split up, Dyers party eventually turn back only to find the other half of the party had been totally wiped out and all of the bodies have been brutally dismembered and ONE of the giant humanoid creatures gone. They fly over a mountain range only to discover what appears to be the ruins of some ancient city.
After investigating these ruins and reading the murals and Hieroglyphics they discover not only are these beings from another world they are responsible for creating mankind. Because of the humans actions they awaken these 'god' like beings who may pose a threat to humanity and also discover that these beings have been at war with another race of beings that guard the ruined city undergrounds. They also learn that in the distance beyond a towering mountain lays something that has been dormant for eons. I wont spoil anything but the last act of the book is truly gripping. I'd love to see a film made of this but after prometheus it would be called a rip off by most people who have not read the book. but buy it and read it!

It is my favourite lovecraft book alongside 'The call of Cthulhu' (the monster Cthulu is probably the thing Dyer see's beyond the mountains in 'At the mountains of madness' but it is never explained what he saw)

xinau

That sounds incredibly cool. Will have to check it out.

The only Lovecraft I'm familiar with is the film version of Reanimator :P which I thought was actually pretty good, at the time, and for what it was.

ramp_closing

There's actually a fairly good B movie based on Lovecraft's Shadow over Innsmouth called Dagon.

Oh, and the black and white silent Call of Cthulhu put out by HLPHS is awesome and available on Netflix instant watch.

kjohnson26

Stuart Gordon did both "Reanimator" and "Dagon". He also did a "Master of Horror" episode based on Lovecraft's "Dreams in the Witch House".

NickIsSmart

Fucking A. Nice idea for a thread, Terra. I will comment more, later. Trying to fix my computer, right this second.

ramp_closing

NickIsSmart said:
Trying to fix my computer, right this second.

Uh oh. Hope it wasn't the advice we gave you last night.

NickIsSmart

No, I don't think so.

journeyman

Lovecraft is excellent! Love the atmosphere in all his stories!! ATMOM is great!

NickIsSmart

I think I like Reanimator the best. The movie isn't bad, but the book is a lot different. Also, it's a little easier to read than Mountains is; the prose is shorter and less wordy, more descriptive with better use of adjectives than most of his other works.

Edit: I was really disappointed when they shelved Del Torro's Mountains project. Lovecraft adaptions are usually terrible (with the exception of the ones by Stuart Gordon) and it seemed like Lovecraft's material would finally be getting the A-list treatment it deserved. Fuckers.

I love Mountains. I'm not sure if I like it or The Case of Charles Dexter Ward more. Technically, Mountains was Lovecraft's only novel. I think Charles Dexter Ward is actually classified as a novella.

Terraformer

The problem with at the mountains of madness being turned into a feature film is that the story is set in Anarctica and this wouldnt work in modern day cinema because it has been explored fully and if there was some ancient city behind glaciers then it would have been found. I was thinking why not set the film in the Anarctica landscape of the planetoid Europa? or even on the polar region of Mars? that would work

NickIsSmart

Yeah, there are quite a few technical inaccuracies with H.P. interpretation of Antarctica. Still, it could have always been treated like a period piece, where they are simply mislabeling things.

Terraformer

yeah thats true. but i guess it had to do with the time it was written. We didn't have any satellites or anything. I bet his book scared off a lot of expeditions into Antarctica at the time lol

NickIsSmart

Scared me, too. Giant, albino penguins... o.O

secretsquirrely

Rarely does a book evoke such emotion that I find myself curling in terror. At the Mountains of Madness did just that. So much so that I have never actually finished the story. I feel the Lovecraft over played the technical jargon a bit, but sifting through that, there was a continuous feeling of omniscience that superseded any expectations I could have had about the tale. Although a simple story, ATMOM was and is a truly terrifying story.

I have to agree with the OP that ATMOM and The Call of Cthulu are also my favorite works from Lovecraft. Cthulu has developed into a cliché as of late, but he is still terrifying in his own right.It saddens me deeply that Del Toro's version of ATMOM was cancelled outright. He would have provided a visual experience like none other to the story.

However, in regards to how possible it would be to make or not, I point you to The Thing. Both the prequel and Carpenter's classic were shot and based in Antarctica. The very idea of finding a creature in the snow and having it ravage everything is very reminiscent of ATMOM. The idea that we as humans believe we have covered every of inch of the Antarctic, and finding something new is quite a nice one. We are flawed creatures who deserve punishment for our vanity.

homer1962

Sounds like I must read it before I see prometheus.

secretsquirrely

You can also watch it, here. Well, if you don't mind subtitles. This is a very nice little animation from Italy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvpBDopIMxw

ummester

secretsquirrely said:
You can also watch it, here. Well, if you don't mind subtitles. This is a very nice little animation from Italy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvpBDopIMxw

So I watched this, thinking it would be easier then reading the book.

Does Lovecraft always overcomplicate his monster history and dumb down the human reaction to things?

I don't know how close this is to the book but the people in it seemed really stupid - like worse than cliche horror movie blonde women stupid - in the way they reacted to things. And then most of the story was about a war between different alien races and their creations, which, alongside the dumbness of the people in the plot, made the story seem like some childish fantasy of big space monsters battling overall.

I know this guy is a respected author and I like his ideas about big poweful entities living in the dark reaches of our planet - but space monster wars on earth pushed it into the realms of the godzilla movies for me.

secretsquirrely

The characters in Lovecraft's works have always possessed a certain level of naivety. Considering most of his fiction was written in the 1920s it makes sense that everything he discusses is of a completely new and startling nature in its themes and details.

However, the novella is obviously much better than any adaptation can or will be. It's Lovecraft's descriptions of the situation that makes it truly terrifying. This video is a fairly decent adaptation, but mainly due to the art and music score. I highly suggest reading the novella. It's only around 120 pages and despite some unnecessary technical jargon thrown in for a "realistic" tone, it reads fairly easy.

Most of Lovecraft's seminal works are told from the point of view of the main character. They usually deal with the first hand account of what has troubled them or driven them insane. As such, his tales (especially the Cthulu mythos) are primarily an account of the ancient rituals or stories surrounding the Elder Ones or the Old Ones.

Also the space monster part is not necessarily so. What makes Lovecraft so incredibly frightening is the insinuation that all of the creatures mentioned in the stories (especially Cthulu) are from Earth or still on Earth. So the idea of them being "alien" is a falsity. We, as humans, are the alien ones as we are a new species still discovering our world. Sadly there is an order to things which is greater than we can even comprehend, but those who discover this are too weak to handle the horrors of reality itself.

The parallels with the whole idea of Prometheus are rather astounding in that sense (naive discoverers find an "alien" race that is more closely linked to humanity than ever imagined...and they are punished for their simple minds).

ummester

So the Cthulhu come from Earth and not space? That animated show showed them migrating here. And the Elder Ones. The only species created on Earth were the Shoggoth. It didn't explain where the beast the Elder Ones summoned came from, or even what it was. I guess that is what the guy sees when he looks back past the mountains in the book?

I agree there are similarities between ATMOM and Prometheus - though I hope Prometheus is a lot less flamboyant in the alien species/monsters area than what ATMOM seems to be.

Also, why did the Elder ones have to be described as scientific socialists? WTF was that about? They did look alot like assflowers though:)

ummester

Odd little music video i just found with a Lovecraftian ending

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QFwo57WKwg&feature=BFa&list=ALHTd1VmZQRNpx0rH3LgDf5SZJAXG4p0e_

And a nice pic of Cthulhu

secretsquirrely

Wow this is quite an awesome pic of Cthulu.

As far as I know (as I mentioned before, I never actually finished reading ATMOM), the deal with most of Lovecraft's creatures has more to do with dimensions than space travel.

I also guess I should have watched the whole video before posting it ;) (didn't want to spoil the novella for myself). Do keep in mind that the visuals, though designed based on Lovecraft's descriptions, are from the imagination of the animators. Yes, Lovecraft writes of the fantastical, but keeping the time period in mind it all makes sense. It's like saying that The Tell Tale Heart is campy and lame...which it is, but it was made in the 1800s, so it's forgiveable. In regards to the socialist thing, I wonder if that was ever in the book, it doesn't sound at all like something Lovecraft would write.

I highly suggest you read some of his work and judge those. If you'd rather start small and work your way up, both "Dagon" and "The Call of Cthulu" are fairly short yet thrilling.

It's really Lovecraft's prose that makes him a master. His fiction is designed to be weird and a bit campy, but his writing style covers the camp and disguises it in pure dread.

Terraformer

secretsquirrely said:
Wow this is quite an awesome pic of Cthulu.

As far as I know (as I mentioned before, I never actually finished reading ATMOM), the deal with most of Lovecraft's creatures has more to do with dimensions than space travel.

I also guess I should have watched the whole video before posting it ;) (didn't want to spoil the novella for myself). Do keep in mind that the visuals, though designed based on Lovecraft's descriptions, are from the imagination of the animators. Yes, Lovecraft writes of the fantastical, but keeping the time period in mind it all makes sense. It's like saying that The Tell Tale Heart is campy and lame...which it is, but it was made in the 1800s, so it's forgiveable. In regards to the socialist thing, I wonder if that was ever in the book, it doesn't sound at all like something Lovecraft would write.

I highly suggest you read some of his work and judge those. If you'd rather start small and work your way up, both "Dagon" and "The Call of Cthulu" are fairly short yet thrilling.

It's really Lovecraft's prose that makes him a master. His fiction is designed to be weird and a bit campy, but his writing style covers the camp and disguises it in pure dread.

very true man, very true

but If you havent read the book then dont read graphic novels or peoples films or animations or fan art because it corrupts your vision.
All the fan art and comic addaptions Ive seen have contradicted my vision. They are very goofy and not scary. In my head I had a very frightening vision of what the Elder's and the other monsters looked like. When you read a novel you are creating your own image; your brain actually creates an image of something only you would find terrifying and looking at others visions ruins that.
I dont think ATMOM will be made now since prometheus shares the same type of premise. But there's still hope.
But It will be ruined if it's a PG-13

secretsquirrely

I do hope they manage to make it still. Especially if Prometheus ends up being PG-13 we get a chance for an R rated ATMOM. Del Toro is pretty sure of its demise after Prometheus is released, but I say go for it. It's set ina completely different time period. Also, it seems Del Toro is trying to get 20th Century Fox to produce it...which would be funny, actually.

Fantoboy

Guillermo Del Toro just did an interview where he states his At the
Mountains of Madness movie is pretty much a bust since it will be the
same plot as Prometheus:

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/nailbiter111/news/?a=59251

He suggests that Alien and Ridley Scott are heavily influenced by this
story. I've never read it, but I just read the synopsis on wikipedia.
It is earily similar to what we know of the plot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness

Reading the plot summary, I see what he means. Multiple alien life forms, ancient civilization, biologically created creatures....

Terraformer

it is never implied that they are alien though. the old ones may just be an ancient civilization that was here before us but were killed off or frozen by the ice age.

Fantoboy

I'm going to read it this week. The black goop seems similar as well. I'm wondering if Del Toro just made an assumption, or if he knows they are even more similar than we know through having contacted Ridley or someone involved.

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