crookedmanDreams in the Witch House by The Professor

Writer: H.P. Lovecraft adapted by Dennis Paoli and Stuart Gordon
Director: Stuart Gordon
Starring: Ezra Godden, Chelah Horsdal, Campbell Lane
Length: 55 minutes


To be fair to this rendition of one of Lovecraft’s later works, 55 minutes is not a lot of time to fit a plot into. And yet…tv shows do it successfully all the time.

Director, Stuart Gordon, moves the story into modern times and changes a few details, like changing Gilman’s neighbor Frank Parker into a woman named Frances, whose baby it is that is the target of the witch. This causes a certain interplay between the characters that won’t sit well with purists, but is not too bad in its own right. He also, presumably due to time issues, removes the entire journeying of the Miskatonic student to the city of the Elder Ones, an important part of the story in my view and its main redeeming quality in that it portrays the universe of H.P. Lovecraft in better than much of the rest of his canon. In any case, it is missing here.

Ezra Godden plays a decent Walter Gilman, and the other roles are filled in equally adequate fashion for a show of this quality.

The story as told makes a decent horror film. It’s intensity is consistent once the action begins, the frights are legitimate, and the requisite gruesome scenes won’t disappoint. Although it must be said that Brown Jenkin is a disappointment of special effects on par with something Sy Fy would produce. And seeing him talk has more of a comic effect than a horrific one.

Ultimately though, the biggest let down to me is the overall plot change, whatever the reason. I know some (i.e. Dave) would say that movies are never the same as books, and I agree and understand. But the portrayal and journey through Lovecraft’s weirdly dimensioned space is, to my way of thinking, the integral part of this story and that it was only marginally addressed is too big a lapse for allowance and defeats the point of the story. It’s like Hellraiser with no hell, and not what I tuned in to watch.
 

5 skulls 2 out of 5!