Review of The Call of Cthulhu (2005) by Bill T — 08 Oct 2013
One sentence summary: Instead of the production values of The Artist, we get garage-style visuals.
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A Boston archaeologist sorts through his dead great-uncle's papers. He finds information about the Cthulhu Cult.
The great-uncle was a psychiatrist. One of his patients was a young man named Henry Wilcox. Wilcox reported dreams; the shrink asked that he record the dreams for discussion. When Wilcox failed to appear one day, the great-uncle tracks him down to a mental ward. Wilcox had lost his memory of his obsession.
The present day nephew skips to other parts of the great-uncle's stored papers, which included newspaper clippings, and visits to conferences. At one conference, a policeman presents an artifact to some scholars. One man had seen the same sort of piece in Greenland in Esquimaux (sic) territory. Another described odd goings-on in a swamp near New Orleans where children were disappearing. In both cases, there was a chant that named Cthulhu. A similar artifact was at the site of a cult fire dance where cannibalism was being practiced. The investigator came with police; the dance was dispersed; arrests were made.
The nephew keeps reading. This seems to be a common mistake made by actors in Cthulhu films.
He follows the notebooks, and goes to places described in the notebooks. He locates a Cthulu statue, and gains more information than what was in the notebooks.
The effort eventually drives the nephew mad.
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Cinematography: 4/10 Presented in black and white in the 4:3 aspect ratio. Full of simulated scratches and floating dust. Ugly.
Sound: 6/10 This is a silent film with musical accompaniment and inter-titles. The music was fairly good for the onscreen action.
Acting: 4/10 Without voice, these actors seemed to be lost.
Screenplay: 4/10 Too many dream sequences and flashbacks. A lot of this looks like Freudian themes with visuals in the style of Dali.
This review of The Call of Cthulhu (2005) was written by Bill T on 08 October 2013.
The Call of Cthulhu has generally received very positive reviews.
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