MovieChat Forums > Cthulhu (2019) Discussion > Bought It, Seen It, Now to Burn It

Bought It, Seen It, Now to Burn It

posted 15 years ago by talravan
5 replies | jump to latest

First, to defend myself against those self-righteous homosexuals out there who will undoubtedly attack me as being 'homophobic', I actually accepted and understood the whole theme with the main character being gay. My hatred toward this movie is purely professional.

Like the useless orgy scene from Matrix Reloaded and the horrible attempt at romance in Alone in the Dark, that gay scene was completely uncalled for, useless, and offered no progress to the movie. To me, it was thrown in because the writer/director felt it should be in there. Like a gay guy who walks around showing off his homosexuality, this scene among many parts of the movie was just for show.

There was a reason why Howard Lovecraft never ventured into romance and sexuality in his works. Though I also disagree with Stuart Gordon (From Beyond and Dagon) his films were far better with Dagon being my most favorite of all time. But the film to nearly hit the Lovecraft formula on the head in my mind was Beyond the Wall of Sleep.

Cthulhu misses the mark on so many grounds. This movie was hardly horror at all and was filled with characters and plots that only made the viewer question where this was all going. Another bit of formula for Lovecraft is that his characters either die or go mad. With this movie rolling credits before either of the two happens, that bit of formula was obviously ignored. I guess gays are turned off by such things and the writer/director decided to leave that out.

The more I think about it, the more I realize this was a genre movie. They wanted to throw together homosexuality and horror (specifically Lovecraft), but wanted to keep it more homosexual than anything else. What's next, a gay Star Trek? I hate it how people try to push their life styles on others by sullying such great things like Lovecraft's vision and work.

To any Lovecraft fan out there, please set aside your desire to see this movie and move on. I love Lovecraft. I collect and read his stories as well as films based on his work. Sadly, this one has to be burned (DVD, inserted sleeve, case, receipt, and all).

May Lovecraft return with the Old Ones to exact their revenge upon those behind this movie.

PS: I rarely post here because of all the immaturity and childishness running rampant on these forums and shall probably not return to this page for many moons. I just needed to get my word out before anyone else is lured into this 1hr 40min gay joke. If you want to attack and flame me, go right ahead. Your attacks will not be seen by me.

Talravan has spoken.

[–] thousand_yard_stare 15 years ago

"First, to defend myself against those self-righteous homosexuals out there who will undoubtedly attack me as being 'homophobic', I actually accepted and understood the whole theme with the main character being gay. My hatred toward this movie is purely professional."

And of course, what could possibly follow such a preface but a series of idiotic generalizations about homosexuals? Welcome to my ignore list.

[–] dregj 9 years ago

noooooooooooo
anything but the ignore list

[–] irwin25 14 years ago

it is pretty funny how you prefaced your pseudo review by stating how your opinion was purely professionally based on the merits of the actual film, yet your entire diatribe is about nothing but the 'gayness' of the film. sounds to me like you were put off more over the openly gay context and couldn't get passed that at all. i am straight, have not seen this film yet and I am still irritated by your post here.

[–] Karl Aksel 10 years ago

Quite a bit of text there.

When I come across a movie I have never heard of before but which catches my interest, I first read the negative reviews. Yours is the first such I have read for this particular film, and normally I do not bother to reply (especially when it is five years old and the most recent response four years old), but...

Like I said, quite a bit of text there. But almost no content. You rant about the gay aspect of the film, which is completely uninteresting to me. I'm sure that if the main character was straight and there had been some straight romance, you wouldn't have been so indignant. But reading through your entire post, there is only one paragraph which is tied to Lovecraft's stories, and here it is:

Cthulhu misses the mark on so many grounds. This movie was hardly horror at all and was filled with characters and plots that only made the viewer question where this was all going. Another bit of formula for Lovecraft is that his characters either die or go mad. With this movie rolling credits before either of the two happens, that bit of formula was obviously ignored."

Hardly a horror at all? Well, maybe, but quite frankly, neither are Lovecraft's stories. Lovecraft is an acquired taste. The prose is cumbersome, the conlcusions anti-climatic, and I had to force myself to read the short stories which initially bored me to death. Because there was something there, nonetheless. Even now I do not find any of the stories remotely scary, but they have a sinister mood that I find compelling. And heavy though the language may be, it grows on you.

As for your other "bit of formula" for Lovecraft, that characters either die or go mad, not true at all. It is true for many of the stories, yes, but in many stories the characters are merely scarred. So it's not a formula which was ignored by the film, because it's not a formula at all.

So much for your only bit of criticism which could in any way said to be valid. If the rest of the negative reviews are of this calibre, I look forward to watching this movie.

[–] tomaszkordel 9 years ago

Dont bother yourself with opinions of these fools, you`re right, this movie was bad, and gay plot was forced, and unnecessary. HPL never want any rommance plots straight or gay whatever.
My regards.