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The
Shunned House (2003)
This
is it, the holy grail of Lovecraftian adaptations, a good
film. The Shunned House is an Italian film that
is actually comprised of three stories; The Music
of Eric Zann, Dreams in the Witch House, and
The Shunned House. Unlike other anthology films,
The Shunned House does not tell the stories one
at a time, instead allowing them all to unfold together
with the house as a major character in its own right.
While this can make things a bit confusing from time to
time, overall the tactic works quite well.
Another plus is that the film is visually stunning, capturing
mood and evoking that darkness that Lovecraft is so famed
for. Certainly these are not literal
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translations
of Lovecraft's stories to film, but the additions
made are eerie and continue to call on the darkness that
the filmmaker has conjured forth.
Yes, there are things that seem a bit out of place, and
there is one scene in particular that seems to have been
heavily influenced by The Blair Witch Project, but
none of this matters. This is a great film. My only concerns
are raised by a few technical hiccups in the DVD. As mine
was new and fresh out of the wrap I can not help but wonder
if these imperfections are found in all copies of the film,
or merely mine. In any case they were easy to overlook and
caused no severe problems.
Another odd note is that the DVD does not have scene selection
from the menu, though it does contain a trailer for The
Shunned House (and about a dozen other low budget, crappy,
indie films that are very forgettable).
Click here
to order purchase The Shunned House from Brain Damage
films... |
-
Bob Brinkman
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