Top Ten H.P. Lovecraft Inspired Horror Movies

Howard Phillips Lovecraft created the Cthulhu Mythos, a grand and horrific complex world of ancient gods that was very unique to Lovecraft and to Horror literature at the time. Cthulu, Azathoth, and Yog-Sothoth are the ancient old ones and the heart of the Lovecraft stories. Lovecraft created stories that were far before his time and ended up influencing Modern Horror Films  immensely in many ways. He had a hard childhood and was a bit of a recluse and suffered from Depression his whole life.

Most of his stories were published in the pulp magazine, Weird Tales. Some of the best Horror movies are inspired by or created from the works of H.P. Lovecraft.  If you haven’t read any lovecraft yet, I highly recommend it, as they are quite disturbing and well written.   Here is a Top Ten list of the best Lovecraft movies to watch when you are in the mood for something completely different then the normal Horror movie.

10- Necronomicon (1993)

Necronomicon is an Anthology loosely based on three short stories by Lovecraft. The Drowned is based on The Rats in the Walls, The Cold is based on Cool Air and Whispers is based on The Whisperer in Darkness. There is a wrap around story starring Jeffrey Combs as H.P. Lovecraft himself. He goes to the local library to read a selection of stories from the Necronomicon.

9-The Resurected (1992)

A beautiful woman hires a detective to investigate what her husband, Charles Dexter Ward, has been experimenting with. Human remains have gone missing and Ward has locked himself in a labratory underground conducting experiments on them.  The Resurrected stars Chris Sarandon as Charles Dexter Ward and Joseph Curwen, you might recognize him from the original Fright Night.

8- Dunwich Horror (1970)

Dean stockwell and Sandra Dee star in the Dunwich Horror based on Lovecraft’s story and is produced by Roger Corman. Stockwell plays a man who wants to study the Necronomicon that is kept in the library at the University. He wants to discover the secret to bringing back the old ones with an ancient ritual.

 7- In the Mouth of Madness (1994)

Trent is hired to investigate the disappearnce of a famous Horror Author, Sutter Canne.  After reading several of the novels, Trent starts to hallucinate and have nightmares of monsters and deformed people.  Trent decides to try and find Hobb’s End, a fictional town in the novels and ends up in another dimension where his nightmares start to come true.

6- Castle Freak (1995)

Castle Freak is based on one my favorite short stories by Lovecraft called The Outsider. A family inherits a castle after a Duches passes away. Little does the family know that the Duchess had a son that she locked away and abused his entire life in the dungeon of the castle. The castle freak escapes and starts to kill people in the castle.

5- Dagon (2001)

A young couple, after having boat trouble, come to an old fishing village on an island. The locals do not like strangers on their island because their secret religion might be revealed. They prey to an ancient god called Dagon, and have freakish half fish, half human offspring.

4- From Beyond (1986)

From Beyond is about a couple of scientists, Jeffrey Combs and Ted Sorrel, attempting to stimulate the pineal gland with a device called The Resonator. Unfortunately, their experiments open a door to another dimension and the creatures there are not very friendly. They proceed to drag Ted Sorrel into their world but return him as a grotesque shape-changing monster that tries to kill everyone at the laboratory.

3- The Thing (1982)

The Thing by John Carpenter was loosely based on Lovecraft’s From the Mountains of Madness and Who goes There? by John W. Cambell. The Thing is a story about an American Antarctic research station that has an evil alien life form among them that can imitate human beings. The group of researchers don’t know who to trust because the alien entity can take over a life form and blend in.

2- Re-Animator (1985)

Re- Animator was written for a humour pulp magazine called Home Brew originally by Lovecraft.  Herbert West, a scientist, figures out how to bring life back to a corpse by using a green glowing elixir.  Funny and over the top gore make Re-Animator a must see for Horror fans and have turned it into a true Cult Horror Classic. Jeffrey Combs is brilliant as the mad scientist, West, and Barbara Crampton suffers some really unwanted attention from the severed head of Dr. Hill.

1- Evil Dead 2 (1987)

Lovecraft invented the Necronomicon, which is a Book that explains who the old ones are and how to summon them. In Evil Dead 2 Ash and his girlfriend go to a Cabin in the woods for some fun and find the Book of the Dead, or the Necronomicon, in their cabin. Next to it is a tape recorder with incantations from the book that when played release demons that possess and kill everyone in the woods. Evil Dead 2 is non stop fun from beginning to end, extremely funny and gory at the same time. Bruce Cambell is hilarious as Ash, the supermarket attendant, that somehow survives the demons and even his own possessed hand.