MOVIES INSPIRED IN H.P. LOVECRAFT WORKS

As a Fear of the Dark player I love horror movies...

That feeling when you turn off the light and seat in the couch waiting for the film to begin is something I love...

We love to be scared by horror films, to suffer with the characters as they walk towards death... We like fear itself.

There are a lot of horror movies inspired in H.P. Lovecraft´s works, some of them not clearly, other are obviously based on them. Lovecraft works didn´t go unnoticed to film directors and producers, and many of them have been adaptated or were the basis for films.

Today I want to make a list of the movies I believe that are based on his works or that they deserve to be seen as a Fear of the Dark player or a Call of Cthulhu GM.

The films are not in any particular order, I just offer a selection of films that you may like (related to mythos in one or other way).

So, make sure the doors are locked, turn off the light and sit in the couch... 

THE MIST (2007)

David Drayton and his young son Billy are among a large group of terrified townspeople trapped in a local grocery store by a strange, otherworldly mist. David is the first to realize that there are “things” lurking in the mist…deadly, horrifying things…creatures not of this world. 

Survival depends on everybody in the store pulling together…but is that possible, given human nature? As reason crumbles in the face of fear and panic, David begins to wonder what terrifies him more: the monsters in the mist—or the ones “inside” the store, the human kind, the people that until now had been his friends and neighbors?

RE-ANIMATOR (1985)

A medical student and his girlfriend become involved in a bizarre experiment into reanimating the dead conducted by the student's incorrigible housemate in this campy sendup of an H.P. Lovecraft story. The emphasis is on humour but once the dead walk, there is gore aplenty.

THE THING (1982)

In remote Antarctica, a group of American research scientists are disturbed at their base camp by a norwegian helicopter shooting at a sled dog. When they take in the dog, it brutally attacks both human beings and canines in the camp and they discover that the beast, from unknown origin, can assume the shape of its victims.

THE CALL OF CTHULHU (2005)

The Call of Cthulhu is a silent movie adaptation of the H. P. Lovecraft short story of the same name, produced by Sean Branney and Andrew Leman and distributed by the HP Lovecraft Historical Society. It is the first film adaptation of the famous Lovecraft story, and uses Mythoscope, a blend of vintage and modern filming techniques intended to produce the look of a 1920s-era film.

The film adheres very closely to Lovecraft's story, but there are a few changes. The sailors aboard the Emma first encounter the Alert abandoned at sea, rather than crewed by Cthulhu cultists as in the original story. Additionally, the film depicts the narrator present at the time of his great-uncle's death, who dies peacefully in his sleep, rather than being summoned upon the mysterious death of his great-uncle, who was presumably killed by Cthulhu cultists in the original short story. The narrator (Matt Foyer) notes as well that Inspector Legrasse, who had directed the raid on cultists in backwoods Louisiana, had died before the narrator's investigation began.

DAGON (2001)

A couple is traveling on a yacht off the coast of Spain, when a sudden storm smashes their boat on a reef.  They swim to the nearest town looking for help.  The decrepit fishing village of Imboca at first seems to be deserted. The strange inhabitants offer little help to the stranded couple. By nightfall they find themselves pursued by the entire town… but a town of what?

THE ENDLESS (2017)

As kids, they escaped a UFO death cult. Now, two adult brothers seek answers after an old videotape surfaces and brings them back to where they began. Soon they realize that the cult was more than right on their beliefs.

THE RESURRECTED (1992)

Charles Dexter Ward's wife enlists the help of a private detective to find out what her husband is up to in a remote cabin owned by his family for centuries. The husband is a chemical engineer, and the smells from his experiments (and the delivery of what appear to be human remains at all hours) are beginning to arouse the attention of neighbors and local law enforcement officials. When the detective and wife find a diary of the husband's ancestor from 1771, and reports of gruesome murders in the area begin to surface, they begin to suspect that some very unnatural experiments are being conducted in the old house.

THE VOID (2016)

In the middle of a routine patrol, officer Daniel Carter happens upon a blood-soaked figure limping down a deserted stretch of road. He rushes the young man to a nearby rural hospital staffed by a skeleton crew, only to discover that patients and personnel are transforming into something inhuman. As the horror intensifies, Carter leads the other survivors on a hellish voyage into the subterranean depths of the hospital in a desperate bid to end the nightmare before it's too late.

FROM BEYOND (1986)

Dr. Pretorius and his colleagues are working on a sensational experiment: by means of stimulation of the pineal gland, they want to open the human mind to higher dimensions. When the experiment succeeds, however, they are immediately attacked by terrible life forms, which apparently are floating around us all the time. When Dr. Pretorius is killed by one of them, Dr. Tillinghast is under suspect and thrown into the psycho ward due to his stories. Only the ambitious psychologist Dr. McMichaels believes him and wants to continue the experiment.

CLOVERFIELD (2008)

A group of friends gather in downtown Manhattan to hold a surprise party for Rob Hawkins who is departing to take up a vice presidency in Japan. Hud is given the job of recording everything on a camcorder. But as gossip spreads around the room that Rob and Beth McIntyre were sleeping together, there suddenly comes news that a tanker has overturned in the harbour. 

As they rush onto the roof to see, there is a massive explosion. Out on the street, the head of the Statue of Liberty comes crashing past and then a vast monster is seen smashing buildings aside. Rob and a handful of others try to survive amidst the mass devastation as the military cordon the area off, evacuate people and try to fight back against the monster. Rob takes the others on a dangerous journey across town to rescue Beth from where she is trapped injured inside her apartment building.

COLOUR OUT OF SPACE (2019)

A town is struck by a meteorite and the fallout is catastrophic. A really good adaptation of the original story.

Nicolas Cage and an H.P. Lovecraft story... what else do you need?

IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS (1994)

When horror novelist Sutter Cane goes missing, insurance investigator John Trent scrutinizes the claim made by his publisher, Jackson Harglow, and endeavors to retrieve a yet-to-be-released manuscript and ascertain the writer's whereabouts, discovering that the impact a horror writer's books have on his fans is more than inspirational.

This film is an excepcional Lovecratian story (I have to confess that I turned this film into a Call of Cthulhu RPG scenario that I played to friends and It was an awesome scenario... And we watched the film after the game)

This is It... Did you enjoy?

You may think that many mythos related films were not listed, well you may leave a comment with your chosen films that weren't listed or anything you want to add.

Next film I'm going to see is The Ring 3D edition... They say that images seem to come out of the screen... 

FREE SCENARIO - LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD

 A new FREE scenario has been added to FEAR OF THE DARK, it´s called Little Red Riding Hood.

This is the fourth free scenario of the game (apart from the four included in the ruleset), and it won´t be the last...

The idea of Little Red Riding Hood came while reading a bedtime story to my children and the plot may sound familiar:

"Officer, what we know about the case is that a young girl was going through the woods to her grandmother's house carrying a basket with a piece of cake... Next thing we know is that she was found dead as if a beast had slayed her... 

It sounds familiar, isn't it, officer? 

Well, to make things even more strange as it was raining she was wearing a cape with a hood... 

Do you guess which colour was it? 

Red... Of course...

So, officer... Are we looking for the Big bad wolf?"

This is the introduction for this scenario, to get it for free just log in your wargamevault profile and look in the Fear of the Dark folder, you may download and enjoy it.

and as always...

THANKS FOR SUPPORTING THIS PROJECT!

The lighthouse scene (DIY terrain)

While working on a campaign for Fear of the Dark, I wanted one of the scenes to take place in an island with an old lighthouse.

While It could be an awesome scene, I didn't want to spend much money or take too much time to build the terrain.

In the end I decided to do the terrain on a budget, and I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

30€ is the total amount of money spent in these terrain pieces, and they were built fast as they are easy to make.

These terrain pieces, specially the islands and the ship are going to be used in many scenarios, as I think they are awesome terrain pieces.

After a few detailed pictures I'll explain how I did these pieces of terrain, and how you can do them on a budget.

THE ISLANDS

The islands were from a Gormiti toy set that I bought second hand for 5€. You may find it easily on second hand apps or websites, and they are really cheap if the figures that came with the toy set or any other parts are missing, which is quite usual when dealing with kids' toys.

I just covered the big holes with plastic sheets, put putty covering the joints and applied PVA and beach sand. Once dry just gave it one thick layer of brown Paint.

I know that I could have textured and painted the whole island, but it was going to take more time, and I wanted this piece of terrain cheap and fast... who knows? maybe in a future... 

I want to cut the lower lip, so that it integrates more with the gaming mat, and it could be used as an island or as a mountain or a hill with a cliff.

THE LIGHTHOUSE

I wanted a big lighthouse, and big usually means expensive, so I decided to do it papercraft, as it is really cheap.

I searched the web looking for a nice papercraft lighthouse and after a while I found this one, which is really nice and looks dark and gloomy.

You can download the file as it is available for free from the ravensblight website, clicking in this LINK.

The papercraft model was small, and I wanted it really big and of course, that it could be fold down to be stored easily (as I showed in the post on papercraft terrain, which you may see clicking in this LINK).

After an hours of redesign on Photoshop, the model was 50 cms high and could be fold down (except for the top, which I wasn't able to redesign to fold down).

Printing was free as a friend printed for me in 320 grms A3 cardboard, but in any shop the cost would be 1'5€ per sheet (4'5€ the whole lighthouse).

It's a massive piece of terrain once displayed, but it takes no room at all when stored, and that is a MUST for me.

THE SHIP

Looking for terrain for a friend I found something surprising. It's a company (UMBUM or Clever Paper)  that makes 3D cardboard model kits, mainly buildings but also a couple of ships.

I fonud one of the ships that according to the measures that appeared in the website it should be fine for 28mm miniatures, but it was a risk as it costed 25€.

You may see the Amazon link by clicking in this LINK.

At the end I decided to take the risk and ordered the ship, and ley me tell you that it was a blast: Easy to build, nice, tough and, unfortunately, just a bit out of scale.

It takes just about three hours to build it, and it is not difficult to build it following the instructions. It's a bit small for 28mm but it works and makes a delightful piece of terrain.

It came with a set of unfolded red sails, but I decided not to use those and make some folded white ordinary sails, as it would make easier to move the miniatures in the deck of the ship.

And this is it! 

A post on cheap and easy to build terrain that you may use on your scenarios. I will be using them in the Fear of the Dark campaign that I'm making.

Hope to see your lighthouses and ships soon!

WARGAMES ATLANTIC FRENCH RESISTANCE PARTISANS REVIEW

Many times I have been asked about where to find apropiate miniatures to play Fear of the Dark, and last day I picked up a box of French Resistance Partisans made by Wargame Atlantic. 

The idea was to make some characters to play Fear of the Dark, and I can't be more happy with the results, that´s why I decided to make this review, because they can easily turned into 20’s investigators.

The box brings 8 sprues with 4 miniatures each, that makes 32 figures, that's more than enough for any skirmish wargame.

As you can see each sprue has 4 bodies and plenty of possibilities, 14 different heads (with hats, caps, bonets ...), 13 right arms and 9 left arms bearing different combinations of weapons (pistols, rifles, submachine guns, light machine guns, grenades...) which means a lot of possible variations for 4 bodies.

The figures are very detailed, and clothes, faces and weapons are really well done, and those details pop up when the miniatures are primed.

Nice, isn't it? this miniatures can work as investigators, citizens, friends and foes from the 20's to 40's for any horror or pulp game (Pulp Alley, Fear of the Dark, Perilous Tales, Strange Aeons...), and... wait a minute... they can also be used as french resistance partisans in any ww2 wargame!!!

Apart from the wide range of possibilities that each sprue has, we can kitbash these miniatures with spare bits from other ranges and miniatures.

I have used spare bits from frostgrave's cultist sprues, warlord's US marines sprues, Project Z survivors, Gripping Beast's arab spearmen... because using other Wargame Atlantic miniatures would have been too easy...

Below you have several examples of kitbashing (most of them with melee weapons as in the sprue we have a lot of ranged weapons) :

Ok, they are nice, but... how do they scale with other ranges of miniatures?

Well, this miniatures are in the "real" side of 28mm, where other brands use heroic proportions with huge heads and arms, this figures tend to be a more realistic representation of a 28mm person, but they look nice side by side with heroic miniatures.

I could tell you how do I think that they scale with other figures, but a picture is worth a thousand words, so I´m going to show comparison pictures with different miniatures from my collection, I´m sure they will be worthy.

Lets talk about the price...

I paid 33€ for a box with 32 highly detailed miniatures. That's 1€ for each miniature. What can I say? They are cheap for what you get, and they are a MUST for every pulp player, just because of the wide range of possibilities that a single box offers.

I hope this review has been worthy and helps you to decide whether to buy it or not.