Episodes
Wednesday Jun 23, 2021
Episode 43 - The Beach House (2019)
Wednesday Jun 23, 2021
Wednesday Jun 23, 2021
Well, now that it's actually summer we can talk about a film that actually deals with summery things and we've got not only the perfect film, but also the perfect guest! Jessica Scott joins The Cast of Cthulhu to talk about Jeffrey A. Brown's feature directorial debut, The Beach House and boy, oh boy, does this film dive deep into Lovecraftian themes of mankind's insignificance amongst an ancient creation (and also, tentacles).
The performances are engaging and the practical effects make us cringe and scream, but arguably the film's most effective tool to deploy is an aesthetic and philosophical depiction of the vastness of an ocean that taps into primordial fears and causes deeply buried emotions to bubble to the surface. If Cassavetes made a horror film, maybe it would look something like The Beach House.
Follow Jessica Scott on Twitter @WeWhoWalkHere
And visit here to read up on her writing work
Thursday Jun 10, 2021
Episode 42 - Starfish (2018)
Thursday Jun 10, 2021
Thursday Jun 10, 2021
There's something ironic about reviewing a film due to its titular tie in to beaches only to discover upon viewing that it takes place almost entirely in snowy Colorado. After Jim apologizes for that, he implores the Internet to help him stop getting Twitter notifications about The Snyderverse (4:18) and delves into the world of hurt people hurting people with a discussion of his recent obsession, Vice TV's phenomenal Dark Side of the Ring (12:43).
At 26:39 comes the discussion of A.T. White's Starfish, a film that Jim initially wrote off because of "how hipster it is." This episode is a rarity in the lifespan of The Cast of Cthulhu, one in which Jim actually walks back a few of his criticisms in real time after listening to James's interpretations! Unlike so many starfish with severed limbs though, he doesn't emerge from this episode newly formed since Starfish's meager budget and half-baked world building lead to a film about an emotional journey that is oddly emotionally muddled and not at all Lovecraftian.
Are the creatures real or imagined? What does the voice on the radio want? Is Aubrey's journey across town real or metaphorical? Is the giant creature in the sky an inadvertent callback to the discussion of The Snyderverse because it's actually DC supervillain Starro? Listen to our mixtape to find out!
Wednesday May 19, 2021
Episode 41 - Lifeforce (1985)
Wednesday May 19, 2021
Wednesday May 19, 2021
We're covering a weird, ambitious movie, so it's only fitting that we've got a weird, ambitious episode. Jay Alary from Grumpire and Daily Grindhouse joins The Cast of Cthulhu to discuss Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce, the first of a 3-picture deal and a weird, ambitious failure of a sci-fi film that may have signaled the beginning of the end for Hooper's marketability and dependability as a director.
Of course, those 3 pictures were all made for the notorious(ly beloved) low-budget studio, The Cannon Group, so the review can't begin until James takes us down a meaty tour of Cannon's history and reputation from Cannes to Sunday afternoons on WPIX 11.
If you're anything like Jim, then you see Lifeforce as a messy, exploitative genre film in which a beloved The X-Files character actor elicits unintentional laughs from portraying the sweatiest, most pathetically love sick astronaut in history. And if you're anything like Jay and James, then that's probably why you love it. And if you're anything like The Space Vampires author Colin Wilson, well...why are you even listening to this?
Follow Jay on Twitter @JuliusBarthelme
Wednesday May 12, 2021
Episode 40 - The Empty Man (2020)
Wednesday May 12, 2021
Wednesday May 12, 2021
We went into The Empty Man expecting a subpar knockoff of the Slender Man story and were we delightfully surprised to see that it was anything but! Receiving a similar fate to another overlooked horror film that Disney unceremoniously dumped after acquiring Fox, this "rough edit" release - as writer/director David Prior considers it - foregoes jump scares and traditional horror tropes in order to craft a moody, dreadful story chock full of surreal and impressionistic imagery.
No tangents, prefaces, or distractions in this episode - just an enthusiastic discussion of a criminally under-appreciated horror film that would make H.P. Lovecraft stand up and cheer (before quickly bowing down in exultation of The Empty Man). Thank God Prior didn't stay faithful to the source material, eh?
Here's where to read the article we quote from Film School Rejects, "How David Prior's 'The Empty Man' Survived the Perfect Hollywood Storm."
And here's where to read the full review of The Empty Man from RogerEbert.com.
Wednesday May 05, 2021
Episode 39 - Lord of Illusions (1995)
Wednesday May 05, 2021
Wednesday May 05, 2021
Sincerest apologies for both the episode delay (life stuff) and audio quality of Jim's vocal track (forgot mic due to life stuff), but if you're able to forgive us for those hiccups, we are excited to have Council of Zoom's Kieran Fisher join us to discuss Clive Barker's third and final directorial effort, Lord of Illusions!
The delayed release also means a delayed review of Marvel's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, so skip ahead to 20:25 if you're so over all the wokeness in the MCU and just want to hear a review of a horror/noir/thriller featuring a young, attractive Famke Jansen and a young, arguably more attractive young Scott Bakula. Harry D'Amour may be the perfect Lovecraftian protagonist, but he's the lead in a film that doesn't give him a worthy antagonist and that also isn't nearly as illusioney as it thinks it is. The practical effects are pretty effective, but making us believe that a cult leader with 8 followers in the middle of the desert is capable of destroying the world is not.
Follow Kieran on Twitter @haireverywhere_
Wednesday Apr 14, 2021
Episode 38 - Society (1989)
Wednesday Apr 14, 2021
Wednesday Apr 14, 2021
Seeing as Jim made his triumphant return to the movie theater for the first time in well over a year, it's only fitting that the boys spend a little time talking about the (very dumb) film ushering people out of the pandemic, Godzilla vs. Kong.
Skip ahead to 26:30 to avoid spoilers and a discussion of all things related to large beings destroying tiny cityscapes and to get to the main event, the discussion on Brian Yuzna's directorial debut, Society. Joining to discuss the film that only gets grosser as it gets older is James's partner in life and crime, Corinne Corrosive!
The film's narrative logic - or lack thereof - may not hold up any better than its 1980sness, but man oh man are those practical effects from Screaming Mad George still nauseating and it's scary how the film's themes of the rich feeding on the poor have become all the more relevant today. Perhaps if Trump runs again in 2024, he should be honest with everyone and run on the Shunting Party card.
Wednesday Mar 24, 2021
Episode 37 - The Endless (2017)
Wednesday Mar 24, 2021
Wednesday Mar 24, 2021
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear. And the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."
- H.P. Lovecraft
"Adding a Lovecraft quote to your film doesn't make your film Lovecraftian."
- The Cast of Cthulhu
So, we're talking about The Endless, a film that pays lip service to Lovecraft, but we're also talking about so much more than that, so check out the timecode notes below if you want to get straight to the discussion of a film that raises more questions about its world in its attempt to give us answers and that fundamentally misunderstands the term "Lovecraftian" (if that's even what the filmmakers were intending in the first place).
We don't get into that discussion until 42:03 though as we first spend some time to encourage listeners to pick up Battleship Pretension's 101 Best Movies of the 2010s at 1:13, discuss our thoughts on #TheSnyderCut at 3:45, and discuss the horrific allegations against Richard Stanley and why we support his "canceling" (and also why we hate that term) at 19:18.
For more information on AAPI organizations to support in the wake of the horrible actions of a white supremacist, check out this link and let's all contribute to stopping Asian hate.
Thursday Mar 18, 2021
Episode 36 - Resolution (2012)
Thursday Mar 18, 2021
Thursday Mar 18, 2021
The first episode in the Benson/Moorhead back-to-back is here with this review of Resolution, though as we're wont to do, there's a fair bit of banter before the episode begins, this time on beer and breweries and pouring one out - figuratively - for the bankrupt Alamo Drafthouse (jump ahead to around 10:19 to skip over it - you'll know the discussion is about to begin when James says "let's talk about meth").
Jumping from abuse of one substance to another gets us into the discussion on Benson & Moorhead's directorial debut, the (extremely) low-budget feature that has basically everything you've come to love about a Lovecraft story - a character who recognizes and accepts his unchangeable fate, another who doesn't and suffers for it, and a seemingly cyclopean entity that cannot be described or depicted - despite the fact that the filmmakers had no idea who Howard Phillips Lovecraft was. Another thing of which the filmmakers had no idea? Good taste in humor! Does it distract from the effectiveness of the film? Not greatly, but it also shouldn't make anyone eager to check out the film's cringeworthy special features.
Click here to read the interview with Benson & Moorhead from Medium.com that was quoted in this episode.
Tuesday Mar 09, 2021
Episode 35 - WandaVision (2021)
Tuesday Mar 09, 2021
Tuesday Mar 09, 2021
Before you ask or complain, no - WandaVision has absolutely nothing to do with H.P. Lovecraft and we don't even make an attempt to connect the two. Instead, this is just an episode to dive into our thoughts on the recently wrapped WandaVision with a very special guest, Jim's lovely wife, Emma Aarnes!
From our shattered expectations to our satisfaction with the ending, there's a lot of ground to cover and a lot of tangents to get lost in, including how Donald Sutherland still weirdly brags that he had actual sex with Julie Christie while filming Don't Look Now and frequently objectifying Chris Evans' ass. WandaVision was a show that led to a great deal of speculation on where it was going - most of it gloriously incorrect - and the reactions to its conclusion were divisive, but we salute Jac Shaeffer and Matt Shakman, the risks they took, the story they told, and the fun they brought back to weekly TV viewing.
Also, here's Anthony Mackie quoting Shakespeare while eating hot wings.
Friday Feb 26, 2021
Episode 34 - Annihilation (2018)
Friday Feb 26, 2021
Friday Feb 26, 2021
A fair bit of dillydallying on this episode before the discussion on Alex Garland's criminally underseen Annihilation including a (very) lengthy discussion on WandaVision and the Disney's grey morality as a content/art provider, a less lengthy discussion at 27:46 about why we'd rather fight with Cthulhu than Haku, and the least lengthy news at 34:32 that Spike Lee is producing a Cthulhu film for Netflix.
At 36:54 we get to the main event, a discussion on Annihilation, a sci-fi that was so brilliant in its existential musings that Paramount had no idea what to do with it, dumping it into a late February 2018 release with little fanfare. With gorgeous cinematography from Rob Hardy and marvelously understated writing and direction from Garland, Annihilation was one of the best films of 2018 and is arguably the best adaptation of "The Color Out of Space" you'll ever see - even though, ostensibly, it has nothing to do with the classic Lovecraft sci-fi/horror story.