HNUM²

H.P. Lovecraft finds out that the Book of the Dead is being kept in America. Using the book for research he writes three tales. Here they are.

The first story, The Drowned (based on characters from The Rats In The Walls) is written and directed by Christophe Gans (Brotherhood of the Wolf, Silent Hill) so you’d expect it to be at least very good to look at. Edward De La Poer, the last in his family, inherits a run down hotel from his uncle who, we soon learn, died shortly after the death of his wife and son. After receiving a letter from beyond the grave, De La Pore discovers the events surrounding his uncle’s death and the seed is sown for him to try and finally seek closure for tragic events in his past. Of course, he doesn’t heed his uncle’s warning and things go wrong. Big time.

Directed by Shusuke Kaneko (several Gamera movies, Azumi 2, Death Note) and based on the story Cool Air, The Cold is the second story. It concerns a reporter investigating a string of strange murders spanning a couple of decades. He arrives at an apartment building and questions the occupant of this icy cold dwelling about the murders. So her story begins. Running away from her abusive step-father, her mother moved into the house 20 years ago. He turns up later, and while trying to escape she is saved by Dr Madden, a man who she is warned to keep away from. the two get friendly, but pretty soon it becomes obvious that he is not what he seems.

The final story, Whispers (loosely based on The Whisperer in Darkness) is directed by Brian Yuzna (Society, The Dentist.) Paul is dragged away from the scene of a crash by “The Butcher”. Sarah, his partner on the police force, follows the trail of blood to an old warehouse. She comes across Mr and Mrs Benedict, the owners of the building. Mrs Benedict tells her that The Butcher is an Alien, Mr Benedict tells her he’s the aliens servant. Of course, after some very strange behaviour from them both, she’s understandably skeptical. Everything gets a little weirder when they descend further into the building. The ancient tunnels they descend into are said to have been inhabited by beings who do not follow any god…

The ‘host’ segments starring Jeffrey Combs are adequate for the job. They break up the stories nicely. Nothing too special, but having Combs is a big plus for me. He’s one of those guys, like Bruce Campbell (who I think Combs actually kinda resembles in this movie, thanks in most part to some prosthetics), that have some kind of on screen presence that can carry a scene.

The Drowned starts off pretty good. The acting is good enough, the direction competent, the atmosphere is creepy and haunting, the production design is top notch. It’s not until towards the end that it really has any problems, and those problems are pretty minor. The big finale just wasn’t good enough to hold up to the rest due to some pretty average creature effects. On the whole, though, this is a well done movie. The story is pretty basic but the previously mentioned atmosphere, and a couple of creepy scenes make up for that. 7/10

The Cold also started off well. We waste no time getting to the woman’s tale, which at first is pretty interesting but quickly becomes a little to predictable, leaving you to come to the conclusion the reporter comes to a little too fast. After that it just seems to plod on, waiting to see if you’re right. A nice gory scene comes while you are waiting, though, and it ends the back story on a high note. Again, the acting and direction were decent, the effects were good but it was lacking in the story department. 6/10

As a fan of Brian Yuzna (for some reason unknown to me) I expected to like Whispers . And I wasn’t let down. It was definitely for me the best of the three. And the goriest. The strange couple were suitably creepy, the sets added a nice atmosphere, the lead actress was believable and the movie looked good. Some nice gory moments as well. The one thing I’d criticise this for is the writing, in places. There are a couple of parts when I just didn’t believe that a cop wouldn’t stop and question some of the things that were happening. Of course she was in an emotional state and trying to save her partner so I can maybe overlook that. 7.5/10

Topping it off nicely is H.P. Lovecraft getting his comeuppance for disobeying the monks who guard the book, at the hands of (or tentacles of) a nice lovecraftian monster. Maybe.