He Who Wields The Evil … Yo-Yo?
Tonight we returned to the old holiday tradition of picking out some unfamiliar movie and watching it. This Thanksgiving it’s The Dunwich Horror (1970), an adaptation of an H. P. Lovecraft novella of the same name, supposedly a main component of the Cthulhu horror mythos.
Unfortunately, the movie is rife with questionable choices, such as suggesting the Old Gods were superior and should therefore return, which I cannot help questioning as If they were so superior, why were they banished from Earth or the Earth dimension? Why does the lead female, Nancy, fall for this creepy dude Wilbur Whateley? What’s she done to deserve his attentions? What’s going on with Grandpa?
Worse yet, while most of the components of an adequate movie are present, a few are missing, foremost being empathy. I didn’t care for any of these characters; they have that brittle sensibility common to many movies of the era. As a result, it’s hard to sit through this, rather than, say, imposing an interpretive dance element on it.
This really is a movie made for parody and mockery.
All that said, the special effects are not half-bad. Cthulhu is a chaotic effect on people more than a critter/God, and that’s a good choice. And cool car, Nancy.
If your taste is for cosmic horror, maybe this’ll appeal to you. So, too, for fans and alumni of Miskatonic University. Otherwise, though, it’s a movie for the Thanksgiving tradition, never to be viewed again. And mildly regretted in the first place.
