The Best HP Lovecraft Adaptation Horror Fans Must See, Stream Without Netflix Now
Iconic horror writer H.P. Lovecraft has developed more than just a cult following in the decades since his death. His book The Necronomicon has been the inspiration for metal bands for years, and his many books and short stories have never gone out of print. Though much of the horror Lovecraft penned about has proven difficult to translate onto the big screen, the 1988 film The Unnamable did a fair job at taking the late author’s vision of a demonic child from a time gone by and having it terrorize a group of trespassers.
The Unnamable
The Unnamable begins in a cemetery one evening when college student Randolph Carter is telling his friends Howard and Joel ghost stories involving the abandoned house on the property. According to Randolph, the former owner was a man named Joshua Winthrop, a man who was harboring a terrible secret in one of the home’s many rooms. Winthrop was hiding his demon daughter Alyda, who grows tired of her bondage and slaughters him in her room late one night.
In typical horror film fashion, The Unnamable has one of its characters in disbelief of the scary tale that was meant as a warning. Joel decides to go into the house and stay the night, with Howard and Randolph leaving him behind. He is never seen again.
Soon after, a group of students decide to invade the house for the night. With Alya stalking the halls and rooms of the old house, it’s a night of predators chasing prey as the co-eds are attacked one by one. When word gets back to Randolph that Joel never came home, the storyteller leaps into action and makes his way back to the house in hopes of a way to stop what he now believes to be a real monster and not the figment of an old folk tale.
Not Great, Not Horrible
The Unnamable is a film that features unheard of players, a very low budget, and a director with minimal experience at the helm of a feature film. Regardless of what The Unnamable had going against it, the film does capture certain haunted house elements that make for a captivating tale. The fear audiences experience is a solid combination of the anticipation of a horror and the eventual on-screen action, with room for several well-timed jump scares.
The Filmmakers Didn’t Have A Lot To Work With
The special effects aren’t anything out of the ordinary and are mediocre at best. The exception here is the creature Alyda, whose creation remains one of the more notable film monsters from the era.
The Unnamable lacked the budget to be a real winner, leading to subpar acting and camera work that could have better captured the onscreen horror as it unfolded before audiences. It’s still a fun story to follow and, while a bit predictable in parts, packs in a good amount of horror.
Lovecraft Is Tough To Adapt
Lovecraft isn’t the easiest source material for a great horror film, as the objects in his horror are sometimes difficult to bring to life on a screen and terrify audiences in the same way as his written word. Most adaptations of his films have been difficult to work through, with Re-Animator and The Dunwich Horror being two noteworthy exceptions. The Unnamable also belongs on this short list, as the film successfully brings to life one of Lovecraft’s horrors inside an interesting story arc.
