Review: The Call of Cthulhu (2007)
So, having a bit of spare time and an obsession with silent movies since I first saw a Buster Keaton film in its entirety... in a theater... with a live organ player... I watched the Call of Cthulhu, a modern rendition of the short story by H.P. Lovecraft done in a film style strongly reminiscent of 1920's cinema.
Now you might be thinking, "Wait... What?" The movie is silent and uses primarily film techniques of the 1920's but was made using modern cameras and occasional digital image compositing. The result is very, very close to period in image quality. One has to look closely and know what you are looking for to spot the tiny differences in picture quality and lens focus. As a way of making a low budget movie look good and not low budget, it works incredibly well.
I thought that the unusual choice of film style suited the story told. I'd be lying if I said I was overly familiar with the source material (it's been a while since I read it), but I thought that the presentation of things going strangely awry in a series of events that seem unrelated until one man starts piecing things together worked better without sound or color. I like how the truth of where he actually ended up as a result of his curiosity was left until the end. The shots of him hesitating with the last piece of his picture puzzle are also an excellent manifestation of his internal conflicts. The limitations of the style put a lot of the suspension of disbelief on the characters rather than pretty imagery. The acting is pretty awesome.
I do not usually mention DVD features in reviews because I think that the story of the film itself should take primary importance and rightfully so. However, because this is a film where the camera's microphone was on during the shooting and it's easier for actors to actually say improvised lines rather than mouth words silently, there are monologues... Hilarious, quoteable monologues. Also the little "making of" feature is pretty funny as well.
This was an awesomely watchable film and I love it immensely.
Now you might be thinking, "Wait... What?" The movie is silent and uses primarily film techniques of the 1920's but was made using modern cameras and occasional digital image compositing. The result is very, very close to period in image quality. One has to look closely and know what you are looking for to spot the tiny differences in picture quality and lens focus. As a way of making a low budget movie look good and not low budget, it works incredibly well.
I thought that the unusual choice of film style suited the story told. I'd be lying if I said I was overly familiar with the source material (it's been a while since I read it), but I thought that the presentation of things going strangely awry in a series of events that seem unrelated until one man starts piecing things together worked better without sound or color. I like how the truth of where he actually ended up as a result of his curiosity was left until the end. The shots of him hesitating with the last piece of his picture puzzle are also an excellent manifestation of his internal conflicts. The limitations of the style put a lot of the suspension of disbelief on the characters rather than pretty imagery. The acting is pretty awesome.
I do not usually mention DVD features in reviews because I think that the story of the film itself should take primary importance and rightfully so. However, because this is a film where the camera's microphone was on during the shooting and it's easier for actors to actually say improvised lines rather than mouth words silently, there are monologues... Hilarious, quoteable monologues. Also the little "making of" feature is pretty funny as well.
This was an awesomely watchable film and I love it immensely.