Cthulhu is almost as famous, if not more famous, than Lovecraft himself. I guess there’s something oddly personable about an anthropomorphic squid-jellyfish-bat monster from outer space. So it’s probably worth pointing out that the first appearance and development of Cthulhu marks a turning point, maybe even a breaking point, in Lovecraft’s fiction. There are certainly continuities that run across the entirety of his writing; even his earliest stories feature people whose minds are torn apart by unthinkable truths, although sometimes this truth is nothing more than that one’s great-grandfather was actually a gorilla. Much of his early work, though, owes a massive debt to Poe and Dunsany.

Release Year: 1929 Country: United States Starring: Lina Basquette, Tom Keene (as George Duryea), Marie Prevost, Noah Beery, Eddie Quinlan, Mary Jane Irving Writer: Jeanie Macpherson Director: Cecil B. DeMille Cinematographer: J. Peverell Marley Producer: Cecil B. DeMille Cecil B. DeMille’s final silent film, The Godless Girl, had the misfortune of being released in the [...]

Release Year: 1929 Country: Germany Starring: Gustav Diessl, Leni Riefenstahl, Ernst Petersen, Ernst Udet, Mizzi Gotzel, Otto Spring. Writer: Arnold Fanck, Ladislaus Vajda Director: Arnold Fanck, G.W. Pabst Cinematographer: Sepp Allgeier, Richard Angst, Hans Schneeberger Producer: H.R. Sokel Availability: Buy it from Amazon Promote It: Digg | del.icio.us This movie offers so many potential avenues [...]