There are severalLovecraftian Eldritch horror movies, but the best of these ever made is the first part of an unofficial secret trilogy. In 1982, John Carpenter directedThe Thing.While the movie isbased on the novelWho Goes There?by John W. Campbell, and Christian Nyby previously adapted it asThe Thing from Another Worldin 1951,Carpenter’s movie has a much more terrifying influence. Carpenter’s movie is, at its heart, a Lovecraftian horror movie. Not only that, but it was one of three Eldritch horror movies Carpenter made.
Named afterthe works of H.P. Lovecraft, Lovecraftian Eldritch horror stories lean into the idea of cosmic dread, how humanity has no real meaning, and the creatures that exist somewhere outside human perception. This includes creatures like Cthulhu, but the Eldritch horror creatures go much further than just that one monster. When looking at the themes of Lovecraftian Eldritch horror,few directors came close to telling these stories as well as John Carpenter, withThe Thingas his Lovecraftian masterpiece.
John Carpenter’s The Thing Is The Best Lovecraftian Eldritch Horror Movie Ever Made
The Thing Presents The Idea Of Hopelessness & Paranoia
In Carpenter’sThe Thing,a group of researchers in Antarctica find themselves under attack when what turns out to be an alien infiltrates their base.This alien is one who can impersonate anyone it kills,and this means that anyone could be an ally one minute and the villain the next. This played into the Eldritch horror themes. None of the researchers,or their pilot, R.J. MacReady (Kurt Russell), mean anything in the grand scheme of things. However, the alien is what mattered, and its appearance played into the fear of the unknown.
The Thingendingplayed into the ideas of Lovecraftian horror stories. In H.P. Lovecraft’s stories, humanity is only a facade, and what is real are the monsters that hide under the surface. At the very end ofThe Thing,Mac and Childs are the last two alive.The film leaves the idea open that one of them is the alien. However, the entire theme of the ending is that it doesn’t matter which of them is evil, or if either of them is the alien. The entire purpose is that neither of them knows and trust is gone forever.
The Thingwas a massive hit on home video.
The Thingis an interesting movie because it was a box office failure and was part of the reason Carpenter’s career on top of the horror genre was not bigger than it was. However, years later,The Thingwas a massive hit on home videoand is now considered one of the best horror movies ever made. With that said, it was also the first part of a secret John Carpenter Lovecraftian trilogy.
The Thing Is Part Of John Carpenter’s “Apocalypse” Trilogy, Each Chapter Inspired By Lovecraft
The Thing, Prince Of Darkness, & In The Mouth Of Madness
WhileThe Thing’sbox office failure keptJohn Carpenter from getting to make Stephen King’sFirestarter,he not only rebounded but did something more interesting. He made atrilogy of movies based squarely in the world of Lovecraftian Eldritch horror.However, this was a “secret” unofficial trilogy that has since become known as the Apocalypse Trilogy. These films includedThe Thing,Prince of Darkness,andIn the Mouth of Madness.
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The Old Ones
Thesecond movie isPrince of Darkness.The film follows a group of quantum physics students who help a Catholic priest when he finds an ancient cylinder of liquid discovered in a monastery. The film stars Donald Pleasence as the unnamed priest, and the story heads in a dark direction when the liquid turns out to be the liquid embodiment of Satan, and Jesus Christ was actually an alien being. The film focuses on demonic possession and, likeThe Thing,presents characters who realize they can’t even trust each other when monsters from other worlds seep into ours.
In the Mouth of Madnesswas the name of an H. P. Lovecraft novella.
The last movie in the trilogy came in 1994 with thesupernatural horror movieIn the Mouth of Madness.Sam Neill stars in this movie as an insurance investigator who visits a small town looking for a missing horror author. When he gets to the town, he realizes things are not right there, and he questions his sanity. Carpenter named this movie after an H. P. Lovecraft novella and brings the themes of Lovecraftian Eldritch horror to the surface, with the ending right out of Lovecraft’s playbook.
John Carpenter Would Be The Perfect Director For A True Lovecraft Adaptation
Carpenter Seems To Have A Strong Grasp On Lovecraftian Horror
Thanks to these three Lovecraftian Eldritch horror movies, Carpenter might be theperfect person to make a true Lovecraft adaptation.His work onThe Thinghelped the film become one of the best horror releases in history. While not as recognizable, bothPrince of DarknessandIn the Mouth of Madnessperfectly encapsulated the feelings and themes Lovecraft created in his stories. This is especially true withIn the Mouth of Madness,which is an underrated masterpiece.
However, the chance of this is unlikely. Carpenter has mostly stopped making movies over the last two decades. He has only directed two movies this century, withGhosts of Marsin 2001 andThe Wardin 2010. He still occasionally works in the film industry, composing music for the three newHalloweenmovies,Studio 666,andFirestarter.However, the world of horror misses him, and John Carpenter’s work onThe Thingand its unofficial trilogyprove he has the skills to bring Lovecraft to the big screen in the best way possible.
