Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Vivekmaru45 Simply put, an atmospheric horror masterpiece worthy of having been adapted from short epistolary novel (51,500 words) by H. P. Lovecraft in 1927.The novel, set in 1918, describes how Charles Dexter Ward becomes obsessed with his distant ancestor, Joseph Curwen, an alleged wizard with unsavory habits. Ward physically resembles Curwen, and attempts to duplicate his ancestor's Qabalistic and alchemical feats. He eventually uses this knowledge to physically resurrect Curwen. Ward's doctor, Marinus Bicknell Willett, investigates Ward's activities and is horrified by what he finds.This film closely follows the novel. Dan O Bannon who wrote the screenplay for Alien, and was co-screen writer for Total Recall 1990, Invaders from Mars 1986, Lifeforce 1985, directs this film superbly.The most well known film personality is Christopher Sarandon, whereas the most known TV personality is John Terry. Robert Romanus is also a well known B-film actor who has starred in films like Fast Times at Ridgemont High(1982), Bad Medicine(1985) and Pulse(1988). Plot: Claire Ward (Sibbett) hires private investigator John March (Terry) to look into the increasingly bizarre activities of her husband Charles Dexter Ward (Sarandon). Ward has become obsessed with the occult practices of raising the dead once practiced by his ancestor Joseph Curwen (Sarandon in a dual role). As the investigators dig deeper, they discover that Ward is performing a series of grisly experiments in an effort to actually resurrect his long-dead relative Curwen. Watch the film to find out what happens next...Verdict: 10/10. Guaranteed to satisfy seasoned horror film enthusiasts. Beautiful background sound, photography and special effects. The director succeeds in creating an atmosphere of Lovecraftian horror. It becomes so apparent when I was watching the film, that had this film been released before Clive Barker's Hellraiser, many people would have given the acclaim that this film truly deserves. Suffice to say it is the best film made by the late Dan O Bannon(September 30, 1946 – December 17, 2009). Movies based on H.P. Lovecraft: Re-Animator 1985, H.P. Lovecraft's: Necronomicon 1994, From Beyond 1986, Dagon 2001, Castle Freak 1995, The Call of Cthulhu 2005, The Unnamable 1988, The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter 1993. There are many more films, I can't write down all of them. Just type: Films based one H.P. Lovecraft in Google search, and you will get a list.Thanks for reading, live long and prosper.

VideoEmbolism When Stuart Gordon became successful with his cheeky versions of H.P. Lovecraft stories I guess other studios decided to attempt doing a movie or two based on the guys work. This is one of them. It's actually pretty good and the best adaptation I know of although I've never read the story (I've read quite a few of his other stories though and their thematic signatures are unmistakable). I just think the movie's good and since his writing style is a lot like it, moody, murky, haunted by ambivalent facts and unholy histories that bleed horrors into the future, it's probably as accurate as your going to get without disfiguring it's essence and losing it's subtext by modernizing it. Actually, it does take place in modern times but accurate to the author's themes reality, the present, is just a superficial veil for the depthless ancient horrors lurking underneath that everyone's existence is built upon. This one takes itself really seriously and deserves credit not only for doing so but for the most part succeeding. And yes, it does have big ugly disgusting deformed monsters filmed in a way to suggest more than a fleeting glimpse of them would drive a person mad while inquisitive characters stumble around in the darkness of subterranean lairs, and of their own pasts, with unanswered questions and inadequate mobile lighting. The basic narrative starts as a detective story and then spreads into a supernatural conspiracy spanning time with the reincarnated version of the main character investigating what might be his own madness. And that's about all I can remember. I remember it was well written too but hey it's not only H.P. but Mr. O'bannon as well doing the honors. Unfortunately the douche bags (the production company?) who released and distributed this movie have not a made a DVD version of it (or any other format of it that I am aware of) readily available in years, possibly decades, so me telling you how good it is is probably a waste of time since the chances of seeing it are about as good as not seeing stupid capitalistic crap propaganda like "Batman Begins" collecting dust in a bargain bin for $2 in some department store dictatorship. Still there is the hope. Anyone with a copy heard of Youtube?

kclipper H.P. Lovecraft's remarkably odd stories are so disjointed and full of complex, dread-inducing imagery, that it is unarguably a difficult task to interpret his profound language and psychological impact and render it to the screen. Screenwriter, Dan O'Bannon, who's brilliant concepts were introduced in 'Alien', comes pretty close in identifying some of the more gruesome elements that make Lovecraft's tales so distinct and perverse in directing this film rendition of "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward".Wife of Ward consults with private investigator, John Marsh (John Terry in the typical Lovecraft lead character) after her husband performs strange experiments in a remote graveyard to find out why he has become so obsessed and distant. Marsh agrees to help, unbeknown that he will soon embark on a strange, horrific journey into ancient demonic rites, hideous creatures, evocations of the dead, and a descent into an underground world of magic and archaic horror. Its your basic platform for Lovecraft lore, and gory special effects, desolate locations, a fantastic Richard Band musical score and good performances bring it to life. Chris Sarandon (who's fresh from his performance in 'Fright Night') brings a memorably macabre mysteriousness and intensity to the Charles Ward/Joseph Curwen character, especially during the terrifying climax that takes place in the confinement of an insane asylum, and there's an excellent flashback period scene involving the origins of the mythology. Fans of Lovecraft will approve. Anyone else will find it relentlessly gross and bizarre.

gavin6942 Charles Dexter Ward (Chris Sarandon) has become a little strange lately. Some would say he is not quite himself. A private detective (John Terry) and Ward's wife (Jane Sibbett) try to get to the bottom of things as murders of a very grisly nature begin to occur in Ward's neighborhood.After watching a few of Stuart Gordon's adaptations of Lovecraft tales, I grew very accustomed to his professional and serious approach. Now we have a Lovecraft classic told by Dan O'Bannon, who (as a director) only offered us one other thing: "Return of the Living Dead". That film is one of the best in horror history, but clearly stamps O'Bannon as a comedic director in my mind. (Yes, he was involved in "Dark Star", "Total Recall", "Alien" and even "Star Wars"... but not as a director.)The filming techniques in "The Resurrected" mirror those from "Return" and you might recognize the same sorts of shots, particularly the opening reveal of the mansion. Also, the music, which is incredible, seems incongruous at times. It is a very epic music, and when the first body is shown we get what I found to be a very silly chord. (How Richard Band became involved in this project is beyond me, but probably a great story.) The whole idea of the story told from the point of view of a private eye is also really silly if you think about it, but the original story did not leave many options.The gore is here. Not as much as I would like (though I hear there is an unedited version floating around), but the victims of the "animal attacks" have certainly seen better days and a flashback to the old days features a very nice creature that could have been Belial's brother.The actors are great, the story well done... I would recommend this movie to others. Now, it is not the best Lovecraft movie (Stuart Gordon still holds the distinction of best adapter) and not the best O'Bannon film. And there were scenes I think could have been better and other parts I think could have been cropped to improve the pace. But you will not curse my children after seeing it, I promise...