Watch Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown For Free

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The greatest movie ever made..!

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This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

I'm not a fan of documentaries, but this one I just had to see. A documentary about Lovecraft, the father of modern horror, from the corner of the great names of the genre, such as Nile Gaiman, one of my favorite writers, then Peter Straub, who collaborated with Stephen King on the "Talisman" novel, directors by Guillermo del Toro, Stuart Gordon and John Carpenter, and others. Technically, the film is well-made, combining a narrative about the life and work of H.P. Lovecraft, with interviews with the aforementioned giants, as well as with movies, music and paintings inspired by Lovecraft. The film has a good pace and at no time is it boring, but it is essentially quite basic and made primarily for the people who know little or nothing about this legend. Although I only got some new information about Lovecraft's biography, while I did not find out anything new about his work, I enjoyed listening to my favorite writers and directors talking about Lovecraft with love. Recommendation.7/10

H.P. Lovecraft is an influential American horror writer. In 1893, his father goes insane and eventually dies from syphilis. His mother Sarah would smother her only child to a disturbing level. The Lovecrafts are an old English family. His maternal grandfather is a wealthy industrialist who encouraged him to read. His weak nature kept him out of school much of the time. His loneliness and insecurities fostered by his mother led him to a warped imagination of a disturbing hidden world of horrors. His grandfather dies and family fortune is lost. He falls further into isolation and depression only to be rescued by his pulp writings. His amateur journalism reveals a xenophobia but garners a loyal following. This allows his disturbing tales with an overwrought baroque style to be printed. He would struggle financially throughout his life.This is a functional biopic detailing Lovecraft's life. It's laid out in a straight forward manner with narration. There are lots of talking heads with a few recognizable faces. This is a traditional doc that is on the lower budget level. This is fine for the general public and a good overall view for fans.

This is a documentary about the bizarre fantasy writer, H.P. Lovecraft. It consists of narration and LOTS of interviews--some from such notable personalities as Gillermo del Toro, Neil Gaiman and John Carpenter. All of the folks being interviewed are writers, directors and the like--and they all are huge fans of Lovecraft. To me, this is actually a bit of a weakness, as instead of looking at him objectively, they looked at him as fans. Because of that, they tended to excuse or de-emphasize his many faults. When talking about his extreme xenophobia (he truly hated foreigners and 'inferior' peoples), they seemed to gloss over it--though even by early 20th century standards he was extreme. They also seemed to love him so much that they were reticent to discuss his mental health--which was CLEARLY very, very bad! I would have much preferred the approach that he was a great writer AND a terribly screwed up and nasty man. So, if you want a warts and all look at Lovecraft or an in-depth biography, keep looking--this is more a celebration of his work with some biography thrown in as well. Not bad but not exactly what I'd hoped it would have been.

It was interesting to see, at long last, a documentary about the reclusive "gentleman from Rhode Island" (as Robert E. Howard referred to him). For fans of fright fiction, there aren't a whole lot of writers whose work can hold a candle to that of Lovecraft (for my money, there are only a handful: Robert E. Howard himself, Edgar Allen Poe, Richard Matheson, Harlan Ellison, Charles Beaumont, and Shirley Jackson). Some of my own earliest stories were inspired by Lovecraft and, although I now own two Lovecraft biographies, this is the very first time I've ever seen a documentary (courtesy of The Chiller Channel) about the man. Long overdue, to say the least. The comments made by the frightmeisters herein are all surprisingly well-informed (especially those by director Del Toro, whose movies THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE and PAN'S LABYRINTH are themselves stellar examples of the kind of horror(s) Lovecraft often unearthed). A must-see for anyone interested in one of the pioneering True Greats.