Have people watched the documentary, "Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown"?
It's available on Amazon Prime for free, so I have it on my watchlist, but I'm wondering if it's any good or worth the time.
Posted Jun 30, 2022, 12:34 AM UTC
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It used to be available for free on youtube (legitimately, not a bootleg) so I expect a lot of people here have seen it at one point or another.
It's fine, not super in-depth but it serves as a good crash course on Lovecraft with commentary from a variety of authors. Can't reference it anymore since I don't have Prime but I don't think there's anything too controversial or inaccurate about it, though it's definitely superficial on some topics.
I'd still suggest it to people but if you really want a good biography you need to read ST Joshi's I Am Providence.
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“Crash course” is a great term to use, from what I remember from watching this.
It doesn’t include anything you haven’t already heard from the internet and/or reading the intros to the Del Rey editions, but it does condense it all down and features some famous fans.
It’s fine.
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Thanks for the input. I've now watched the first five minutes and am impressed by the roster of commentators (which I could have found out just by reading the IMDb link I posted myself.)
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Thanks for your observations. I've been meaning to getting around to reading Joshi's book. Just need to find the time. But I suspect that will take me much longer than the hour and such that watching this will. I was mostly wondering if it's actually interesting enough to keep me watching.
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I was mostly wondering if it's actually interesting enough to keep me watching.
For sure, it's pretty well put together. I always hesitate to use the word 'entertaining' when it comes to biographies/documentaries since that's not really the purpose but it's certainly not boring or dry.
As I said, I would still suggest it to folks but I like to make sure the caveats are stated.
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I watched it, and found it to be worthwhile. There were a lot of people who were influenced by his work featured, and they explained how they were inspired by him.
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Definitely agree! I think everyone who wants to know “where to start” with Lovecraft should watch the first 3 minutes as a great introduction to what you can expect. However, it later does give out several story spoilers. So, I don’t recommend a full viewing before you start reading his work.
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Thanks for your reply. Spoilers aren't a problem for me -- I've read almost every fiction work he's written. I keep meaning to go to the H.P. Lovecraft online archives and just go down the list to find any I don't recall reading.
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I have not, but now I will. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.
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I watched it on YouTube recently, and it was a decent brief overview of his life. Some of the interviews were a bit strange, especially some of the comments made by Rob M Price.
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I don't even know who Rob M. Price is. Guess I'll find out tonight when I watch it.
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Dr. Price is a religion scholar and a proponent of the Jesus Myth theory. He used to be a Baptist pastor for years way back in like the 70s/80s, and knows his stuff well- but is obviously part of a very small minority of biblical scholars on this position. He’s also a big fan of weird fiction and has been involved with Lovecraft/HPL-adjacent stuff for a long time. He has a podcast called The Bible Geek where he answers questions that people ask, as well as another much less frequently updated show called The Lovecraft Geek.
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The other context I've heard from him is as a sceptic of biblical historicity.
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Nothing anyone has ever said about Lovecraft is as interesting as anything Lovecraft said. I hope that answers your question.
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It doesn't really answer my question but that's not the same as saying it wasn't worth saying. I agree completely, which is why I wanted to ask about stuff like this to hear what others say about whether it's worth watching. I just wanted to make sure I wouldn't end up an hour and a half later thinking I should have just re-read Shadow Over Innsmouth.
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I wouldn't say "said about Lovecraft" but Robert e Howard has some lovecraftian stuff that's fucking amazing. His original series are just as good as Lovecraft too imo. Solomon Kane and El borak are incredible.
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Agreed, REH is amazing. I have his entire del rey collection.
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I agree. And I love Lovecraft's work. But he isn't that interesting at best, and he's kinda heinous in a really awkward way at worst.
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Heinous? By all accounts he was extremely generous and thoughtful, despite some inflammatory writing about other races.
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It's pretty good, very informative and interesting
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Thanks. I've decided to watch it tonight.
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This the one with del toro?
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According to the cast list, yes. Other than perhaps Gaiman or Carpenter on the same list, del Toro might be the most obviously Lovecraft-inspired person in the documentary.
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It's a good documentary for any Lovecraft fan in my opinion.
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A Lovecraft fan I am. As are we all. We might be insane, but at least we come by it honestly.
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Yes!
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Another Yes vote. With an exclamation mark, so it's a strong Yes. Thank you.
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This is a great documentary, used to be on YouTube years ago.
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I'm lucky I have Amazon Prime, because I'd be fairly annoyed if I had to pay for something that was once free on Youtube.
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My wife gave me the bluray back when we were dating. Loved it =)
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Ah, the perfect wife. None of my SOs have ever bothered with Lovecraft. It's just a sad life I've led.
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I enjoyed it
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Thanks for the input. I'm going to watch it tonight.
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Here.
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I never watched. Scheduled to see this Sunday now.
Thanks.
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Saw it at a local arthouse theater, contributed to the Kickstarter to get a physical copy. IMO it's really good.
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More than once, yeah. I think it's on youtube too.
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It’s on my list but I don’t have a buddy to watch with
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Def worth watching, OP.
Thanks. I think I'll try to watch it tomorrow.