Vinegar Syndrome Cuts #14
Cthulhu Mansion (1992)
(7/10): I like it, but it's definitely a lower tier seven for me, it feels so much like a missed opportunity but it has it's moments.
Cthulhu Mansion is a gothic inspired cosmic horror movie loosely inspired from the works of the master and creator of comic horror, H. P. Lovecraft. It follows a group of teenagers/young adults who are caught up in a bit of a drug trade and are now trying to hide out away from the cops now that one of them has killed two people. They go to one of the girls fathers mansion who has had what appears to be a background in being a magician.
However, if the opening sequence was anything to go off of he wasn't just a magician.
As the film progresses we get to my biggest issue with it, it drones on quite a bit in the middle parts as it's just the group mostly bickering over what to do about their situation.
However we do get some moments here and there in the middle, small ones, but still moments of something supernatural going on.
These young adults start experiencing hallucinations, one is injured but slowly starts to become something other than human.
The dense fog helps set a heavy atmospheric tone and the mansion feels quite gothic in its design.
The acting, is what you would expect from a low budget movie, it's not good. The pacing of the film is the biggest issue, it seems to set itself up almost like a slow burn cosmic horror film but the biggest problem with attempting a slow burn is that you need to tease the viewer throughout the runtime with what you're building towards and then in your final act open the floodgates and then visually assault the viewer with your climactic sequence.
Cthulhu Mansion has all of these elements except for the satisfying climax.
While it doesn't do the greatest job alluding to the horrors of the finale it at least makes many attempts, I feel like a slow burn horror movie has to have a good grasp on what it intends to do and then does it but also it needs to have the acting ability in order to convincingly pull it off.
I really do like the gothic atmosphere of the film, the practical effects were cool, especially the giant hands coming out of the refrigerator and also the guy drowning in a shower that is showering him with blood makes no sense but I love it.
The makeup effects were nice and gooey, but as a whole it felt like a missed opportunity.
It's an okay movie in terms of VS releases but if you're going cosmic horror from them, while it's not accurate to the story it adapted, you'll have much more luck and genuine fun with From Beyond.
Cthulhu Mansion (1992)
(7/10): I like it, but it's definitely a lower tier seven for me, it feels so much like a missed opportunity but it has it's moments.
Cthulhu Mansion is a gothic inspired cosmic horror movie loosely inspired from the works of the master and creator of comic horror, H. P. Lovecraft. It follows a group of teenagers/young adults who are caught up in a bit of a drug trade and are now trying to hide out away from the cops now that one of them has killed two people. They go to one of the girls fathers mansion who has had what appears to be a background in being a magician.
However, if the opening sequence was anything to go off of he wasn't just a magician.
As the film progresses we get to my biggest issue with it, it drones on quite a bit in the middle parts as it's just the group mostly bickering over what to do about their situation.
However we do get some moments here and there in the middle, small ones, but still moments of something supernatural going on.
These young adults start experiencing hallucinations, one is injured but slowly starts to become something other than human.
The dense fog helps set a heavy atmospheric tone and the mansion feels quite gothic in its design.
The acting, is what you would expect from a low budget movie, it's not good. The pacing of the film is the biggest issue, it seems to set itself up almost like a slow burn cosmic horror film but the biggest problem with attempting a slow burn is that you need to tease the viewer throughout the runtime with what you're building towards and then in your final act open the floodgates and then visually assault the viewer with your climactic sequence.
Cthulhu Mansion has all of these elements except for the satisfying climax.
While it doesn't do the greatest job alluding to the horrors of the finale it at least makes many attempts, I feel like a slow burn horror movie has to have a good grasp on what it intends to do and then does it but also it needs to have the acting ability in order to convincingly pull it off.
I really do like the gothic atmosphere of the film, the practical effects were cool, especially the giant hands coming out of the refrigerator and also the guy drowning in a shower that is showering him with blood makes no sense but I love it.
The makeup effects were nice and gooey, but as a whole it felt like a missed opportunity.
It's an okay movie in terms of VS releases but if you're going cosmic horror from them, while it's not accurate to the story it adapted, you'll have much more luck and genuine fun with From Beyond.