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NYARLATHOTEP (2001) B&W [FOUR STARS] While working on my new book on films inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, I was surprised both by the number and quality of Lovecraft projects produced over the past 10 years by amatuer filmmakers. In fact, there is a genuine renaissance of such projects, and the most recent entry, Nyarlathotep, is an excellent indicator of the high level of talent and genuine dedication to Lovecraft present in these efforts. In this case, the original Lovecraft story is a dreamlike prose poem written in the early 1920s before Lovecraft began to crystalize his ideas about the Cthulhu Mythos and the race of godlike beings who had once ruled the Earth and intended to return; Nyarlathotep later became a key figure in the Mythos pantheon. This short production uses the Lovecraft text in verbatim fashion via a voice-over narrator. The film is a period piece set in the early '20s, and it contains a number of powerful and compelling images. When Nyarlathotep appears in the guise of a traveling magician (Harrod), he displays images on a screen of "waves of destruction" --clips of nuclear carnage are inserted. Matzke is a thoughtful and discerning filmmaker of good instinct and unpretentious ability. The acting is sincere and more than adequate. James Cagney IV is the grandson of the memorable screen great and his character is named Cody Jarrett, a tribute to Cagney's White Heat character. Nyarlathotep was filmed in and around Portland, Maine; Freeport's famed Desert of Maine, a large sandy area that swallowed a farm in the early 20th century, is used to represent the wastelands of Egypt. If you are a Lovecraft aficionado, this video is worth your attention; there is little that seems ametuerish about the film --even the packaging is highly professional. --Charles P. Mitchell |