Sector 7 - 2011, S Korea d:Kim Ji-hun
Absolutely woeful big budget, late entry into the Alien-on-an-oil-rig action/horror subset; presumably designed to catch some of The Host's popularity. This is totally scuppered by awkward sentimentality, dire pacing, dreary action scenes, stark predictability, a glacially slow start before the monster shows up and plain old bad film-making. The suspense is handled like a drunk with a wet jelly and the whole affair frequently lapses into deep incomprehensibility that no amount of rewinding & rewatching can fix (the clumsy English subtitling didn't help this one jot).
The female lead gives her best and one does develop a soft spot for the lumbering yet rapid giant monster (which seems like some kind of Lovecraftian sea lion) but you know everything that is going to happen - often hugely far in advance making the wait for the inevitable painful.
I am not even sure this has any kitsch value, it's just rubbish!
The Resurrected - 1992 USA d: Dan O'Bannon
Cruelly under-rated and little seen Lovecraft adaptation which suffered the indignity of a straight-to-video release that it did not deserve. In my view, the better of O'Bannon's two directorial efforts and one of the most successful attempts to translate Lovecraft to the screen.
This really captures the tone and spirit of "The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward" - despite the inevitable veering from the source - with the same kind of straight faced wit and glee that Lovecraft himself employed. The cast are ideal, the cinematography simple yet beautiful and the whole is atmospheric and slightly nasty.
Seeing O'Bannon do a "straight" Loveraft adaptation here really hammers home the influence of HPL upon the great Dead & Buried and the pair would make a fine double bill as complimentary companion pieces.
This is a film that NEEDS rediscovery and a better fate. The fullscreen presentation of its long deleted R1 DVD release is fine, but you can clearly see that shots were composed for a shallow widescreen - a release with both 4:3 and 16:9 versions would be ideal.
If you can track it down, I recommend this highly to HPL fans, O'Bannon admirers and lovers of 80's style horror.
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