Masters's Call of Cthulhu review

I've always felt the issue with Lovecraft in movies (which works with most genres of video games) is that his stories tend to be lacking in action, with protagonists being non-athletic, studious types who regularly faint at the first sign of danger and a lot of stuff happening off-page (such as At The Mountains of Madness, where virtually all the deaths are simply discovered by the main guy and the novella's "action" was he and another slowly exploring weird areas and then running from a Shuggoth) or as a story in a story.

But when it comes to his stuff as "the action is suspenseful" writing, Shadows over Innsmouth is one of the few standouts, with how a large chunk of the writing is the narrator trying to avoid the locals and keep out of their grasp long enough to escape the town. I mean, some of the stuff would be good for a short show (Tales From The Crypt length), such as The Hound and a few others, but it really feels like a lot of it is the sort of stuff that doesn't translate well from book to other mediums of entertainment. Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath would have potential in the right hands, I think, just because of how much imagination went into crafting the various lands Randolph Carter went to, but it's hard to imagine it getting the treatment it'd need to be good, considering Lovecraft's reputation nowadays.

Signed, a guy who has seen a number of films based (or simply swiping his name) on his works and has always been underwhelmed.

Still, good review on a not-so-good game. Sharing the name of a story where the conflict is resolved by a character ramming Cthulhu with a boat to stop him from waking up -- which would never translate well to anything and kind of sucks in print, honestly...

Thanks for reading, Rob.

I get what you're saying, but I know when I watch slow moving, nearly action-less fantasy/horror, I usually don't mind... until the big reveal. If the reveal is underwhelming, all the build up is for naught. Consider Signs, that M. Night Shyamalan movie. I was intrigued by the slow build, and catching glimpses of the aliens was pretty cool. But then they showed the alien, unobscured by shadow, in all his glory and it just looked like a guy in a cheap green suit and all was lost.

I was telling Gary yesterday: I think even if someone made At the Mountains of Madness note for note as a movie or as a game, folks with absolutely geek out just at the novelty of finally having their beloved tale play out the way they've always dreamed of. IF! They got the Old Ones and Shoggoths right. It's like that first Michael Bay Transformers movie. It's not good, but it was palatable because we got to see a Peter Cullen-voiced Optimus do his thing in live action.

There's an amazing graphic novel out there for Mountains of Madness. I know Marc's read it because we rarely have normal grown up discussions about normal mundane stuff, but it should be required reading for anyone with an interest.

The game looked great from the trailers. I dare say it'll find itself onto my playlists someday because the mythos calls to me, but I go so forewarned.

Are you talking about the Culbard adaptation? Or Conarium, that Mountains 'sequel' on Steam?