Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2010: The Last Lovecraft, Relic of Cthuhlu

Greetings folks! It’s been a while since I’ve been on Ohmpage but I’ll be bringing you reviews and reviews and coverage from one of Toronto’s weirdest, underground film festivals.  Killer tires, human centipedes, medieval zombies,  super-graphic horror, and much more will be on display this year!

Friday nights opening gala was an odd choice, to be sure, for a lineup that contains films that are far more high-profile (Rubber, Human Centipede, Doghouse, or the Eli Roth-produced The Last Exorcism).  The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthuhlu is a tough movie to review – on one hand, it seems to have been shot on a budget of about $75 (with $74 reserved for visual effects).  Director Henry Saine has devised a tale that will positively infuriate fans of H.P. Lovecraft’s work, transforming Lovecraft’s mythical octopoid alien god Cthuhlu into a badly-rendered tentacle-laden blob (that is, when you finally do see it). On the other hand, the film is quite enjoyable to watch and is, at least, somewhat self-aware. Saine chooses to direct the humour at the characters, rather than the Cthuhlu mythos or Lovecraft himself, and this works at least half the time.

The story follows regular-guy Jeff (Kyle Davis) and his buddy Charlie (Devin McGinn, who also wrote this thing), who are selected by a member of the ancient Cult of Cthuhlu to protect an ancient idol which can bring about the return of the alien octopus god. There are several laugh-out-loud moments here, with many coming from an inexplicable character named ‘Captain Olaf’, whose bizarre Irish intonation cracked me up every time. While this is hardly going to win any sort of award or distinction, it is an admirable effort on the part of McGinn and Saine for crafting a fun, often-hilarious monster tale with some better than average effects.

Watch this space throughout the week for more reviews from After Dark, culminating next Friday in an absolutely epic double-review of Rubber and future Best Picture nominee for this year’s Oscar (I’m calling it right now), HUMAN CENTIPEDE!