Cosmic Horror descends on the Hollywood Theatre in Portland, Oregon for the 2018 HP Lovecraft Film Festival!
The Scariest Things is proud to help sponsor, in our own little way, the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, taking place in the famed Hollywood Theater. The festival boasts 40+ short and feature independent films from around the world, and includes several world and regional premieres!
The premiere features this year are:
Hammer of the Gods: (World premiere) With knowing winks to the epic metal bands of the 1970’s, this movie spins the tale of struggling past-their-prime rockers trying to rekindle the old magic by heading to the woods with some psychedelic drugs. What could possibly go wrong? Well, these narcotics prove to be more than hallucinogenic, as something very real and very wrong engulfs them.
Clark Ashton Smith: The Emperor of Dreams: (World Premiere) A documentary about poet, artist and fantasy writer Clark Ashton Smith features many prominent writers, artists, and creators of contemporary Weird literature and art. This is the 125th anniversary of Clark Ashton Smith’s birthday, and this is the perfect way to discover and celebrate his storied career and legacy! Harlan Ellison also makes an appearance!
The Rules of Ruin (Mexico): (US Premiere) Minerva, a single mother, works long hours a day to keep her ailing daughter in the hospital. One day, a mysterious man arrives at her door offering her to work in the translation of an ancient book in exchange for a substantial sum of money. Minerva accepts without knowing that this will change her life and that of those around her forever. Who says that Lovecraftian horror has to be from New England?
Other feature films in the festival include Chimera (US), Corpse (US), Housewife (Turkey), Marebito (Japan), and Necronomicon: The Book of Hell (Argentina). Of these films, I’m most interested in the Can Evrenol movie Housewife, as this young director is really beginning to build a fantastic international reputation for high-quality horror following his feature debut Baskin (2015). The 2004 film, Marebito also features a notable director in Takashi Shimizu, the director of Ju-On: The Grudge.
In addition to these eight features, there will be 42 (at least) short films, including many making their World, US, or regional premieres. Of note for me, will be the Neill Blomkamp short film Zygote, for which there seems to be a fantastic cosmic beastie, and also Echoes in the Ice, which was previewed by the HPLFF at the Rose City Comicon preview… which echoes At The Mountains of Madness, and The Thing. For full descriptions, and trailers, of all these films, you can check out the Films page on the HPLFF website.
The Festival is also bringing some special guests to the convention. This year’s Festival Guest of Honor is the acclaimed author and screenwriter Chiaki J. Konaka (Marebito, Ultraman), who was a big influence on a number of the modern J-Horror directors and producers.
Also, special guest screenwriter and director Richard Stanley (Hardware, The Colour Out of Space) will appear on panels and do Q&As after select films. Musical guest, all-female Japanese heavy metal idol band NECRONOMIDOL will perform on Friday and Saturday! Drawing inspiration from Lovecraft’s mythos, their unique sound and otherworldly sensibilities have earned them a global fan following.
This festival has been a prominent feature of the Portland Independent movie scene since 1995, when Andrew Migliore started the whole production. The Scariest Things has a special relationship with The H.P. Lovecraft Festival as both Migliore and Gwen Callahan, who now runs the Festival with her husband, Brian, are contributors to our Top 100 Horror Movies of All Time jury.
Tickets for the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival are available through the HPLFF website, and also the Hollywood Theater. The Scariest Things will be there, and we hope some of you can join us.
Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn! Ph’nglui mglw’nfah Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn!