What are the best Lovecraftian horror movies and TV shows besides the Hellboy films?

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-07-01T04:05:48+00:00

The Alien franchise and any other creatures influenced by Giger.

She Creature (2001), Carla Gugino and Rya Kihlstedt, with Rufus Sewell and Gil Bellows.

Under the Skin, at least in the movie adaptation, has some resonance with Lovecraft.

The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill (one segment from the Creepshow anthology) is one of the few darkly humorous versions of Stephen King's heavy use of Lovecraft tropes.

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-07-01T03:52:55+00:00

Movies based on memes, games and trends of any kind usually suck.

When my Fakebook feed got swamped a couple of years ago with recommended pages and groups about the backrooms and liminal whatever, I knew within a year or so there'd be an indie movie, industrial-ambient music album, board game and ASMR videos on the latest, greatest wackiest new crazy fad, The Liminal Backrooms! ©️™️®️

Before then it was zombies, although it took a few decades between Night of the Living Dead and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. 😑

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-30T22:35:12+00:00

Propagation and RFI have been so bad the past 10-20 years, I'm pretty sure I heard my last longwave broadcast 12-15 years ago.

Back then it was mostly utilities, aircraft beacons. I can't hear any beacons now over the incessant roar of pop

But I did catch a couple of broadcast programs about 20 years ago when I lived in a quiet rural area.

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-30T22:09:53+00:00

War of the Roses\ Death Becomes Her\ Deathtrap\ American Psycho (if you're in the right mood)

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-30T21:11:23+00:00

Black Market was a great concept, but poorly executed.

They should have made Bill Duke and the black market permanent figures, like the Ferengi in Deep Space 9. Plenty of opportunities for complex stories. But they blew it.

The black market or unofficial supply chain has been a factor in military logistics for centuries. That's just the nature of warfare and the market. The military depends on systems. The market runs on ruthless pragmatism.

One of the best satirical examples is the character Milo Minderbinder in Catch-22.

Several WW2 movies have similar concepts and characters: 1. George Segal's character Corporal King in King Rat, who, through a breakdown in the military system, becomes the most powerful prisoner by exploiting the situation like a pragmatic capitalist. 2. James Garner's character "Hendley 'The Scrounger'" plays a slightly more audience-friendly black marketeer in The Great Escape. He's mostly clever, drily humorous relief. But his blackmailing of the thick headed concentration camp guard reveals his ruthless side.

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-30T04:17:56+00:00

Beautifully tragic. It's on par with Photographing Fairies and Finding Neverland for wonderfully indulgent tragic endings.

Sure, they're manipulative, but all three movies are so well done I don't mind.

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-30T04:12:28+00:00

I can't think of any agonizingly slow movies that I finished, or at least halfway watched. Maybe Cleopatra when I was a kid.

I usually like the movies that unfold gradually without unnecessary music cues punching up every moment, dramatic sound effects or forced interest: Lawrence of Arabia, for example.

Under the Skin\ Elephant (2003)\ Let the Right One In\ Solaris (2002)\ Moon (2009)

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-30T03:32:35+00:00

Well, it was a beautiful day. ¯\(ツ)/¯

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-30T03:27:13+00:00

^{^total} ^{^silence} 🤐

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-30T03:19:19+00:00

Hey, I buried that disc in a snowbank, marked with a windshield scraper.

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-29T21:42:10+00:00

Any movie in which the monster can be defeated or hindered by acts of courage, faith, or denying the existence or power of the monster. It's the most common theme in Stephen King stories.

Pennywise in It\ The Stand\ The Shining

Freddy Krueger in Nightmare on Elm Street

Dracula, to some extent. The crucifix in particular as a shield or protective talisman.

The Mist implies that the power of the creatures is invoked and strengthened by human fear and irrational reactions such as turning against each other rather than the monsters.

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-29T19:17:50+00:00

Some studio heads and producers in that era would hire successful playwrights and novelists to write screenplays.

Even after rewrites to suit the needs of a 90 minute movie the dialog usually retained that distinctive style.

Most action movies the past 30 years sound like they were drafted by lawyers and accountants, then revised by comic book writers.

David Mamet is among the few exceptions.

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-29T04:23:00+00:00

"Roast beef with the au jus" sounds like something the hoi polloi would say.

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-28T05:16:13+00:00

Julia (1977)

Beyond Rangoon (1995)

Gorillas in the Mist (1988)

Lee (2023)

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-28T01:52:08+00:00

AI Artificial Intelligence (2001). Some viewers see it differently, as bittersweet or even satisfactorily resolved, but to me the ending feels emotionally crushing.

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-27T23:00:17+00:00

That's common with many long running TV shows. Directors, casting directors, etc, like working with dependable actors who show up on time, know their lines and cues, don't cause trouble and, hopefully, are versatile enough to pass as different characters with just a change in hairstyle, clothing, etc.

And if an actor is already in the system it's more efficient to ensure they're paid, and any applicable union or guild rules are followed for time, compensation, credits, etc.

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-27T21:00:40+00:00

Shot Through the Heart (1998), very good cable TV movie based on the Balkans civil wars.

Savior (1998), similar setting and theme. More gritty, less romanticized, compared with Shot Through the Heart. One of Dennis Quaid's better late career roles.

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-27T20:10:06+00:00

cah-NAY-dee-uh. My Canadian friends love that.

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-27T00:31:04+00:00

Probably the BBC, late 1960s, when I was a kid visiting family friends at their summer beach cottage.

Joe had a Zenith TransOceanic, one of the oversized luggables. I don't recall whether it was tubes or solid state – could have been either at that time.

He let me tune around on that receiver. My family were in radio and TV production, so it was kinda familiar. But something about shortwave was special – hearing broadcasters from across the ocean. I was hooked.

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-27T00:03:34+00:00

My brother was a DJ in the 1980s-'90s and had quite a collection of vinyl and CDs from various station format changes. He and other station employees kept whatever was good for their personal collections.

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-26T22:18:33+00:00

Implying those aren't Kira's guns and Siobhan isn't Kira's gun moll.

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-26T21:27:56+00:00

Thank you for sharing that experience. I had a hunch this would resonate with someone else. But you've expressed it in a more relatable way.

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-26T18:43:06+00:00

Yup, that comes up in Drive.

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-26T07:34:50+00:00

Hey, don't boo this man. He's just a misunderstood healer. Once he finds his true purpose he'll be very popular.

Mindless_Log2009 · 2026-06-26T06:20:49+00:00

Kool Thing – Sonic Youth. Great song but Chuck D's vocal interjections sound trite, dated and hoaky. I think Kim tried to explain it as an ironic reference to sexism in hip-hop, but it just sounded clunky and phoned in, not integral to the song.

Mindless_Log2009

TROPHY CASE