Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyah wgah'nagl fhtagn(在永恒的宅邸拉莱耶中,长眠的克苏鲁候汝入梦)
Eighty-five years ago, the American writer H. P. Lovecraft died of bowel cancer. He certainly could not have imagined that his dark, obscure, pessimistic work, which was not widely accepted by the market, would become the inspiration for countless films, games, and literary works many years later.
H· P. Lovecraft
Today, the Cthulhu Mythos system is no longer a mere enclosure for a small number of readers. The tentacles of the "Old Gods" have spread "unspeakable" fear and despair into the blood of countless artists, giving birth to works that will drive people into madness.
Today, I'm going to recommend 10 movies with a strong Cthulhu flavor for you. Strange creatures and crazy and desperate people are just the surface of the Cthulhu Mythos, and the "agnosticism" behind it and the extreme sense of insignificance and powerlessness in the face of higher powers are the essence of the Cthulhu system's charm.
Rankings are in no particular order
01.《怪形》（The Thing）
On the frozen continent of Antarctica, there are not only penguins, but also some kind of creature that you completely cannot understand, ready to attach itself to you at any moment.
1982's "The Odd Shape" was created by B-movie master John Carpenter and was a remake of the 1951 film The Thing from Another World. If you've read Lovecraft's Mountains of Madness, you'll have a deep affinity for the mysterious ice fields and the hapless expedition members in the movie.
The visual performance of "Strange Shape" is amazing, the visual performance of "Strange Shape" in the film is quite rough and violent, and the brains of modelers and special effects artists may have been blessed by the outer gods. And in the face of a desperate situation, the doubts and dark sides of human nature will make you feel a chill to the bones when watching the movie.
02.《黑洞表面》（Event Horizon）
"Spaceships, rescue operations, artificial black holes, wormhole crossing...... "If you think "Black Hole Surface" is an ordinary science fiction film, then you are wrong.
In science fiction and movies, the idea of a black hole as a gateway to another world is not new, but it's rare to see it as mysterious and desperate as "The Surface of a Black Hole."
The film's abundance of religious metaphors hints at what hell should take if it exists.
Both the theatrical and disc versions of the film have undergone a lot of cuts, and some of the shots are bloody and curious to the point of outrageousness. Only a few clips are left, which become a shocking glimpse of eternal pain for the audience. 、
03.《战栗黑洞》（In the Mouth of Madness）
"Trembling Black Hole", like "The Strange Shape", is by John Carpenter.
To this day, this movie has been called "the best Cthulhu movie" by many enthusiasts. The structure of investigators + mysterious events + gradual descent into madness is undoubtedly born from Lovecraft's story.
The horror of this film is not in the Jump Scare and the goosebump-inducing horror, but in the gradual collapse of reason, experience, and the whole world. When the boundary between the unreal and the real is gradually broken, and the nightmare shines into reality, sobriety becomes a kind of torture, and madness is liberation.
04.《林中小屋》（The Cabin in the Woods）
Since its release, 2012's "Cabin in the Woods" has been a topic of discussion among fans.
If you are a horror movie lover, then this movie is not so much a horror film as a love letter to the classic horror images of the past, the "Avengers" of the demon and monster world.
In the movie, the concept of the "Old God" in the Cthulhu Mythos is directly introduced, and all past horror films are deconstructed with this concept - all encounters are "best arrangements", the most intelligent human brains can only be used to please the higher powers, and the most cruel sacrifices are just for a moment of peace.
05.《迷雾》(The Mist)
The movie "The Mist" is often found in the "Most Desperate Movie List", "The Most Miserable Protagonist List", "Ending Reversal Movie" and other movie recommendation lists.
Even without considering the film's unexpected ending, The Mist is a movie worth watching. Fog-shrouded towns, fragile people, and giant monsters that only show off the corners of their bodies, the struggle and will of human beings are not worth mentioning, and the fear of the unknown is the greatest fear.
06. Lovecraft: The Fear of the Unknown
This is a special film, a documentary by Lovecraft, the creator of the Cthulhu Mythos. Through this film, you will see the background of the birth of the Cthulhu Mythos, understand the ideological and aesthetic roots behind it, and meet a genius who was once unknown to the world.
07.《虚空异界》(The Void)
Some people say that this is an art film in the guise of a horror film. I think this statement is somewhat exaggerated.
But Otherworldly Void really tells a standard Cthulhu-esque story in a modern setting. Can humanity really bear the "truth" of this world, and at what cost?
The most impressive thing in the film is the visual design of the monster, which is full of SAN index.
08.(Dagon)
"Dagon" or "Dagon" is the old ruler of the Cthulhu mythos, a servant of Cthulhu, and the father of the Fish-Man divers. As you can tell from the name, "Alien Zone" tells a classic Cthulhu story.
Although the production is a little rough, its cult temperament is enough to make people addicted.
Film director Stuart Gordon is a big fan of the Cthulhu Mythos, and his most famous works are "The Living Dead" and "The Living Demon", both of which are also based on Lovecraft's novels. Compared with "Alien Demon Forbidden Zone", which faithfully presents the aesthetics of the restraint system, "Living Jumping Corpse" and "Living Demon" have a slightly higher degree of magic change.
09.《星之彩》（Color Out of Space）
First of all, don't be intimidated by the starring Nicolas Cage, "Star Color" is definitely not a bad movie.
Based on Lovecraft's novel of the same name, the original novel was published in 1927, and even from today's perspective, the imagination and description of extraterrestrial creatures in the novel are ahead of their time.
On the basis of shifting the background to modern times, the plot of the novel is more faithfully restored. The visuals are also quite stunning, with the most brilliant colors to tell the weirdest stories.
10.《湮灭》(Anihilation)
2018's "Annihilation" starred actress Natalie Portman and was adapted from the 2014 Nebula Award for Best Novel "The Lost South: Annihilation".
Whether it is the original novel or the movie, it can be seen as a re-creation based on the framework of Lovecraft's "Stars of Color". "Annihilation" is also the one with the strongest sci-fi attribute among all the movies recommended today.
However, don't worry about the horror elements of this film and the degree of SAN loss, the visual spectacle and psychological shock caused by the DNA refraction between different creatures will not disappoint you.
Lovecraft and his Cthulhu Mythos are a vast treasure trove of fascinating inspiration for future generations.
The movies we talked about today are only a very small part of them, and in the future, we will also talk to you about other works derived from the "gram system" when we have the opportunity. In the whispers of the old gods, step by step into the indescribable and interesting "truth" of this world.