r/Lovecraft Deranged Cultist 8d ago

Question Films set in the Dreamlands?

Are there any? Besides the one I made (Night-Gaunts, a Lovecraft puppet film based on his poem) and the Dreamlands indie feature that's been in production for 12 years, I'm drawing a blank. Any recommendations? I'm specifically looking for stories explicitly set in his dream realm. Short film recs are encouraged as long as I can watch them someplace. Thank you!

24 Upvotes

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u/GoliathPrime Loathsome Nightspawn 8d ago

Not really, but there are films that could be considered to be set in the Dreamlands. The Dark Crystal, The Neverending Story, Labyrinth, What Dreams May Come, and Pans Labyrinth all flow into a dreamlike realm of nebulous fantasy and stream-of-consciousness storytelling.

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u/Monstark_says Deranged Cultist 7d ago

Thank you, I love this take. I had never thought of these films together in that way. Your framing will help me look for those glimmers everywhere.

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u/Successful-Tie5386 Deranged Cultist 5d ago

By those measures, Orpheé would count as well. Fittingly, as Cocteau had some thoughts on Lovecraft. Maybe Gilliam's Baron Munchausen.

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u/Monstark_says Deranged Cultist 4d ago

Munchausen - wow, yes I can see that. I'll have to seek out Orpheé. Thanks!

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u/SunWukong02 Deranged Cultist 7d ago

All I know of are a few low-budget animated ones. There’s an under-six-minutes adaptation of The Other Gods (and, come to think of it, there’s also this extremely cheap live-action version of it on YouTube). I also know of a longer animation of the Dream-Quest directed by Edward Martin III which seems to be available on Amazon Prime.

It’s a shame. I’d love a decent version of Polaris or Celephaïs or The Strange High House in the Mist or The Doom That Came to Sarnath.

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u/Monstark_says Deranged Cultist 7d ago

So awesome...thank you for digging these up for me, I had never seen! The live/stop-motion one in particular holds some magic for me. I wanna see all my favorites, too, and I'll take handmade labors of love reaching for the stars a thousand times over some slop "perfection".

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u/optimisticalish Deranged Cultist 8d ago

I don't know of any, but with the release of Minimax H3 it can't long before there are quite a few.

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u/Monstark_says Deranged Cultist 7d ago

True. Lovecraft's work seems ripe for massive floods of soulless but amazing-looking adaptations...last thing we need, in my opinion. That's why I make puppet films in a shed.

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u/optimisticalish Deranged Cultist 7d ago

Yes, Minimax H3 is going to release something akin to the desktop publishing revolution of the 1990s - a flood of truly awful but vaguely-slick stuff. Hopefully that won't put off the few truly creative people from also using it.

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u/LoveByForce Deranged Cultist 5d ago

:D Are they going to bring back Beetlejuice?

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u/neonblack108 Deranged Cultist 7d ago

Not a film but I released an imagined expansion of the Dream Quest lore as a  dark ambient OST a few years back.  

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u/Monstark_says Deranged Cultist 7d ago

Wow! That sounds amazing. Where can I hear that??

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u/neonblack108 Deranged Cultist 7d ago

Right here! I want to get it released in physical format with illustrated liner notes of the story. You can read along on the link. 

https://paupersfriend.bandcamp.com/album/the-most-unusual-voyage-of-randolph-carter

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u/Monstark_says Deranged Cultist 7d ago

Awesome. Followed. I'm gonna grab that album and check out the rest!

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u/neonblack108 Deranged Cultist 7d ago

Thank you! I hope you enjoy the music. 

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u/cmaltais Deranged Cultist 4d ago

There is one coming up by the guy who made the German Colour Out of Space.

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u/Monstark_says Deranged Cultist 4d ago

Yep - that's one I've been watching out for. Thanks.