HP Lovecraft and the (Monkey) Puzzle of the “Good Lovecraftian Film”

I was talking with my friend Chris about a bunch of SF- (and, to a lesser degree, fantasy-) -related things the other day — one of those discussions where you are trying to get at the heart of how we read genre and why, reader/viewer expectations for genre texts and media, and so on. One of the interesting points that came up was how it’s so difficult to make a good Lovecraftian film, and the fact that people keep trying and trying. This has stuck out in my mind as a question to myself, since for a few months now …

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Miss Jiwaku’s Film

I’ve never really participated in a filmmaking project involving people who knew what they were doing, and who wanted to make a successful film; I did teach a pilot class where students made a pseudo-documentary, but some of the people involved had lukewarm interest in the project, and none of us were properly trained in filmmaking. However, this weekend I participated (as a camera operator) in the filming of a short film (written and directed by Miss Jiwaku). I feel like logging my impressions, as well as what I learned from the experience; but since that’s not everyone’s cup of …

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