Cthulu - Everett Herald - Review - 0912

CTHULU SEATTLE EVERETT HERALD ROBERT HORTON REVIEW - (2 stars out of 4) SEPTEMBER 12, 2008 NO PHOTO PAGE 1 OF 1

Poor grasp ofgenre s~rrlles~-made

horror movie By ROUERT HoR'll).'i lkJdd l'fo: Il'Ollie

The word ·Clhulhu" is hard to pronounce. but h \\iJJ ring a bell with fans of ILP. U:wecraft. the weird and memorable purveyor of horror fiCtion. TIle word rders 10 nOI JUS! a legendary creature but a whole mythology of ~I':il. In dlis Northwest·made take on the lDvecraft world, an Interesting and ominous idea is at war!:.. It's just very hard 10 gel to il through dle mystify· ing stol)'lelling and men characters.. Mu ch of the film's exteriors were sb 01 in Ast oria. meaD I 10 bean island ofrthe Oregon coast 1bls i" the childhood howe of Russ Uasoo Conlel. a gay professor who now lives In SeanJe. He returns 10 !llC island for bis molber's funeral, and -IS reminded of all the things he hates about the place. But the wcirdn~ is aboUlIO crest; Russ finds a mysletious black artifact with suaoge writing on it. a few people proo.c 10 portentous ravings about doom, and a sea-cull that might be CQnneeted wilb the disappearances of local

children. The actors are mostly unknowns, excepl Cam BUODO, a onetime "Sopranos· cast mem­ ber, and Tori Spelliog. who plays a warried islander suspiciously eager 10 gel pregnanl by Russ. Yes, that's Ibe Tori Spelliog or "Beverly Hills 90210· faroe,wllose presence in this oth· erwise somber movie adds a much -needed B· rnovieacct!Ol And this is a major problem of ~Ctbulhu: It has lime or DO grasp of how a geore pi eture lives.

Director Daniel GildaI:k and screemvriter Grant Cogswell J;Uay .have bad more all their m.i:nds thao a mere bOJror movie, but wi thOUI the skeleton ofa hOJror movie operating. they don't have a chance

Regent Relea.slre phOtO

Jason Cottle and Cam Buono star In -ctIIulhu,"

"Cthulhu"

**

Dull: A made-ln-lim-Northwest film Inspired by the -holTor wrttlngs of H.P. Lovecrafl, abolll a man who returns to his IslaM fOOts and dlSC
Rated' R rating ls for nuOity, language, vlOlimw No.. sIlowfng: Metro

o( gem ng dl eir olber goals me t. TIle film is so well photographed by Sean Kirby {who also did die dreamy visuals for the shot·in· Seattle· Police thai a l times it actually sum­ moIlS up some grandness. or spookiness. The final sequences are especially fine. aJdlOUgb you . have to cread a lot of water to gel tbe<e. Despite its hip soundrrack and the novelty of having a gay hero. the film is cwiously square; $1' actors perform in a straightforwardly dJamatic "',ay, without much humor or nuance. 1bis adds to the dulliog effect of the story's metronomic motion. and eveo the suggestion of a very fishy cull uprising can~ enliven it.

Bean