Lurker in the Lobby: A Guide to the Cinema of H.P. Lovecraft (2006)

Author: Andrew Migliore / John Strysik | Page Count: 352

H.P. Lovecraft, a pioneer of science and horror fiction, not only influenced generations of authors but inspired hordes of filmmakers as well.  And it is these films which Lurker in the Lobby focuses on, indexing and chronicling their stories (in front of the camera and off) and general worth to the Lovecraft fan.  The book begins with the HPL quote, "I shall never permit anything bearing my signature to be banalised and vulgarised into the flat infantile twaddle which passes for 'horror tales' amongst radio and cinema audiences!"  His warning is actually quite apropos as most of these films hardly live up to the maddening horror described in his works.  Some of the movies therein are direct (and indirect) adaptations while others only contain certain reoccurring Lovecraft themes.

The authors do a good job of pinpointing a variety of Lovecraftian cinema including stronger representations such as The Dunwich Horror (1970), In the Mouth of Madness (1995) and Re-Animator (1985) to the lesser known yet respectable Call of Cthulhu (2005), The Resurrected (1992) and The Shunned House (2003) to the "flat infantile twaddle" Lovecraft prophecised with Die Monster Die (1965), The Shuttered Room (1967), and Beyond the Wall of Sleep (2004).  Though I warn the potential reader, the films' plots are entirely synopsized, so beware of spoilers throughout the book.  After the Features is the Television section which documents episodes from such series as Masters of Horror, Monsters and Night Gallery to even Digimon and The Real Ghostbusters.

The Gallery section exhibits a range of pre-production sketches from an array of made and (mostly) unmade features to poster art and production stills.  The artwork is truly grotesque in its beautiful depictions of Lovecraft's menagerie of creatures, curiosities and gods.  The Interviews to some will be the most fascinating section as the authors converse with such directors as Guillermo del Toro, John Carpenter, Roger Corman, and Stuart Gordon among other artists willing to discuss behind-the-scenes tidbits and their adoration for HPL.

After finishing the book I found myself delving deeper into Lovecraft's literature and indulging in the films mentioned in this collection, even searching out some of the lesser known ones, having a great time understanding and studying the influence that is H.P. Lovecraft.  Lurker in the Lobby: A Guide to the Cinema of H.P. Lovecraft is a well organized reference for the followers of Lovecraft who wish to learn more about their preferred film adaptations and perhaps shed new light on a few forgotten gems.

4 concluding conflagrations out of 5

Nutted by Borderline (He’s a Crafty Lover)

Death: At Death's Door (2003)

Author: Neil Gaiman / Jill Thompson  |  Illustrator: Jill Thompson

Page Count: 208

" ... the dead are coming back, little brother ... 

... and they all want to sleep over at my house ..."

A flimsy volume that runs concurrent with The Sandman: Vol IV: Season of Mists (1992) and contains more spoilers for that book than actual plot of its own.  If you read ADD first you’ll likely regret it.  It’s the story of what happened to three of his siblings while Dream was busy trying to right his wrongs in Hell.  It contains cutesy manga versions of the Endless, the best of which, and the one that would be hard to fail at, is Delirium.  The kooky, young, muddled-up persona is a perfect fit for the style.  She needs her own series.  And an animation.

Jill Thompson’s lines are excellent and her understanding of the regular/chibi forms at the correct times can’t be faulted, but it feels like Sandman fan-fic written by someone who attained the blessing of the creator.  The humour relies on the fish out of water scenario, which is fine for this kind of thing.  What isn't fine is the characterisation, and unless you embrace that side of it you’ll put the book down unfinished.   Besides Delirium, the other main characters are little like their Gaiman-penned versions (except when they’re using his words).  It doesn't really go anywhere structurally and there's no progression of character but it’s a fun aside to the main series.  For a younger reader it may hold the attention more.

2 weird ice-creams out of 5

The Sandman: Vol IX: The Kindly Ones (1996)

Author: Neil Gaiman | Illustrators: Kevin Nowlan / Marc Hempel / Glyn Dillon / Charles Vess / Dean Ornston / Teddy Kristiansen / Richard Case | Page Count: 352

“It was then that Delirium noticed that she had absent-mindedly turned into a hundred and eleven perfect, tiny multicoloured fish.

Each fish sang a different song.”

Book 9 of 10 in the Sandman saga is the largest volume of the series, containing one 13 part story, and a short 14th piece which acts as a prologue.  All good things must come to an end and this is it.  There is a 10th volume but this book is the real end of the series, and it doesn’t disappoint.  The Kindly Ones gathers together threads from all previous volumes, and weaves them into a blanket of deep synchronicity; don’t even think about reading this unless you’ve read Vols I, II, IV, V and VII.  Up until now Morpheus was the thing that most of the characters had in common, that begins to change.  Events that seemed minor in previous books have grown to encompass most of the people that the Dream King has touched over the years.  There are subplots in the weave that aren’t strictly necessary but they serve to make the pattern much more beautiful than it already was.

That sense of change that was apparent in Vol VII begins to have unavoidable repercussions; this volume is about collecting payment, and about paying your dues.  It's about acting according to your nature and accepting what that means for others.  It’s essential reading for any comics fan.  Gaiman fans in particular will drop their chin on the floor at the structure, the beauty and the complexity of his greatest work.  It's a master-class in how to wrap up a multi-part narrative in a satisfactory manner.  My chin is still on the floor.

My only criticism is some of the artwork doesn’t suit the mood of the piece.  It detracted a little from the darkness that was ever present.

The book collects together Sandman issues 57 – 69 and Vertigo Jam #1

5 dream a little dream of Dream out of 5

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: A Portrait of the Ang Lee Film (2000)

Author: Ang Lee & James Schamus | Page Count: 144

"The film is not crafted in the realistic style, as my earlier films have been, but the emotions it conveys are real."

Illustrated with more than 80 full colour photographs, this lavish companion book includes the entire screenplay of the film, alongside short essays and commentaries about the production from director Ang Lee and his screenwriter James Schamus.  There's also some words from cast and crew.  Scholars David Bordwell and Richard Corliss give an introduction and some brief history lessons throughout.  The text gives insights into what went on behind the scenes; it exposes the tragedies that dogged the production and the triumphs that elevated it but there isn't enough content to warrant the hefty price tag attached.  Half of the introduction is reprint from elsewhere.  The other half drifts off to become an appreciation of Hong Kong cinema as a whole, and while that was certainly fascinating it begs the question why it was included at all.  Smells like filler.

It's hard to score this one.  Let's say you liked the film and you find screenplays interesting.  Lets also imagine behind the scenes photos excite, you find small snippets of info from cast and crew insightful and you can afford to pay $32.95 for something that when distilled down to only text would fill about six A4 pages (that’s not counting the actual screenplay), then I guess you could give it a try.

The two most interesting things I learned was that Chow Yun-Fat wasn't Lee's first choice to play Li Mu Bai and only one of the cast spoke any mainland Mandarin that the director demanded.  I just saved you money.

1 pretty but hollow volume out of 5

High On Arrival (2009)

Author: Mackenzie Phillips, Hilary Liftin | Page Count: 292

"Not now darling, Daddy's shooting up."

The controversial memoir of Mackenzie Phillips following her from childhood to the present. It is a story almost typical about how child stars can spiral out of control into self destruction with drugs, sex and daddy issues and how she overcame these problems. As to the more salacious revelations in the book, I'll say free loving hippies + lots of drugs = I believe it.

There is certainly plenty of stuff to work with in her story, it is just hampered a bit by the writing. It's clear Phillips wrote most of it herself with constant overuse of certain words and phrases and while it is mostly chronological she does tend to drift at points. I suspect Liftin was just hired to clean up the manuscript after Phillips wrote it all down, but there is an interesting story with some fascinating details like how before rehab was a regular thing, addicts were still allowed to drink alcohol as it was considered separate from drugs. How far we've come.

2½ I suppose other addicts could sympathize more out of 5

The Sandman: Vol VIII: Worlds' End (1994)

Author: Neil Gaiman | Illustrators: Alec Stevens / Bryan Talbot / John Watkiss / Michael Zulli / Michael Allred / Shea Anton Pensa / Gary Amaro | Page Count: 168

"Is there any person in the world who does not dream?  Who does not contain within them worlds unimagined?"

Book 8 of 10 in the Sandman saga.  Gaiman has previously referenced and paid homage to Shakespeare, Spenser and Milton, it was only a matter of time before he turned his attentions to Chaucer.  He uses the frame narrative style used in Canterbury Tales (late 14th Century) to tie together a number of standalone episodes in a Mise en abyme that is both hit and miss.  He doesn't stop at just one layer, he gives us a story within a story within a story within a story within a story but it remains easy to follow.  The titles of the individual tales give their own extra nods to classic literature, A Tale of Two Cities, Cluracan's Tale, Hob's Leviathan, The Golden Boy etc.  The Chaucerian pilgrimage pervades them all.  

A lot of different illustrators with dramatically different styles worked on this book which gives each entry its own identity; cleverly the frame that holds it all together is pencilled by the same person every time, Bryan Talbot.  The first of the tales was my favourite.  It has a very overt nod to Lovecraft, and the art by Alec Stevens is sublime.

What may upset some readers is the fact that Morpheus is largely absent.  The Endless play almost no part directly in half the works, although their influence can be keenly felt as a subtext and by the end you’ll understand why.  Despite sitting largely removed from what has come before (there is someone from Vol II: The Doll's House that reappears but it’s of no great importance) it is deeply referential to what follows in the next book.

My closing argument was going to be ‘where else can you find Chaucer wedded to Lovecraft?’ but in truth, if you’ve followed the series thus far you don’t need a reason to continue, you’ll know already if you want to see it through to the end, which is very close now.

The book collects together Sandman issues 51 - 56

3 smiley buttons with a splash of blood out of 5

The Sandman: Vol VII: Brief Lives (1994)

Author: Neil Gaiman | Illustrator: Jill Thompson | Page Count: 256

“You lived what anybody gets, Bernie. You got a lifetime. No more. No less.”

Book 7 of 10 in the Sandman saga is a big one, 9 chapters long.  It uses that extra space to tell a different kind of story, to give the narrative room to breathe, and within that same space it gives the characters room to grow.  The girl with the coloured hair wants to find her missing brother, who up until now has been mentioned many times but rarely seen.  It’s a road trip, both in essence and in actuality.  What do all road trip stories have on common?  Character growth and change.  The concept of 'change' is this volume distilled to a single word.  There is change for Dream, change for the worlds he inhabits and change for the Endless, forever.  Consequences are ripples; they are perpetual when the pond that the stone is cast into lacks boundaries.

The term Graphic Novel is a bullshit banner to imply literary connotations to something that the majority of the public don’t understand.  Comics may have the ‘Graphic’ side covered but 99.9% of them aren't ‘Novels’ (Alan Moore is the exception) but this volume of Sandman is structured so very differently from comic book form that it almost feels wrong to be reading it within those terms.  In these pages we're given a glimpse of the novelist that Gaiman would become.

His novels are often a journey full of whimsical characters that at times are much too generic for their own good but by the end they become a commentary upon those very conventions of genre, they step outside themselves; the pay-off is worth the investment of time the reader gives it.  This volume has that same feeling; it may appear to be going nowhere very fast but when it pulls into a stop you'll be shivering with anticipation for the next volume.

The book collects together Sandman issues 41 – 49

4 all labyrinths lead to the same place out of 5