Calling all Deep Ones and Elder Things!
Shooting in January and February for a Summer 2018 release – H.P. Lovecraft’s Dagon! A faithful cinematic retelling of Lovecraft’s short story on the near 100-year anniversary of its first publication!
H.P. Lovecraft’s Dagon is the story of an American serviceman of the Great War. The lone survivor of an attack by a German sea raider, the story’s narrator is left adrift and alone – only to awaken on a strange new continent, reeking and rotten, the sea and sky a distant memory hidden by a barrier of dark clouds.
Traversing the continent’s twisted geography, he encounters visions of an ancient race who dwell beneath the oceans – waiting for the day to rise up and consume a weak and war-weary humanity. Collapsing in madness and delirium, he awakes once more – miraculously returned to a San Francisco hospital.
But it is at his writer’s desk in the dead of night, while a slave shackled to the morphine and memories of the deep that his visions return. The end must be near – and that noise at the door, like some immense slippery body lumbering against it. God, that hand! The window! The window!
Utilizing the landscapes and rock formations of North Cornwall and Devon, we hope to bring forth the twisted continent that teases the fevered dreams of our story’s narrator. Placing our film amidst the ancient rock and weird geometry we believe will call upon the atmosphere of the timeless horrors that haunt Lovecraft’s mythos, translating that special sense of terror to film.
The atmospheres which enrich the story are of dark and uncertain tones – and though the integral Great War setting is retained in this retelling they are themes with contemporary relevance. It is a significant time to adapt such a tale, allowing fears rooted solidly to today’s uncertainties and challenges characterise this adaptation. Newly representing Lovecraft’s doubt and curiosity regarding the nature of madness to a present-day audience is likely to provoke an examination of how progressive we really are.
Combining a faithful approach to the material with original music, practical effects and stop motion animation, our aim is to produce a 30-minute short film that accurately adapts the characteristically Lovecraftian atmosphere to film, ahead of our ultimate goal of taking a cut to the stand-out Lovecraftian festivals at home and abroad. Most notably the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and CthulhuCon in Portland/Providence and the NecronomiCon in Providence – as well as other Horror related festivals worldwide – finally bringing Lovecraft to the big screen!
You can find regular updates throughout production and beyond on the H.P. Lovecraft’s Dagon twitter account at twitter.com/h_dagon
