Doris Lessing: The Story of General Dann and Mara’s Daughter, Griot and the Snow Dog.

When you think about the world in the future, what do you think of? A controlled society; a reality where technology is omnipresent, or maybe the world of Mad Max: a barren landscape where rival gangs speed around in the last remaining cars, with the last drops of petrol to run them. Doris Lessing has imagined differently. In her dystopia the connection to the world gone by is broken, drowned under the rising sea level, and hidden from the descendants of those who survived the great disaster. The few remaining examples of past technology are full mysteries to people who encounter them. What is this thing? Who made it and what for?

From Wikipedia:

Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (born May 18, 1970) is an Emmy-winning American writer, comedian and actress. Fey currently co-produces, writes and stars in the television program 30 Rock, a sitcom loosely based on her experiences at Saturday Night Live.

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Directed by Roger Corman
Written by Curtis Hanson, Henry Rosenbaum and Ronald Silkosky
Inspired* by H.P. Lovecraft

"Eh-y-ya-ya-yahaah - e'yayayaaaa... ngh'aaaaa... ngh'aaa... h'yuh... h'yuh...

HELP! HELP! ... FATHER! YOG-SOTHOTH!” – Wilbur Whately

You know, there really should be a workman’s comp claim to fill out for movie reviewers that end up doing THIS MANY Roger Corman movies in a row. Although I’m the one that wanted to save the Lovecraft movie for October, so I suppose I have no one else to blame but myself for the fact that I’m humming that gawd-awful synthesizer theme song that’s stuck in my head right now.

The IMDB listing for The Dunwich Horror lists HP Lovecraft as one of the writers for the film, since it was based (very loosely) on his classic 1928 story of the same title. I omitted him as the writer of the film though, because honestly, this movie is about as close an adaptation as “I, Robot” is to the book – that is to say, the names were the same, but the author would’ve sacrificed Corman & crew to the Old Ones for the end result, if he could. (Odd, considering one of the guys who DID write the screenplay, Curtis Hanson, later wrote and directed several notable films including L.A. Confidential and 8 Mile).

How horrifying is The Horror? Well, to begin with, the opening credits are animated. A little cartoon tentacle monster chasing around a victim, like some Sesame Street skit from hell. The psychedelic synth music is pretty horrendous as well, so to better entertain myself, I muted the music while the cartoon played, instead singing one of my favorite childhood ditties, “One of these things is not like the other…one of these things just isn’t the same!” Try it, it’s fun!