Soon the evil spawn will awaken to clear the earth of man. The Elder Gods will destroy us all. Pray only that Cthulhu eats you first.
Have no idea what we’re talking about? Think a Cthulhu is something you order at a Mexican restaurant? Don’t worry. If Guillermo del Toro has his way, the whole world will soon be chanting from the “Necronomicon,” the director laughed, explaining to MTV News his grand vision to bring H.P. Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness” to the big-screen.
“I remember when I was a kid out of the studios came the big event horror movies, ‘The Exorcist,’ ‘Alien,’ ‘Jaws,’ ‘The Shining,’” del Toro recalled. “It is my hope that this movie will be a tentpole movie [of that sort]. It has the scope of a Shackleton epic exploration movie but it’s full of tentacled things.”
Is it ever. Originally published in 1936, Lovecraft’s “Madness” centers on a group of explorers who stumble onto an ancient city in Antarctica. There they find living creatures dubbed “Elder Things,” living embodiments of fear and madness and pure crap your pants terror (Put THAT on a poster).
But to Del Toro, what makes the story particularly alluring is the opportunity it gives him to impose some of his own inventiveness.
“It’s not hard to be faithful to Lovecraft because what is great about the novel is that it’s a compilation of really dry scientific annotations that happen to be annotating something really scary. There is no character or dramatic thread,” he insisted. “You take those document and you then create a story. If you were [just rigidly faithful] you would be doing a National Geographic special on a crew that disappeared in an exploration mission.
“I’m happy with [my script],” he continued. “I know some people would like a happier ending but I’m happy with the ending there is.”
Familiar with the story? Think Del Toro is a good match for Lovecraft? What would you like to see in “Madness’? Sound off below.
I can't wait to see it.