How HP Lovecraft Influenced Films

Howard Philip Lovecraft is a deeply influential figure not only his own field of prose, but his influences are tangible in contemporary writing, videogames, TV, and the medium we’re looking at here, film. He really is a household name, not known to everyone for sure, but known to many in terms of his work and themes. Someone may never have read any Lovecraft but when a story is described as Lovecraftian, they get an idea of what it might be about, in the same way a piece of fiction may be described as Dickensian, or dystopian ideas Orwellian.

Lovecraft developed the literary philosophy of cosmicism, in which Lovecraft hypothesised that humanity was almost entirely insignificant, that it has no destiny, and that it will one day die out and be forgotten. Much of the horror in Lovecraft’s horror, derives from the oppressive feeling of insignificance and helplessness his narratives exert on the protagonists, and the implication, in his stories, that things like honour, morality, or any sort of karmic balance, are not there, or are meaningless. Where godlike beings appear, they’re perhaps godlike to humans, but are completely mortal. It’s like he could have written Thus Spoke Cthulhu.
Lovecraft died at the age of 46, still quite obscure, however he left a significant body of work that would not only grow in popularity after his death but also inspire a great deal of other artists. Even just in film, the ideas and movies he inspired are to numerous to list here, but I’ve selected a few. And here they are...