FAO: Mr Scott Connors

Sir, firstly, thanks again for your informed opinions as expressed on this thread. Since I last used this thread, my interest in horror films in general has dropped markedly. Whilst I still enjoy some horror films, I have become cynical regarding the genre as a whole - due in part to the highly exploitative nature of these movies and the sheer unpleasantness which seems both excessive and unnecessary in so many of them. Yes, I know that it sounds simplistic to say this, but the "truth is the truth", as they say, don't you think? Anyway, this is a great website, and I remain a keen fan of the works of both Clark Ashton Smith and HP Lovecraft. Please note, that I do enjoy reading the works of a few other writers too. I think it is a great shame that there appear to be no examples of Clark Ashton Smith-related films. Or are there? Please correct me, if I am wrong about that. But before you instruct me to look at the examples of CAS-themed films mentioned on this website (which I have already read), I still hold the view that there are no direct or well-known adaptations. I still believe that the costly nature of adapting CAS work for the cinema, is a major reason wny none of his work appears to have been re-created effectively on film. As you know, there are a number of films based on HP Lovecraft stories and themes. I just wish that there were more, and hope that new ones will be inspired by his unique artistic vision in the future. This applies to CAS stories and themes too. Lastly, I now have 2 e-mail addresses, if you were not aware. These are julianuk@37.com and julian.hawksworth@btinternet.com. Feel free to reply by sending messages to either of these addresses if you would like, in addition to or instead of responding on this post. Bye for now. I hope to hear from you soon!

Regards

Julian L Hawksworth



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 1 Aug 08 | 07:02AM by Raven10.

well there's 'The Return of the Sorcerer'...should be the whole episode on youtube:

[www.youtube.com]

What a quick reponse, Tobias! I have not heard about "The Return of the Sorcerer" on youtube. Presumably, you have seen it. Is it a good adaptation of the CAS story in your view? Also, is it a so-called "TV movie" or intended for cinema audiences? Please tell me more about this episode. I don't intend to view it until I know more! Understandable, don't you think?.....

Regards

Julian L Hawksworth



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 1 Aug 08 | 08:13AM by Raven10.

Please, NO film adaptions of CAS's works! That would be dreadful. Talk about an unfilmable writer, his works would be massacred worse than Lovecraft's have!

Roger, don't you think that it would be great if decent film versions of his work were made? Just because some of HP Lovecraft's works have been "massacred" as you put it, I don't think one can assume that this would happen for certain with a cinematic adaptation of any CAS story. Furthermore, perhaps you could explain why CAS stories might be "massacred worse", if adapted for the film genre? Yes, it would probably be very difficult to re-create some CAS themes or images for the screen, but not impossible. As I have mentioned before, the sheer cost of such a venture would probably make it unlikely to happen in the near future. On the otherhand, maybe I will be proved wrong about this at a later date. I certainly hope so. Who knows? This thread is turning out to be endless, it seems! At least "The Portrayal of Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith on Film" is evidently an interesting subject to talk about on this website.....

Julian L Hawksworth

Film and literature are two very different things in my view, and certain writers are just unfilmable. It would be impossible to translate CAS's poetic prose onto film,. And why bother? I just think it's better to come up with original ideas for films, but that's just me.

John Fante's ASK THE DUST, one of my favorite books, was recently destroyed on the screen with a film version. Another example of an unfilmable book!

I'm very stubborn about this whole issue, so maybe I should just leave it at that. I think I'm in the minority here.

This is a bit off topic, but rather than start a new thread I thought I'd just toss in this tidbit for fun. Film director Guillermo del Toro is a diehard CAS fan, as you can tell from this excerpt from a recent interview:

"At the same time, I am also reading some short stories by Clark Ashton Smith who I also absolutely adore. He has been collected in a really nice four volume set--I'm up to volume three--and volume four comes out in a couple of weeks. I read him when I was a teenager and whenever a collection of his tales comes out, I buy it."

You can read the whole interview at:

[au.movies.ign.com]

Let's hope Guillermo's fans cause a run on the Night Shade Books collections!

Four-volume set? Volume four comes out in a couple of weeks? Now what might this be?

My guess is that he's got his facts mixed up and is referring to the Night Shade books.

Scott Connors Wrote:
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> Speaking of Bava, it seems that the DVD of
> PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES which is out is one
> directed by him and not Curtis Harrington, as I
> thought earlier.

You may have this one mixed up with PLANET OF BLOOD (aka QUEEN OF BLOOD). PLANET OF BLOOD is directed by Curtis Harrington. It is an old beautiful poetic science fiction movie, partly inspired from CAS. It has its flaws, but is definately worth seeing.

A little bit of it can be seen at Youtube.

I have been reviewing Lovecraft on film, from the studio attempts of the 60's to the HPL Film Fest releases of recent years. By and large I have to agree with Roger. The ineffable qualities of CAS and HPL stories are very difficult to translate to a purely visual medium, especially with the film school convention that eschews voice-over narration as a "crutch". The greatest directors are able to capture many inexpressable and complex moods and emotions so the talent is there, but for those great directors I doubt if they would pick this type of material. Tarkovsky did pick Solaris and Kubrick did The Shining, but these are exceptions.

The recent series of attempts to do HPL films illustrate the conundrum. These folks are at least trying to capture the genre, but the translation to visual medium loses more than it gains. I would recommend however the "radio drama" approach being used at the HPL Historical Society. These are much more rewarding attempts I think.

Steve

Scot-you were talking about the Margaret Irwing book or at least a story out of it-do you find them/it good?It at leats had a briliant cover
[homepages.pavilion.co.uk]

Also,I only saw bits,but I like what I saw of "Dagon",even though Camparo or however you spell the captains name looked unuterabely silly in that tiara.

I personally think that a number of stories by Smith would make excellent short films, my prime example being The Empire of the Necromancers. It's an extremely cinematic story, and I've spent time storyboarding it in my head. *Sigh*, If I only had the time and resources...

David Kartas Wrote:
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> Scot-you were talking about the Margaret Irwing
> book or at least a story out of it-do you find
> them/it good?It at leats had a briliant cover
> [homepages.pavilion.co.uk].
> htm

I read all of her weird tales, including the play "Madame Fears the Dark," so I could write a critical piece for the Joshi-Dziemianowicz edited SUPERNATURAL LITERATURE OF THE WORLD: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA. It only ran 500 words or thereabouts, so don't express detailed, in-depth analyzes, but the bottom line is yes, I think that most of her small body of work is worth reading, and it's a shame that pressure from her publishers to write more commercial work like her historicals strangled any future weird tales from her in their cradle. (How's that for an image?)
>
> Also,I only saw bits,but I like what I saw of
> "Dagon",even though Camparo or however you spell
> the captains name looked unuterabely silly in that
> tiara.

SPOILER ALERT




I thought that the scene where the Zadok Allen character gets his face peeled off was a bit much, but generally liked "Dagon".

Scott

Yes,the only other scene I saw of it- in Spanish,but whatever-stil,the look on the mans face when they just tore of his face ,even though it lasted a second only,was horrifying.How long would one normaly live after that?

And you didnt find the guy with the tiara to look unintentionaly funny?