(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Sea captain Russel Marsh was possessed by an ancient entity for 93 years, committing horrific acts for a cult. Now free, he seeks to travel back in time to undo his dark deeds, while the cult vows to eliminate him.”
For those of us who know the name H.P. Lovecraft, the mere mention of his name might conjure up a great many … erm … impressions.
For example, bring up this purveyor of ‘Cosmic Horror’ to children of the 1980’s; and one will likely hear stories about those of us who seemingly watched B-Movies like Re-Animator (1985), From Beyond (1986), and The Curse (1987), two of which are owed to the cinematic genius of late director Stuart Gordon. As one who saw these flicks back in the day, I can assure you that – even though I find elements of them elusive if not downright bonkers – the fact alone that there was nothing quite like them guaranteed a measure of notoriety amongst viewers. No, I’m not talking about scream queen Barbara Crampton being threatened with dastardly cunnilingus by a man reduced to being little more than a head but rather the almost pervasive invasion of critters and creatures unlike anything to flicker in shadow and light before. These features dealt with Body Horror, alien intellectual, and existential dread in a way that transcended the ordinary; and this gave the pictures the ability to cement themselves in our respective psyches, making some of their sequences unforgettable.
Google.com reports that it was the 1990’s that truly saw Lovecraft’s breakthrough from B-pictures to near-mainstream as (perhaps) they ever got. Personally, I think that’s a bit of bunk because – from what I recall – these other films only tapped into Lovecraftian ideas to use as a foundation to spin their own webs, rarely authentically adapting the author’s work and instead marching off in their own directions. John Carpenter’s In The Mouth Of Madness (1994) is often mistakenly cited as being Lovecraft; but – in reality – what the film does reasonably and respectably well is take that cosmic aesthetic and apply it liberally to a tale of an insurance investigator probing the growing mystery surrounding a Lovecraft-like novelist. Again, it’s close but no cigar so far as this critic is concerned, and yet I understand most folks confusion in chalking it up to the creator of Cthulhu Mythos.
It’s into such similar territory that audiences go with 2024’s H.P. Lovecraft’s The Old Ones.
Instead of adapting any single adventure from the inspired originator, writer/director Chad Perrin has chosen to pluck and choose the various bits and pieces from other tales and weaves them together in something meant to represent Lovecraft to modern audiences. Even Google.com suggests that there are obvious influences culled from The Shadow Over Innsmouth, The Call Of Cthulhu, and From Beyond, all of this centered around the character of Russel Marsh (played by Robert Miano), a 1930’s sea captain once possessed by the spirit of an Old One. When the film begins, Marsh is shown floating downriver, apparently now freed from the spectral clutches of this oppressive, ethereal consciousness; and he’s eventually pulled from the water by the father-and-son team of Dan (Scott Vogel) and Gideon Gordon (Benjamin Philip). But membership within the Old Ones isn’t shaken off easily: after Dan is cut down by the monster pursuing the old boat captain, Russel has no other choice but to take Gideon under his wing as they flee from the supernatural forces that would do them harm.
At this point, The Old Ones turns into a bit of a road picture, the kind wherein viewers are whisked away on one journey whilst occasionally flashing back to the villains pursuing our two leads. Admirably, Miano uses his grandfatherly like presence to school young Gideon about the reality lurking just beyond our reach; and – even though Perrin’s script is bit weighed down with hints of rituals, incantations, and other poorly-explained fringe ideas – the two make even the silliest bits palatable. Think of Walsh like an elderly Indiana Jones – not the Hollywood version but maybe a Temu one – and it’s obvious what was intended here but never quite metastasizes. Philip is a young; and he definitely needed more to his work. A greater sense of disbelief over what he found himself in the middle of would’ve been a big improvement over some otherwise lukewarm confusion.
Still, The Old Ones’ biggest failure is that everything needed to firmly grasp what’s taking place happens ‘on the fly.’ We’re given only snapshots of a veritable catalogue; and, sadly, these pictures aren’t quite worth 1,000 words (as the old saying goes). Consequently, viewers are kinda/sorta left to make of some bits what they will – i.e. Russel and Gordon reach a wheelchair-bound mechanical mystic in the big finale, and after watching these sequences twice I’ve still little concept of what truly transpired. The same could be postulated in a sequence that builds up to the finale when our adventurous duo finally match wits with Nyarlathotep – part prophet, part portal – a character whose backdrop is obviously intended to be ‘bigger than life’ and yet we’re given sparingly little explanation for his exile in the middle of an American junkyard. Context be damned, someone needed to help it all make sense.
Now, not all of what I’ve said is meant to be a complaint because like those 80’s Lovecraftian chillers I’ll concede that The Old Ones might also fit the bill of something just odd enough for me and my fraternity brothers to watch this one twice hoping to figure out just what we missed. It has a satisfactory B-Movie feel to most of it, even though some of the early cinematography is plagued with competing light levels. Effects work – practical and optical – are on par with the latest ‘meh,’ and yet they probably achieve the intent for which they were designed. But I can’t ignore that fact that a great deal of what’s in the film left me wanting a bit more. While not a bad thing, it still underscores that something big or small was missing from the affair, even though I’ll flummoxed over what it could’ve been.
H.P. Lovecraft’s The Old Ones (2024) was produced by Crappy World Films and Laurelwood Pictures. A quick search of Google.com confirms that the film is available for digital rental or purchase on a variety of platforms. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can assure readers that the sights and sounds range from acceptable to good, though I felt most of the visual deficiencies disappear from the second half. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? As I viewed this one via streaming, there were no special features to consider.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended … but you’d better appreciate schlock because that’s what so much of it is. On that level, it’s fun, but not much else.
Here’s the thing: with a little more time, a little more money, and a bit more narrative investment, passable schlock like H.P. Lovecraft’s The Old Ones (2024) could easily be transformed from bargain basement fare to – at best – something that could easily compete alongside the SciFi Channel Saturday Night Movies of yesteryear. (Yes, they’re still around sparingly, it would seem, but you get the point.) Without that added elbow grease, spit, and polish? Well … there’s nothing much disappointing in them as they are just undercooked. The ideas are haphazard. The performances are muddled. The entire fair feels uncentered. As they are, they’re so-bad-they’re-good-enough to make this old dog ponder more of what’s missing than what remains … an odd state of existence between ‘peak cinema’ and ‘peak trash.’
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Breaking Glass Pictures provided me with complimentary streaming access to H.P. Lovecraft’s The Old Ones (2024) for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Sea captain Russel Marsh was possessed by an ancient entity for 93 years, committing horrific acts for a cult. Now free, he seeks to travel back in time to undo his dark deeds, while the cult vows to eliminate him.”
For those of us who know the name H.P. Lovecraft, the mere mention of his name might conjure up a great many … erm … impressions.
For example, bring up this purveyor of ‘Cosmic Horror’ to children of the 1980’s; and one will likely hear stories about those of us who seemingly watched B-Movies like Re-Animator (1985), From Beyond (1986), and The Curse (1987), two of which are owed to the cinematic genius of late director Stuart Gordon. As one who saw these flicks back in the day, I can assure you that – even though I find elements of them elusive if not downright bonkers – the fact alone that there was nothing quite like them guaranteed a measure of notoriety amongst viewers. No, I’m not talking about scream queen Barbara Crampton being threatened with dastardly cunnilingus by a man reduced to being little more than a head but rather the almost pervasive invasion of critters and creatures unlike anything to flicker in shadow and light before. These features dealt with Body Horror, alien intellectual, and existential dread in a way that transcended the ordinary; and this gave the pictures the ability to cement themselves in our respective psyches, making some of their sequences unforgettable.
Google.com reports that it was the 1990’s that truly saw Lovecraft’s breakthrough from B-pictures to near-mainstream as (perhaps) they ever got. Personally, I think that’s a bit of bunk because – from what I recall – these other films only tapped into Lovecraftian ideas to use as a foundation to spin their own webs, rarely authentically adapting the author’s work and instead marching off in their own directions. John Carpenter’s In The Mouth Of Madness (1994) is often mistakenly cited as being Lovecraft; but – in reality – what the film does reasonably and respectably well is take that cosmic aesthetic and apply it liberally to a tale of an insurance investigator probing the growing mystery surrounding a Lovecraft-like novelist. Again, it’s close but no cigar so far as this critic is concerned, and yet I understand most folks confusion in chalking it up to the creator of Cthulhu Mythos.
It’s into such similar territory that audiences go with 2024’s H.P. Lovecraft’s The Old Ones.
Instead of adapting any single adventure from the inspired originator, writer/director Chad Perrin has chosen to pluck and choose the various bits and pieces from other tales and weaves them together in something meant to represent Lovecraft to modern audiences. Even Google.com suggests that there are obvious influences culled from The Shadow Over Innsmouth, The Call Of Cthulhu, and From Beyond, all of this centered around the character of Russel Marsh (played by Robert Miano), a 1930’s sea captain once possessed by the spirit of an Old One. When the film begins, Marsh is shown floating downriver, apparently now freed from the spectral clutches of this oppressive, ethereal consciousness; and he’s eventually pulled from the water by the father-and-son team of Dan (Scott Vogel) and Gideon Gordon (Benjamin Philip). But membership within the Old Ones isn’t shaken off easily: after Dan is cut down by the monster pursuing the old boat captain, Russel has no other choice but to take Gideon under his wing as they flee from the supernatural forces that would do them harm.
At this point, The Old Ones turns into a bit of a road picture, the kind wherein viewers are whisked away on one journey whilst occasionally flashing back to the villains pursuing our two leads. Admirably, Miano uses his grandfatherly like presence to school young Gideon about the reality lurking just beyond our reach; and – even though Perrin’s script is bit weighed down with hints of rituals, incantations, and other poorly-explained fringe ideas – the two make even the silliest bits palatable. Think of Walsh like an elderly Indiana Jones – not the Hollywood version but maybe a Temu one – and it’s obvious what was intended here but never quite metastasizes. Philip is a young; and he definitely needed more to his work. A greater sense of disbelief over what he found himself in the middle of would’ve been a big improvement over some otherwise lukewarm confusion.
Still, The Old Ones’ biggest failure is that everything needed to firmly grasp what’s taking place happens ‘on the fly.’ We’re given only snapshots of a veritable catalogue; and, sadly, these pictures aren’t quite worth 1,000 words (as the old saying goes). Consequently, viewers are kinda/sorta left to make of some bits what they will – i.e. Russel and Gordon reach a wheelchair-bound mechanical mystic in the big finale, and after watching these sequences twice I’ve still little concept of what truly transpired. The same could be postulated in a sequence that builds up to the finale when our adventurous duo finally match wits with Nyarlathotep – part prophet, part portal – a character whose backdrop is obviously intended to be ‘bigger than life’ and yet we’re given sparingly little explanation for his exile in the middle of an American junkyard. Context be damned, someone needed to help it all make sense.
Now, not all of what I’ve said is meant to be a complaint because like those 80’s Lovecraftian chillers I’ll concede that The Old Ones might also fit the bill of something just odd enough for me and my fraternity brothers to watch this one twice hoping to figure out just what we missed. It has a satisfactory B-Movie feel to most of it, even though some of the early cinematography is plagued with competing light levels. Effects work – practical and optical – are on par with the latest ‘meh,’ and yet they probably achieve the intent for which they were designed. But I can’t ignore that fact that a great deal of what’s in the film left me wanting a bit more. While not a bad thing, it still underscores that something big or small was missing from the affair, even though I’ll flummoxed over what it could’ve been.
H.P. Lovecraft’s The Old Ones (2024) was produced by Crappy World Films and Laurelwood Pictures. A quick search of Google.com confirms that the film is available for digital rental or purchase on a variety of platforms. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can assure readers that the sights and sounds range from acceptable to good, though I felt most of the visual deficiencies disappear from the second half. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? As I viewed this one via streaming, there were no special features to consider.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended … but you’d better appreciate schlock because that’s what so much of it is. On that level, it’s fun, but not much else.
Here’s the thing: with a little more time, a little more money, and a bit more narrative investment, passable schlock like H.P. Lovecraft’s The Old Ones (2024) could easily be transformed from bargain basement fare to – at best – something that could easily compete alongside the SciFi Channel Saturday Night Movies of yesteryear. (Yes, they’re still around sparingly, it would seem, but you get the point.) Without that added elbow grease, spit, and polish? Well … there’s nothing much disappointing in them as they are just undercooked. The ideas are haphazard. The performances are muddled. The entire fair feels uncentered. As they are, they’re so-bad-they’re-good-enough to make this old dog ponder more of what’s missing than what remains … an odd state of existence between ‘peak cinema’ and ‘peak trash.’
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Breaking Glass Pictures provided me with complimentary streaming access to H.P. Lovecraft’s The Old Ones (2024) for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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