Location: Las Vegas, NV
"The Madness of H.P. Lovecraft"
Directed by Roger Corman
Written by William Goldman and Stephen King
Cinematography by Tak Fujimoto
Edited by Daniel P. Hanley
Art Direction by Desmond Crowe
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Produced by Roger Corman and Nicolas Cage
Main Cast
Nicolas Cage as H.P. Lovecraft
Diane Lane as Sonia Greene
Stephen King as Grandpa Whipple
Cate Blanchett as Sarah Lovecraft
Jeffrey Combs as Winfield Lovecraft
Illeana Douglas as Aunt Lillian
Allison Janney as Aunt Annie
Cameron Bright as Young H.P. Lovecraft
Cillian Murphy as Clark Smith
and
Sean Penn as Robert Howard
Tagline: "The horror in his mind inspired generations of frightening greatness"
Synopsis: I am the son of a traveling jewelry salesman named Winfield (Jeffrey Combs), who's mind got the best of him. I was told he had taken ill. A coma they called it, but I knew my father ceased to be himself long before his "illness". I would visit him rarely at the hospital, but see his dying face everynight in my nightmares. On the other hand, my mother (Cate Blanchett) and her sisters, Aunt Annie (Allison Janney) and Lillian (Illeana Douglas) took to me with care, but it was my Grandpa Whipple (Stephen King) who sought out to expand my horizons beyond my wildest imaginations. No earlier than the age of six, I was reciting classic poetry, but it was Grandpa Whipple's horror stories that made my heart jump with excitement. But not all was interesting see...a sickley child I was, with a common cold that seemed a bit too common for a boy my age. I had thought I was losing my mind like father, so I grew quite bitter toward the world around me. Human life seemed meaningless compared to the vast universe. I don't recall my high school years, for the nerves broke inside me and everything was a blur. My depression grew soon after, realizing my inept brain could not conjure higher mathematics, thus making my dream of astronomy seem further away than Neptune. I would soon find myself in the art of horror, publishing numerous stories and poems in the pulp magazine "Weird Tales". "Dagon", my first real short story is a lovely little tale of a morphine addicted WWI soldier with a death wish, adrift at sea, who finds himself in another world you could say...
"a slimy expanse of hellish black mire which extended about me in monotonous undulations as far as I could see.... The region was putrid with the carcasses of decaying fish, and of other less describable thingsNwhich I saw protruding from the nasty mud of the unending plain." (Dagon, Lovecraft)
"Dagon" was just the beginning my fair readers, and with my dear friends, Robert Howard (Sean Penn), who wrote this lovely story called, "Conan the Barbarian", and Clark Smith (Cillian Murphy), who penned these terrifying series of stories called, "The Arkham House", we took on a whole new world. They were a couple of nuts just like me who found solace in the world you fear. Poems, stories, and letters poured out of us like sweat and I was suddenly part of a literature movement. No more did people want to read about love, and love lost, but about death and re-incarnation, demons and a universe so far away but oh so familiar. Well into fame, I produced one of my favorite pieces, "The Call of Cthulhu" to which I could create my own universe, my own diety, all within my own cosmic horror...
"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents." (The Call of Cthulhu, Lovecraft)
Mother took the same fate as father, dying in that loony-bin, leaving me devastated and filled with enough pain to keep on writing. With the loss of father, grandpa, mother, and my dear friend Robert's unfortunate suicide, I was soon saved by this extraordinary woman who sold hats of all things! Sonia Greene (Diane Lane) was her name and my aunt's couldn't be any less thrilled. How dare I marry a Jewish woman who sold hats, they thought. And maybe they were right. Losing her hat shop, she grew distant towards me, and taken a sickly turn for the worse. My ill-begotten wife seperated, leaving me alone in the ungodly city that is New York, where I wrote "Herbert West-Reanimator", about a mad-scientist bringing back the dead. To be honest, it's complete drivel and I wrote it for the money. Looking back though, I felt a lot of sorrow and I missed a lot of people then. But with it, I did manage to channel my anger and hurt. Through the deaths of my loved ones, my inadequate relationship skills, and severe bouts of depression, I would return to my home in beloved Rhode Island. Alone and in pain. This time, the pain was physical. God was finishing me off in style with stomach cancer.
Some called me cyncical. Some called me rude. Some even called me an influential litarary genius, then again some shouted "HACK!" Most simply called me, H.P.Lovecraft (Nicolas Cage), and this is my chaos.
What the Press would say:
“An all too realistic tribute to the true master of horror.", exclaimed Stephen King who brings to us the story of a revolutionary writer that merged science fiction and horror. Teaming up with King to develope an engaging script is William Goldman, who's previous success with "Misery", seems only fitting. Director, Roger Corman pieces together the life of H.P. Lovecraft. After years and years of molding such great filmmakers as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Jonathan Demme, Corman finally unleashes his masterpiece with, "The Madness of H.P. Lovecraft". Corman's direction of a brilliant boy who experiences non-stop madness throughout his whole life, shapes the man and mind that is to be H.P. Lovecraft, played memorably by Nicolas Cage. A performance that breaks new ground. Through nervous ticks, odd quirks and a pale and fragile appearence, Cage's transformation into H.P. Lovecraft is a breath of fresh air that demands constant attention. But Cage's mammoth performance could not be if not for Sean Penn's brilliant cameo as legendary doomed writer, Robert Howard. Penn's concious ability to know his every subtle movement breaks our hearts in his final scene, where we see his character completely lost after the news of his mother's coma, and racing to his car for his gun. With true supporting roles that shape their lead's actions, Diane Lane and Cate Blanchett spear the roles of the women in H.P. Lovecraft's life. Lane's tinasity, and Blanchett's honesty on screen shine like the awards that await them. From beginning to end, The Madness of H.P. Lovecraft is a tale of sadness inside glimmers of hope, fame and recognition. Corman's brilliance and experience in moviemaking proves non-more than in the final scene of the film where we see Cillian Murphy's quiet subdued performance as writer, Clark Smith struggling to write and express himself after the deaths of his two friends, H.P. Lovecraft and Robert Howard. In the end, he cannot bring himself to write with the pain that once consumed Lovecraft, giving him his brilliance, and giving him his death. Though gone, Cage's H.P. Lovecraft lingers on to effect those who live on. From famed filmmakers Clive Barker and John Carpenter to writers like Stephen King and Bentley Little, and onto video game designers and musicians a-like, all encompassed the world of Lovecraft and all his horror. Through the odd nightmares, daydreaming sequences, and the reality of death, Roger Corman showcases the making of the father of Sci-Fi/Horror in unforgettable fashion.
Best Picture
Best Director - Roger Corman
Best Actor - Nicolas Cage
Best Supporting Actor - Sean Penn
Best Supporting Actor - Cillian Murphy
Best Supporting Actress - Cate Blanchett
Best Supporting Actress - Diane Lane
Best Original Screenplay - William Goldman & Stephen King
Best Cinematography - Tak Fujimoto
Best Editing - Daniel P. Hanley
Best Score - Jerry Goldsmith
Best Art Direction - Desmond Crowe
Best Costume Design - James Acheson
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