REVIEW: The Whisperer In Darkness (Book to Film)

The Whisperer in Darkness: Book to Film comparison

Book by H.P. Lovecraft, first published in 1930

Film created in 2011

The Whisperer in Darkness: Book to Film adaptation

·         The film is in black and white despite this being a modern movie.

·         Characters that served little purpose like Akeley’s son have more for the plot of the film.

·         The characters interact around the time of the letter exchanges as opposed to the interaction being close to the end of the tale. The letters between the Professor and Akeley were most of the parts of the book whereas the film deviates greatly.

·         The son leaves for San Diego in the beginning of the film as opposed to his leaving being already established in the book.

·         They added a character named Hannah in the film that deviate the plot in the third act.

·         The tale ends differently in the film as the Professor’s brain is taken from his body and placed in a jar as opposed to the book’s ending where it is implied that the Professor made it out safely but could still be hunted by the cultists.

·         The letters were not even narrated in the film save for the last one with the lack of paranoia. The growing madness of Akeley is disregarded in the film for the sake of narrative.

·         Despite this title being called “The Whisperer in Darkness” the film only takes the beginning part of the book as the foundation of the film and then changes the plot as the Professor attempts to fight off the cultists.

·         The DVD notably breaks off into its own fit of madness when I was trying to watch it on my laptop. Fitting given that this film is an adaptation of the Cthulhu Mythos.

·         Akeley being an alien was shown as too obvious given his change in dialogue tone as he sounds more aquatic in the film as opposed to an implied natural tone in the book.

·         They add science to the distortion of the creatures in that they finally are able to see the creatures on film as they use fancy star charting technology and tricks to see the dead carcass of one, an anticlimactic part of the mystery whether the Professor believes or not as he seems more in denial than doubtful after all the evidence until the audio recording.

·         The Professor seemed too submissive in the end to the creatures in his ending narrative given the horror of trying to leave and the implied death of Hannah.

·         Given that the film outright gives the concrete and objective details of the creatures, it is not as suspenseful as that of the subjective and flaws of the narrative of the Professor in the book.

·         The fact that the other scientists grew famous despite the efforts of the Professor seemed more spiteful.

·         The proactive nature of the characters doesn’t match the bleak inevitability of Lovecraft’s original tales.

·         The creatures look too CGI in the film t be considered scary and the effects seem too goofy, but the latter can be forgiven given the 1930’s feel of the film.

·         Overall, it was a thrilling and excellent film, even with its deviation from the source books. The fact that it was by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society gave it faith to the works of Lovecraft but the film adaptation itself is inferior to the source material in suspense.

Bibliography

Lovecraft, H. P. The Whisperer in Darkness. Ware: Wordsworth Editions, 2007. Print.

 The Whisperer in Darkness. Dir. Sean Branney. H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society, 2011.

REVIEW: The Crow Film

The Crow (Film)

Directed by Alex Proyas

First published in 1994

The Crow (film)

·         The film notably starts with the death of Eric and Shelley and their relations with a girl named Sarah.

·         The film adds the back story of the four murderers being friends of Eric at one point in their life and that Shelley was a political person who they raped and killed as an example.

·         They added the importance of the police officer in the film to be a sidekick of sorts to the Crow.

·         The crow was explained to be the source of Eric’s revival, as opposed to any other supernatural means.

·         The death was at the house they lived in rather than a random highway.

·         They added more human qualities to the Crow like his humane treatment to Sarah’s prostitute mother and the friendships he kept with the officer and Sarah.

·         Gabriel the cat was already their pet in the film as opposed to being taken in midway as with the comic.

·         They added a drug lord and his Asian sister as the final bosses to the film that the four murderers were working under. In fact, the Asian sister was the one who pointed out the Crow’s weakness.

·         The humane killing of Funny Boy was removed in favor for more vengeful killings, as the Crow doesn’t take a macabre mercy for him in accepting that he killed Shelley in cold blood.

·         The costume of the Crow has a origin story too as Eric takes his boots from the dumpster, his clothes being what he used to wear in his band and his mask painting being what he used to have fun with Shelley with.

·         This is notably Brandon Lee’s last major performance before he died.

·         The Crow gains the ability to read people’s experiences and transfers them in the film, whereas he was just immortal in the comic.

·         Characters that were originally just killed by the Crow in the comic, as with the corrupt store owner, were killed by the drug lord in the adaptation.

·         The film ends in a more happy reunion of the spirits of Eric and Shelley, as opposed to the bleak and ambiguous ending of the comic.

·         The poetry of the comic was left out of the film.

·         Eric was notably sane in the film as opposed to the more mentally detached state he was in with the comic.

·         The prostitute mother and her daughter reunite happily in the film as opposed to the comic.

·         Eric notably plays a lot of music in this adaptation, which had him dancing instead with the comic.

Bibliography

The Crow. Dir. Alex Proyas. Perf. Brandon Lee. Dimension Films, 1994. DVD.

REVIEW: Death Note Film

Death Note (film)

Directed by Shūsuke Kaneko

Released in Japan 2006

Death Note (film)

·         The film notably takes more detail in the reactions of the public compared to the manga, as the film opens with the death of criminals and commentary by the populous on what they think of Kira. There is even a fan page on the internet to Kira to which a noted number of forum messengers encourage Kira to continue killing criminals.

·         The film notably abridges the pacing of the manga, as the detail to which Light took precautions in the burning of the Death Note is notably missing.

·         Light notably acts smug and not content with the justice system, letting Shiori, Light’s girlfriend, know the detail to which he hates the current Japanese justice system. This notably makes him more of a suspect to being Kira should common sense be applied. In fact, Light supports Kira. This questionably would have made him a prime suspect.

·         L uses a Mac book Pro in his introduction.

·         Ryuk looks too much like a CGI effect in the film, contrasting with the live action.

·         They added a scene where Light lost his faith in the justice system before picking up the Death Note. They also excluded him saving a girl from a punk by getting the punk hit by a bus.

·         They switched some of the ethnicities in the film, as with the fake L being a Caucasian person rather than a Japanese person.

·         It is noted that things float in the air when Ryuk is holding them from the real world, as normal people can’t see Death gods.

·         The hair colors of the characters are noted to be natural brown black in the live action, as opposed to the distinctive blond or off setting colors key to manga.

·         Ryuk notably acts like a trickster in the film, opposed to his more collective introduction to the series in the manga.

·         The voice actors of the dubbed film are from the animated dub.

·         The FBI agent was targeting Light specifically in his introduction as opposed to being there to search for Kira. This deviates from the manga and suggests that Light was acting suspiciously to begin with.

·         Ryuk is the only seen Death God in the film, as the dimension to where the Death gods come from isn’t included in the film.

·         Ryuk didn’t tell light that he would write his name down as the last victim of the Death Note as with the manga, making him more of an ambiguous character.

·         Light doesn’t monologue/ tell Ryuk he’d prefer not to kill his father like in the manga, suggesting this version of Light is not above patricide in order to keep his sense of justice.

·         They take an entire page worth of Death Note for each death, which is not only lacking efficiency but also inaccurate to how Light killed people in the manga.

Bibliography

Death Note. Dir. Shūsuke Kaneko. Viz Pictures, 2006. Film.