AP Film Studies: Cthulhu & You

"It's like coriander. There's coriander in all these things you like. Once you identify it, the flavor is in everything," says Gwen Callahan, co-organizer of this weekend's CthuluCon, which is named for the author's famous, tentacle-sporting demigod. 

An offshoot of Portland's long-running H.P. Lovecraft Film Fest, CthulhuCon hits Crowne Plaza this weekend with a live edition of the Ask Lovecraft radio show, cosmic art, and more tentacles than a Japanese businessman's porn stash (Crowne Plaza Hotel, 1441 NE 2nd Ave., cthulhucon.com; April 24-26; weekend pass $40). 

We sat down in the dark of the Space Room with Callahan for a quick crash course in Lovecraftian lore.

Lovecraft's influences

The Rhode Island writer, like many of his pulp brethren, wore his influences on his sleeve—primarily Robert Chambers, Edgar Allan Poe and Mary Shelley. "You can see specific influences acted on his experimental brain," says Callahan. "He has a foundation of the gothic novel. People followed him because it was something new rooted in the foundation of something familiar."

Lovecraft's influence on pop culture

Lovecraft died in poverty, since his work—like Poe's—didn't become popular until much later. Re-Animator is the most obvious example, but he's everywhere. From the cosmic mystique of the Alien films to the metaphysical ponderings of True Detective, the gothic horrors of Guillermo del Toro and Batman's Arkham Asylum, he's discreetly imbedded in many things we love. "Lovecraft has permeated almost every aspect of our culture," says Callahan. "You can get Cthulhu tiki mugs. There's a whole game industry based on Lovecraftian gaming."

Cosmic horror

Lovecraft's works include blood and guts, but the real terror is the way his stories force introspection. "It's not just violence for the sake of violence. It's a much more psychological horror, more personal," says Callahan. "Ask somebody when their childhood ended. When they were told there is no Easter Bunny. When you know something that you can't unknow. All of a sudden your worldview is shattered."

Also Showing: 

1. Weird Wednesday claims 1973’s Godmonster of Indian Flats features “the worst monster ever committed to film.” Joy Cinema. 7:30 pm Wednesday, April 22.

1. It’s Christmas in April, thanks to Re-Run Theater, which is running the 1978 space oddity that is the Battlestar Galactica Holiday Special. Hollywood Theatre. 7:30 pm Wednesday, April 22.

1. Mississippi Records returns to the Hollywood with The Secret Life of Plants, time-lapse images of flora and a soundtrack by Stevie Wonder. Hollywood Theatre. 7:30 pm Thursday, April 23.

1. The very best of Van Damme’s extensive oeuvre, Bloodsport deserves to be respected as a pec-flexing, splits-kicking masterpiece. Hollywood Theatre. 9:30 pm Friday, April 24.

1. Conan the Barbarian, in which Arnold Schwarzenegger sucker-punches a camel. Laurelhurst Theater. April 24-30.

1. Frenetic Films takes over the Clinton for a triple feature of grindhouse-era films, including its own All Hell Breaks Loose. Clinton Street Theater. 6 pm Saturday, April 25.

1. In Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Steven Spielberg showed us the wonders of extraterrestrials and child abandonment. Academy Theater. April 24-30.

1. For those who thought The Godfather was lacking in the nonstop-violence department, director Duke Mitchell’s homemade 1978 spectacular, Massacre Mafia Style, should satisfy your soul. Hollywood Theatre. 7:30 pm Tuesday, April 28.

WWeek 2015