The Last Lovecraft – (Toronto After Dark Film Festival) Review

The Toronto After Dark Film Festival kicked off its fifth year anniversary last Friday with its International theatrical premiere of first time director Henry Saine’s The Last Lovecraft. Bored with his monotonous office life, Jeff (played by up and comer and Kyle Davis) gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he finds out he is the last descendant of late author H.P. Lovecraft and must protect the Relic of Cthulhu from a gang of sea monsters who are hell-bent on stealing the Relic in order to resurrect a prehistoric monster who will destroy the world once awakened. Jeff then must enlist in the help of his geeky childhood friends to defeat the evil forces trying to stop them. Low-budget carnage, geekgasms and anecdotes of fish rape ensue.

Writer/star Devin McGinn and director Henry Saine definitely showcase their love for the renowned horror author H.P. Lovecraft with many references to his past works, (mostly paying homage to the Cthulhu mythos) however, one does not need to be familiar with H.P. Lovecraft’s work as the film sadly spends most of its time trying to emulate Todd Phillips’ buddy comedy The Hangover than focusing on its fairly innovative premise.

Fans of the low-budget sleeper hit, Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer may notice how The Last Lovecraft focuses on re-creating the same feel as both films are similarly shot, however Jack Brooks’ triumph only proves to be detrimental to The  Last Lovecraft’s reception because unlike Jon Knautz’s debut effort, The Last Lovecraft is not able to disguise the fact that its story is far too ambitious than its budget would allow. The sea monsters in the film (who could have been far scarier) only provide few chuckles rather than screams as they looked like something Rita Repulsa would have created on The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers show. The film also feels unfinished for it also looks very choppy at parts and the CGI effects are also done pretty poorly. The lack of budget makes The Last Lovecraft rely on its comedic roots, unfortunately the jokes are only good for a chuckle or two as the real laughs are far and few in between despite the film’s fairly short runtime of 82 minutes.

Considering Toronto After Dark Film Festival has always started its film festival each year with a bang with fan favorites Special, Let the Right One In and Black Dynamite, fans may be slightly letdown by The Last Lovecraft. Hopefully for the sequel, director Saine will have enough financing to make the movie he truly envisioned.

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