The 2nd annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival concluded this Saturday with a reading/discussion event, screening of three feature films and nine short films, followed by awards, and film cast appearances. The event was held at the historical Warner Grand Theater in San Pedro, CA.
Director Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labryinth) was the judge for this festival’s short film contest, which consisted of various amateur works based on stories by (or influenced by) Lovecraft. Del Toro was unable to appear in person, thus a video of him was shown speaking from Toronto, where he is currently shooting Pacific Rim.
The winner of the competition was a tie between Static Aeons, an atmospheric 6 minutes of computer animation with voice-over, and a modernized version of the poem Edgar Allen Poe's Raven.
Del Toro was quick to point out the technical achievements and high style of the runner up winner, Black Goat, which was filmed in a harsh-looking snowy landscape.
Feature films that were screened on Saturday was the comedic Lovecraftian parody Cast a Deadly Spell (1991) followed by Q & A , CG-heavy Spanish film La Sombra Prohibidia (The Forbidden Shadow) (2010), and the highly entertaining old school sci-fi, The Whisper in Darkness (2011).
Much positive fan reaction followed the final feature,The Whisper in Darkness, which was filmed in black and white with an influence of 50's style B-movie sci-fi, created by a collective called the HP Lovecraft Historical Society.
The festival's competition results were as follows:
Screenplay competition:
Runner up = Death Wind By Travis Herrmann & Jim Pinto
Winner = The Old Man and the Box by William BarnettShort Film competition (Judged by Guillermo del Toro, video to come):
Runner up = Black Goat by Joseph Nanni
Winner (tie) = Static Aeons by Gib Patterson
Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven by Christopher Saphire & Don Thiel IIIBest of Fest = The Whisperer in Darkness by Sean Branney (director, writer) and Andrew Leman (prod, writer), founders of the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society
The next H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival is scheduled to be held in October of this year at Portland, Oregon. More information can be found at http://www.hplfilmfestival.com/
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