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Old 9th December 2007, 04:38 PM   #73 (permalink)
j. d. worthington
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Re: And your first Lovecraft tale was ....?

"The Music of Erich Zann", though not one of my earliest, is one of my personal favorites, as well.

As for the film... On the whole, an admirable endeavor, though the ending -- with the window -- is (inevitably, especially given a small budget and limited time constraints) rather disappointing, I felt. Still, it did quite well at capturing most elements of the tale, had the very clever idea of making the protagonist of the story Charles Dexter Ward (during his sojourn in Europe), and had some very nice subtle touches. One thing though: Like so many, Strysik & Co. made the same mistake of thinking that what Zann played was a violin, when it was the mediaeval instrument, the viol... quite a different thing, with a different symbolic meaning (not to mention tonal resonance)....

Here's a brief bit on the film:

The Lurker in the Lobby: A Guide to the Cinema of H.P. Lovecraft

That last note should now read that it is available on The H. P. Lovecraft Collection, vol. 3, which also includes (as the main feature) Out of Mind.....
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