I recently had the opportunity to attend the venerable (29th year) H.P. Lovecraft film Festival in Portland, Oregon. The HPLFF prides itself on showing features and shorts produced by individual filmmakers and small production companies. What they present over a two and one-half day program is definitely of mixed quality, but then, even the finest wine has its dregs.
One of the full length features presented – definitely not the dregs – was “The Letter.” It was the world premier at the festival and the director and principal actor/producer were present for interview purposes.
“The Letter” is a tale which uses some of the tropes developed by Lovecraft in his own tales – rural locales, familiar surnames, creatures from the mythos and so forth. However, the story here is basically a tale of an estranged, wealthy commercial family, a missing daughter, and a ruthless town gangster.
The story opens in Arkham, Massachusetts where Johnathan Ackley (Shane Simmons – “Once Upon A River”) receives a letter from a previously unknown uncle located near the hamlet of Dunwich. Although an introspective youth, Jonathan decides to travel to meet this “uncle” who is supposedly dying.
He arrives at the isolated estate, greeted by the surly butler (Dennis William Grimes – “Night Shift”), who takes him to his uncle, Lord Barksdale (John Judd – “61st Street”), who turns out to be very vigorous. Barksdale explains that his daughter, Emily (Marin Hughes), is missing and asks Johnathan to find her. But in order to do so he needs to travel into the hamlet of Dunwich, which is controlled by crime boss Richard Armatige (James Farruggio), who controls Dunwich and may have abducted Emily.
The story involves so many typical Lovecraftian, Poe-esque, and other tropes that it is impossible to describe without giving away too many details. Despite that, it is well told, beautifully photographed, and well performed.
Director/writer Vincent Shade was present for the screening and described the arduous journey from conception to final print that the project went through. Financial difficulties and the covid pandemic were major problems, but on top of those, the war in Ukraine, where the post production CGI was to be done, greatly hampered the project.
Two locations predominate in the film: the Barksdale mansion, usually at night and lit by candles, and the hamlet of Dunwich. The actual setting is a famous historic house, the Hegeler-Carus mansion, in LaSalle, Illinois, for which the filmmakers received permission. The elaborate period setting was beautifully photographed in he subdued light by cinematographer Camrin Petramale (“Summer of Soul”). Standing in for Dunwich is the historic assemblage Midway Village, located in Rockford, Illinois. Photography also took place in these vintage buildings, mostly at night.
Finally, the musical score, expressly written by Andrea Grant for the project, was beautifully performed by a 100+ member European orchestra.
The film does have its faults, primarily due to the script by Vincent Shade and John Richard. The first objection is to a practice all too common among story writers who seek to add to the Lovecraftian oeuvre: they use names and places from the original stories for the cache’ that brings, but with too little regard for the diminution of the original.
For example, in Lovecraft’s “The Dunwich Horror” terrible otherworldly events are befalling the backwoods residents of Dunwich. Prof. Henry Armitage from a regional university saves the day by countering that evil. But in “The Letter,” the backwoods Dunwich is under the ruthless thumb of the gangster-like Richard Armitage, a brutal abuser of the rights of the citizenry. In effect, hero and villain have exchanged places!
A second complaint is the attempt to reverse some of the well-known prejudices evinced by Lovecraft in his personal writings but also in his professional work. He held racist beliefs and was without religion. In an attempt to counter these the writers not only included a black community within Dunwich, but also a strong Christian element. That would be perfectly acceptable in a modernized tale where broader acceptance of race and faith were commonplace. However it doesn’t fit well when placing the story within Lovecraft’s own period (1890-1937) and subtitling the work “A Lovecraftian Tale.” Either leave the warts or don’t refer to them at all.
These objections aside, followers of the type of fiction, termed Lovecraftian, or just thoae interested in a convoluted period mystery will enjoy “The Letter.”
Runtime: One hour, 50 minutes
Availability: Sometime in early 2025
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