Necronomicon (1993)

Directors:

Christophe Gans
Shusuke Kaneko

Writers:

Brent V. Friedman (screenplay) (parts 1-3 and wraparound)
Brent V. Friedman (story) (part 3 and wraparound)

Release Date:

29 July 1994 (UK)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

From the master of terror comes a chilling tale of unspeakable evil.

Plot:

H.P. Lovecraft, the well-known horror writer, is looking in the late thirties after the book 'Necronomicon'...

Plot Keywords:

H.P. Lovecraft | Anthology | Necronomicon | Blood Splatter | Straight Razor

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Jeffrey Combs	...	H.P. Lovecraft (wraparound)
Tony Azito	...	Librarian (wraparound)
Juan Fernández	...	Attendant (wraparound)
Brian Yuzna	...	Cabbie (wraparound)
Bruce Payne	...	Edward De Lapoer (part 1)
Belinda Bauer	...	Nancy Gallmore (part 1)
Richard Lynch	...	Jethro De Lapoer (part 1)
Maria Ford	...	Clara (part 1)
Peter Jasienski	...	Jethro's Son (part 1)
Denice D. Lewis	...	Emma De Lapoer (part 1)
William Jess Russell	...	Doctor (part 1)
Vladimir Kulich	...	Villager (part 1)
David Warner	...	Dr. Madden (part 2)
Bess Meyer	...	Emily Osterman (part 2)
Millie Perkins	...	Lena (part 2)

Also Known As:

H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon, Book of the Dead (USA) (video title)
Necronomicon: Book of Dead (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for horror violence and gore, and for language.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Brazil:16 | Australia:M | UK:18 | USA:R

Company:

Davis-Films

Trivia:

The fountain pen you see Lovecraft using to make his notes on the Necronomicon is a Sheaffer Calligraphy.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (2002) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Because The Dawn

I'm glad it wasn't a book.

The Necronomicon was the most powerfully satanic book ever written, and one that very few had ever seen. But when horror novelist H.P. Lovecraft stumbles upon it the whole world will experience it's evil.

In H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon (or book of the dead as it is most commonly refered), three short stories are revolved around the master horror maestro's find of the book. Lovecraft's role is played by major horror and Lovecraft movie veteran, Jeffrey Combs, who stumbles upon the book during a visit to a very dark and secret library of the occult. Here he finds a secluded chamber where the book is being locked and closely guarded but somehow manages to sneak his way in. Once finding the book he comes across some passages where the three short stories take mold as he is writing them down in his own special journal. The first story stars Mr. Eerie himself, Bruce Payne, as a troubled man who finds himself the inherited party of a haunted motel, where demons lurk in an underground part of the building. Story number two tells of a reporter who is in search of a doctor (played by one of my personal favorite horror veteran's David Warner) who may have discovered the secret of "cheating death", but finds not only the truth, but much more then even he expected. Lastly is the story of a tough female police officer (Signy Coleman) who, after getting in to a high speed car chase that results in a serious accident, searches for her partner who has been drug from the wreckage and down to a mysterious set of catacombs, by a known and dangerous serial killer aptly named The Butcher.

Now I must say I was expecting a bit more from producer Samuel Hadida who brought to the screen one of my favorite films, the Quentin Tarantino-written True Romance. By no means is this a bad movie. The inspiration is very interesting, but it never really takes off as anything more then a gory effects exhibition. The acting is up to par, especially when you have such a talented group of horror veteran's including the brooding Richard Lynch, who I had not before mentioned but has a very key role in the first story. But the rest of it, including the stories themselves, have absoloutely no chill factor whatsoever. The first story is too short and even though it has its Dracula overtones and tries hard to be a love story, the characters just aren't given enough screen time and chance for the viewers to care about them. However I must admit for a small time feature, the prosthetic effects, especially the ones done on the people in this segment, are very well created. The second story was probably the finest of the three due to the fact that there was a little more emphasis on characterization, as well as a few more attempts at thrilling the audience. It was, however, marred by it's unoriginal location (I mean the first one already took place in a hotel), as well it also covered the cheating death idea which has already been done in countless other horror movies. The third probably had the most originality and gore which I know a lot of horror fans rent these types of movies for, but again is held down by the lack of characterization and one tremendously ridiculous hospital scene. This story also seems to take place in the nineties and Lovecraft found the book in what appeared to be the thirties, so I don't know, you do the math.

I'm trying not to cut the film down too much, especially considering it is a collection of short stories written by three different people including Hadida, Brian Yuzna and Shusuke Kaneko, but I just figured that with the veteran actors they had and the book and writer they were drawing influence from they would have tried to rely a little more on story and a little less on second rate effects.

Now the way to achieve this goal is to first be willing to fork out more money, and the second is to give the actors more then seven minutes of dialogue in half an hour. The producers should have also directed a little more money towards set design, and less on the earlier mentioned fx.

But then again, maybe they were just trying to make it a typical gore ridden horror film.

So please to those of you reading this review, don't get me wrong, Necronomicon is not a terrible movie. As a matter of fact, for horror fans, it is worth watching especially for the cast. However if you want to sit through ninety minutes of horror, maybe you should sit back and enjoy the classic horror movies that this movie seemingly drew inspiration from, like Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula or any one of the first two Evil Dead movies. Or if your really lucky, you may find your very own copy of the actual Necronomicon and you won't even have to bother with this one.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 10