The Unamable

The Unamable

1988

Director- Jean-Paul Ouellette

Cast- Mark Kinsey Stephenson, Charles Klausmeyer, Alexandra Durrell, Laura Albert, Katrin Alexandre

           

Like many films based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, they are adaptations in spirit only. After all, it’s hard to take a horror so indescribable that it will drive you mad and translate that to a visual medium. Most of Lovecraft’s monsters (or those monsters in movies inspired by him) couldn't be considered "demons" in the usual sense. After all, to believe in the Devil, one has to believe in the Christian God and Lovecraft postulated a universe populated by deities that were both alien and ambivalent towards humanity.  The Unamable however is an exception. The story is on a much smaller scale than the usual mad-wizard-opens-a-gate-to-unkown-realities-releasing-horrors-upon-humanity. Another difference between this and the usual Lovecraft inspired stories is the Unnamable creature itself. With its cloven hooves, horns, and wings, it would look very much at home in any Christian’s nightmares of Hell (unlike most Lovecraftian monsters that look like tentacle porn without the porn).

            The plot concerns an old New England house near the premises of Miskatonic University. In the olden days, an abomination was born and sealed inside the house by its father. Now, hundreds of years later, the house exists as a local legend. A group of college kids end up in the house and are stalked by the abomination within. They are ultimately saved by Randolph Carter, one of their number, who is wise in the ways of the supernatural. Randolph finds a copy of the dread Necronomicon (just left lying around like no big deal right) and uses its secrets to deal with the creature.

            The film is low budget and is the archetypal straight to video 80s horror film complete with a cast of people you don’t know and a synthesizer soundtrack. But it has a lot going for it. Mark Kinsey Stephenson and Charles Klausmeyer make a good team with Stephenson playing the armature occult investigator and Klausmeyer as his skeptical Average Joe friend. Stephenson especially is perfect for the role and I would have liked to have seen him in an entire franchise.

            The real star of the film though is the creature itself. The old school make-up and prosthetics look great and the design is very memorable. Katrin Alexandre does a great job of acting through the make-up and selling the performance. It’s pretty far into the film before we get to see the creature, but when we finally do, its worth the wait.

The Unamable 2: The Statement of Randolph Carter (The Unnamable Returns)

1993

Director- Jean-Paul Ouellette

Cast- Mark Kinsey Stephenson, Charles Klausmeyer, John Rhys-Davies, David Warner, Maria Ford, Julie Strain

            A competent sequel, the first thing you’ll notice is the bigger budget allowed for them to spring for some talent. Genre fans will recognize David Warner (The Omen, Time Bandits, Waxwork) and John Rhys-Davies (Lord of the Rings, Raiders of the Lost Ark and interestingly, also Waxwork) and older fans may recognize cowboy actor Peter Breck (Big Valley). Though fans may not recognize her under the make-up, pin-up model, scream queen and inspiration for F.A.K.K.2, Julie Strain is the creature.

            In this installment we find out the origin of the creature. Hundreds of year ago, an Arkham warlock summoned a demon and bound it too his daughter. Our intrepid heroes successfully separate the two into the demon and the now naked girl (Maria Ford).

            The creature doesn’t look quite as good as in the first film. The original was ghastly white and very lithe. This new version is a more a fleshy tone. Also, Julie Strain, who is very tall and athletic, makes for a more imposing, but somehow less scary creature. I’m not sure why they would use someone as beautiful as Julie and then cover her up, unless it was just so they could list “Penthouse Pet of the Month” in their promos.

Even though the same director helmed both films, this one lacks the creepy ambiance of the first. The story gets a little bogged down with its attempts to be logical, bringing blood samples and quantum physics into the equation, but it provides for a decent continuation of the original story, if not as scary.

Artwork for the blu-ray release

Pin-up model, scream queen, Amazon and inspiration of fantasies wore the latex suit in part 2.