Necronomicon (1993) Online

Brian Yuzna's Necronomicon features a wraparound in which Jeffrey Combs portrays H.P. Lovecraft, circa 1932. Prosthetic makeup, in combination with Comb's naturally high voice, results in what is probably the best portrayal of H.P.L. we're likely to see. However, those familiar with Lovecraft's life will be amused (or perhaps annoyed) to see him depicted as an occult believer/action hero who gains access to a copy of the Necronomicon through subterfuge. A somewhat similar liberty was taken by novelists Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson in their 'Illuminatus' trilogy; and, of course, Robert Bloch based a character in 'Shambler From The Stars' on Lovecraft. (With H.P.L's permission, however.)

Necronomicon is a melange of Lovecraftian characters, stories, and themes. The Deep Ones, Cthulhu, the strange high house in the mist at Kingsport Head and, of course, the dreaded Necronomicon itself are all reasonably well treated. H.P.L.'s short story 'Cool Air' provided some inspiration for one of the film's segments.

Lovecraft's stories - notoriously short on dialog and female characters - do not easily lend themselves to direct cinematic adaptation. Consequently, Brian Yuzna deserves credit for extracting many essential elements from the Mythos and presenting them in a way contemporary horror audiences can appreciate. Necronomicon may offer a bit too much gore for some tastes; but as far as I'm concerned, even loose adaptations of Lovecraft's work are better than none at all.

Necronomicon is a horror anthology, loosely based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft regular and B-movie icon Jeffrey Combs gets to perform as Lovecraft himself in the wraparound story for this movie, which involves Lovecraft reading stories from the 'Necronomicon' inside a library.

The first story, titled "The Drowned" follows the story of a house in which a man resurrected his dead wife and son with the help of the Necronomicon. This tale is directed by Christophe Gans, the same man that went on to direct the French horror hit "Brotherhood of the Wolf". This tale is well directed, Christophe manages to create the right atmosphere for the house, and the special effects are surprisingly well executed, especially upon the appearance of the demon god towards the end. Surprisingly, it is the story that lets this tale down. After a delightful sequence in which we see an elderly man, consumed by the loss of his family, throw his bible into the fire and then resurrect his family with the Necronomicon; the tale is unable to suitably follow it up, and the ending disappoints as it doesn't go anywhere; it doesn't have a point to it and it leaves it feeling rather empty.

The second tale is without doubt the best of the three and is worth the film's running time on it's own. This tale, titled "The Cold" and based on the Lovecraft story "Cool Air" follows the story of a reporter that is sent to a woman's house to investigate a series of murders. The lady of the house tells her story of how the murders occurred and through this story, a great sense of mystery and intrigue is built up and it makes you want to find out what the truth is behind the events. Unlike the first tale, this tale is not skilfully directed, and also unlike the first tale; it has a story that is more than enough to carry it despite this. This tale also features a predictable, but non the less satisfying twist at it's conclusion.

The third and final tale of the three, titled "Whispers", is the darkest of the bunch. This tale is about a policewoman that follows a criminal, known as "The Butcher" into an old abandoned house. This story is directed by the accomplished horror director; Brian Yuzna, whom horror fans will recognise instantly as the producer of the horror classic "Re-Animator" and the underrated "From Beyond", as well as the director of both the Re-Animator sequels, and the under acclaimed horror gem; "Return of the Living Dead part 3". His dark and repulsive style is shown abundantly in this tale. Despite its dark and creepiness, this is, unfortunately, the weakest of the three tales. This is a shame because it has a great set up, and it does feature some really nice moments, such as the brain dead cop and the atmospheric 'cave'. This tale is also the goriest and most horrifying of the three, and its lack of a coherent plot is most definitely its downfall.

The film is finished off with the conclusion to the wraparound tale, which stars Jeffrey Combs. The conclusion feels rather rushed, and is something of a rip-off of the ending of the first tale. This is a shame because the film ends on a limp note rather than an exciting one, and it therefore doesn't leave a good taste in the viewer's mouth.

Necronomicon is not essential viewing, or even recommended viewing; but if you just want a film that will entertain you for 90 minutes, then you could do a lot worse.

Like the other horror trilogy I saw recently, "Tales From The Darkside", "Necronomicon" gets progressively better as it goes along. The first story is unspeakably boring, but the second is an improvement (and features a notable performance by David Warner), and the third one comes closer to a convincing depiction/vision of what Hell might look like than perhaps any other horror film ("Hellraiser II", for example). Spectacular gore effects are a highlight throughout. (**)

I was at first, very excited about this film due, to the fact that I am a huge fan of H. P. Lovecraft. But after seeing what amounted to a pathetic version of Creepshow, I was very let down. Don't get me wrong, some of the content was worthy enough to be associated with HP, but much of the film was cheesy and not very engrossing. If you wish to see a Lovecraftian style film, check out In the Mouth of Madness. It is INSPIRED by HP, but not related directly to one of his stories.

Lovecraft's stories don't translate well to film. Much of their effect comes from the personal horror the characters feel at what they're seeing, and it would take a true filmmaking genius to bring something like that across; if such a person has existed they have not taken aim at Lovecraft's works. The other problem is that it's hard to stretch his short stories out into movie length. Those who try, usually introduce elements that distract from the true flavor and atmosphere of the stories. "Necronomicon" falls into that trap, despite preserving the short stories as separate segments. The first story, which combines elements of "The Strange High House in the Mist" and "The Shadow over Innsmouth", among others, is the most successful at preserving the evil and terrifying atmosphere of Lovecraft's works. The second is a direct adaptation of "Cool Air", a story whose one cool concept doesn't adapt well to a segment of this length. The third segment (actually based on "The Nameless City" and not "The Whisperer in Darkness" as some here have said) winds up being a hamhanded gorefest with no finesse and only a casual relationship to Lovecraft's work. It's not as though gore wasn't an element in Lovecraft's stories, with characters being "torn to ribbons" and all; but it always takes the form of horrifying and unspeakable things that happen and is never present for cheap thrills' sake as it is here. If you're a fan of Lovecraft's stories, you'll probably want to see it. You might not like it very much, but you'll want to see it anyway. If you really like cheesy horror films, it'll entertain you. But if you want a good horror film or a good adaptation of H.P.Lovecraft's works, keep moving.

This movie was okay, considering Lovecraft's ideas are hard to portray on the screen. Each story stayed true to Lovecraft's horror, though the last was leaning towards the modern version of horror (gory, bloody, etc) The acting was much better than I expected, especially the last story. The sequences with Lovecraft are taking many licenses with his real self, but then again, his real personality doesn't need to be shown to enjoy his stories. I enjoyed the low budget, yet quality, effects as well.

(for the MSTies, watch for the Necronomicon door sequence near the end, amusingly similar)

H.P. Lovecraft's gloomy short stories about obsession and the supernatural monsters that lurk all around us unnoticed by society at large naturally lend themselves to a multi-storied omnibus fright film format. Well, this trio of truly terrifying tales does the master full justice, combining both supremely sepulchral midnight-in-the-graveyard moodiness and jump-out-at-you startling straightforward shocks with often genuinely frightening results.

First yarn, "The Drowned" - Wealthy Bruce Payne inherits a crumbling old seaside hotel that unbeknown to Payne has a foul carnivorous demon residing in the murky basement. Directed with exceptional style and grace by Chistopher Gans, this particularly chilling humdinger is highlighted by Richard Lynch's touching turn as a bitter man who renounces his faith in God after losing his wife and child in a shipwreck and direct-to-video erotic thriller perennial Maria Ford's strikingly eerie, ethereal and even strangely sexy cameo as Payne's dead girlfriend who's resurrected as a ghostly, pallid, mossy-haired zombie.

Second vignette, "The Cold" - Sweet young runaway Bess Myer rents a room at a shabby apartment with a lonely, reclusive scientist (movingly played by David Warner) residing on the weirdly freezing top floor. When Myer befriends the sad, fragile Warner she learns that he has discovered the secret of immortality, which not surprisingly comes at an especially terrible price: Warner can only remain alive by constant fresh injections of human spinal fluid! Director Shusuke Kaneko manages to milk considerable poignancy from this haunting parable about the horrible price one must pay for cheating fate, coaxing fine supporting performances from Millie Perkins as Warner's protective landlady, Gary Graham as Myers' abusive, incestuous brute stepbrother, and Dennis Christopher as a foolishly snoopy newspaper reporter.

Third and most gruesome anecdote, "Whispers" - Gung-ho female cop Signy Coleman and her more sensible partner Obba Babatunde stumble across the dark, dank and forbidding underground lair of these ancient subterranean monsters with a voracious appetite for bone marrow. Director Brian Yunza eschews the spooky atmospherics of the previous segments for a graphically visceral approach that's crudely effective in a gory, mondo disgusto, gross you out hideous sort of way. "Return of the Living Dead" 's Don Calfa and Judith Drake are wonderfully quirky as the nutty old couple guardians of the savage flesh-eating flying beasts who need new victims to keep their race thriving for all eternity.

All these stories in and of themselves certainly smoke, as does the thankfully solid wraparound narrative starring Lovecraft movie vet Jeffrey ("Re-Animator," "From Beyond") Combs, who's perfectly cast as the author himself who visits a secret library to check out the legendary tome of evil "Necronomicon" and almost gets killed in the process. Barely recognizable under heavy make-up which makes him resemble a gaunt Bruce Campbell, Combs simply shines in a role he was seemingly destined to portray. Moreover, the uniformly superb special effects by such dependable artists as Tom Savini, Todd Masters and Screaming Mad George are as ghastly and grotesque as they ought to be, the splatter is likewise properly revolting and plentiful, the tone suitably creepy throughout, and, most importantly, the individual stories ultimately cohere into a provocative and penetrating meditation on man's tenuous hold on reality, exposing a scary netherworld that if intruded upon by us stupidly inquisitive mortals can prove to be quite deadly and dangerous. A superior horror anthology.

Good props, good music, good scenery, good lighting and competent actors with Jeffrey Combs at the helm of the wrap around make this movie worth watching. The main plot is kept delightfully simple - H.P. Lovecraft goes to a monastery library to catch a forbidden glimpse of the Necronomicon. He steals the key to a gated chamber where he finds a safe containing the Necronomicon; setting off a mysterious mechanism that apparently locks him inside.

He then sits at the table; flip open his writing tablet and rather than copying pages, he proceeds to write three stories inspired by the fishy effervescence of alien magic contained therein.

That's when things get weirder than they already are. Not for the character, but for the viewer. The average viewer is not nearly familiar enough with Lovecraft's writings to understand how he portrayed the traditional family unit, and therefore how to understand what the movie producers were trying to translate onto film.

Family and procreation in Lovecraft stories were at best only relevant in terms of interbreeding with aliens (shadow over innsmouth); at worse a social mechanism that has the capacity to de-evolve humans into violent primates (lurking fear). Lovecraft made no bones about it - the family that stays together, gets strange together.

Without a lens of literary context to see this movie through, it's no wonder that it ultimately translates into an anti-abortion message. You have one character that is a perpetually pregnant woman; and another character that is bargaining to continue her pregnancy to save her own life. Perhaps the producers of this movie should have considered how these elements would affect the female half of the audience rather than just hoping everyone would "get it."

With that said, I have no reason to believe that there is an anti- abortion message in this movie; particularly since the first story burns a Bible early on. If that doesn't establish where this movie stands in terms of religious values, I'm not sure what will. Also, a horror movie is probably the worst place to try to send an anti-abortion message; and certainly not from aliens that drink human bone marrow like a milkshake.

I wanted to give this a 10 out of 10, as they did a great job with what they had to work with. However, since literary context is necessary, I am taking it down a notch since I have to, once again, encourage people to read Lovecraft to understand what's going on. For me, the ideal Lovecraft movie would not only accurately express his literary vision; but in such a way that the mainstream audience can understand it too.

I just KNEW this would be bad, but I had no idea how bad it would be. "Necronomicon" is a composite film made up of three separate shorts based on Lovecraft stories... and I use the word "based" VERRRRY loosely here. The first tale begins as a strange adaptation of "Rats in the Walls" and then seems to make a right turn through "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward", "The Dreams in the Witch House" and "The Call of Cthulu" without coming off very coherently at all, although the surreality of it is kind've cool. The second feature is a somewhat more coherent version of "Cool Air" which is more or less true to the original, though featuring a female lead along with a typically wonderful performance from David Warner. Lastly we're presented with something purporting to be "The Whisperer in Darkness" but ends up as some nonsensical dream/nightmare conglomeration that aspires to be Fulci but fails. By the end of this piece I had no idea what was going on! In the meantime, Jeffrey Coombs hams it up as usual in a series of linking cut scenes portraying HP meddling with arcane tomes in a bizarre temple or something--William Castle, eat your heart out! A very hit and miss affair that fails to interpret Lovecraft even more spectacularly than most of the others before it.

*A few spoilers, perhaps.* The first two stories were all right. Especially, for being stories within stories (Lovecraft's trademark). Richard Lynch was brilliant, as the sea captain who goes temporarily insane with grief. And, David Warner was absolutely convincing as the true-love-starved immortal, ultimately betrayed by his over-possessive housekeeper. The third one, though? YECHH! The only thing truly Lovecraftian about it was the small touch of Negrophobia in it. *Sad but true; HPL was a closet racist. Just read "Call of Cthulu!"* I guess the nicest touch was the subtle homage to a similar anthology: the British b/w classic "Dead of Night." The wrap-around segment, and its conclusion, strongly reminded me of the former! I guess, in all fairness, that my final score for this movie boils down to: 2.7 stars.

When you see a classic splatter movie like this, you really appreciate the genius of Special FX artists like Screaming Mad George, who worked on this film. God, all these CGI films out now SUCK big-time.....What has happened in the past 10 years?? You just can't beat some good rubber monster and some buckets of fake blood! All these computer-generated FX look far too clean, too cold, and don't have the clout of the old-style FX! Now I am a big, big fan of H.P. Lovecraft, and have quite a few films based on his mythology. This one is really quite excellent, with an amazing impersonation of Herbert by Jeffrey Combs, many other genre-favourite actors, and some very disturbing imagery indeed! Sweet dreams...

"Necronomicon" is one of the best movie adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft has ever done. it has everything: flying demo bats, long-dead-and-alive people,crazy monks,and of course The Chululu. My favorite part of the story of the film is "The Cold" with my cult favorite versatile British actor David Warner as the OLDER mad doctor who kills people for their spinal fluid,that's the best second anthology of the movie,you should see the ending of it,very awesome! David Warner had done two other movie adaptations of Lovecraft was "Cast A Deadly Spell" and "In The Mouth Of Madness". "Necronomicon" rocks!!!!!!

Loosely based on HP Lovecraft's necronomicon, this film follows 3 short stories and a wraparound story. The First story, "rats in the walls" follows a wealthy business man who inherits a mansion, only to discover there's a giant tentacled monster living under it. The second, "The cold", is easily the worst of em' all. It follows a Woman who recently moved to Boston, only to discover the apartment above holds a nasty secret. The third, which I found terrifyingly, has a female cop and her partner apprehends a suspect into a factory, only to discover something nightmarish waiting for them within. The wraparound story follows HP Lovecraft reading these tales, found in the Necronomicon. I have very mixed feelings about this film. While the first one is the most Lovecraftian of them all, it was really hard to enjoy it because it plods along quite sluggishly (Maybe the fact that I watched the film at three o' clock in the morning contributed to this?), despite some very interesting-looking creature effects (By Screaming Mad George no less). the second one was hilarious. bad plot, bad direction, very little suspense, Horrible (Predictable) ending. The only thing note-worthy in this segment is the presence of David Warner (Titanic)who, as usual, gives an excellent performance. Too bad the rest of the segment sucked. The third, in my opinion, was creepy, bizarre, and terrifying. Signy Coleman gives an excellent performance as Sarah, a female police officer stuck in, well, uh....hell. Or something like it. Loaded with style, gore, strong effects (Some weak stop-motion notwithstanding), and lots os sick and crazy images, This is easily the best (If least Lovecraftian) of the bunch. I was very amused by the wraparound story, in which genre favorite Jeffery Combs ("Re-Animator", "From Beyond" and "the Frighteners", among other things) and a cool effects-packed finale in which a cosmic, extra-dimensional monster bites some poor schmuck's head off, which is always entertaining. I Guess the last Segment and the Wrap-around story are really the highlights. This film really could have been great if it wasn't for the truly awful second segment. I mean, the plot itself had potential, but the execution itself sucks, due to a doofy screenplay, and poor direction from Shusuke Kaneko (Who had previously directed nothing but Godzilla and Gamera films--Why he was picked to direct I can't say). The performances, as I mentioned before, were Above Average. Screaming Mad George, one of the most talented and underrated effects artists of all time, cooks up plenty of gore and creatures, many of which are very imaginative (The giant, one-eyed, tentacle-flinging monster at the end of the first segment was especially impressive) and well realized with the low-budget the film was clearly made upon. The film is overall decent but the slow-moving first segment and the atrocious second made it much, much less entertaining that it could have been. My rating for "Necronomicon"--4.5/10.

Awesome Lovecraft anthology. I'm not sure any of the three stories actually has anything much to do with Lovecraft's work or if they're just inspired by it. The wraparound segment has Jeffrey Combs playing Lovecraft. He sneaks his way into the secret room in a library where the Necronomicon is kept and proceeds to read three stories from it. The first story, "The Drowning," has Richard Lynch as a man who kills his wife and son in an accident and proceeds to turn to the elder gods to resurrect them. The second story, "The Cold," has David Warner as a mad scientist who is possibly over 100 years. He falls for young tenant Bess Meyer and reveals his secret of immortality. The third segment, "Whispers," stars Signy Coleman as a cop who follows the man who kidnapped her partner and lover (Obba Babatunde) into the depths of an old apartment building. All these stories are very goofy, but they are, when it comes down to it, totally freaky. The practical gore effects are superb and are at least on par, if not better than the Stuart Gordon Lovecraft adaptations.

A movie based on HP Lovecraft's fascination of the Necronomicon (The Book of dead names). It begins with HP (Jeffrey Combs [including, fake chin]) entering a library (belonging to an order/cult of monks). He goes into the forbidden section containing a certain book. Unknown to its keeper(s) HP opens the book obtaining inspiration from it's pages, then writes down the following stories: The Rats in the Walls, Cool Air and The Whisperer in Darkness. Which of course are shown graphically within the film.

A lovely and well-presented movie, though it reject's then places in certain details onto HP's stories. Jeffrey combs was the perfect candid for this film being a HP Diva. A definite 8/10

Neither the slick production values, half-decent creature-effects nor the presence of the great Jeffrey Combs (as H.P. Lovecraft) are enough to overcome a basically dull plot, or should I say plots as there are four short stories rolled into one here and all of them are quite forgettable. Plenty of slimy beasts and a few scantily-clad lovelies amount to little more than an uninspired movie that would have been better left unmade.

Lovecraft's, and the other writers of the common mythos' work is SO difficult to translate to film. Attempts to illustrate the alluded-to but barely observed horror of most of the genre tend to fail because the substance is not generally visual. It is a state of mind. Lovecraft paints a picture of terrified paranoia where the haunted protagonist is alone in what he sees, trapped in the inability to communicate the reality of his dire predicament except by rambling about shunned this and forbidden that... It is rarely possible to get inside the head of the victim to see what he sees, because stripped of its "out of the corner of your eye" fleeting impression playing on your mind quality, it also tends to get stripped of its horror and become fairly standard Gothic, splatter or just camp. Reanimator is a fine case of camp. Dunwich Horror is Gothic..

The only superlative translation, in my opinion, is Dagon, a fairly close following of The Shadow Over Innesmouth, as I recall. Strangely, something that captures the feel rather than any particular plot would be Carpenter's Mouth of Madness... a portrait of a state of mind rather than encounters.

I think that Necronomicon - NOT "the book of the dead" but more properly "the book of dead names" or a similar near translation - is a film that attempts to look behind the veil rather than standing in a panic contemplating the veil itself. In doing this, it runs all sorts of risks and I believe that it largely succeeds. The stories have been discussed enough here, but the final buckets of blood and latex offering actually carries the idea with it of the utter alienness that is the horror that Lovecraft perceives. Unfortunately most viewers revulsion will be at the splatter and sticky redness, and barriers will go up at "yet another" bag of sinews chucked around the studio as the automatic filing system kicks in and the brain immediately categorises it with chainsaw massacres and cannibal holocausts and various other films showing interplanetary roadkill or hell-raised skin-tearing as the end point in audience manipulation.

If we can bear with the direction a little, It's not the "Ickiness" that revolts us.. it's only a vehicle to carry the REAL horror of complete and utter "lostness" - the certainty of a destiny that is so awful that it's something that medieval visions of Hell can only vaguely hint at. Lovecraft was genuinely terrified by it and afraid to look at it head on because he believed that it would drive him completely mad... and if we try and do it for him we either miss the point or see smoke and mirrors. Film is not the best medium for this. Literature, and maybe music and drama tends to work better, but we demand films, and the best we get is interpretation that runs the risk of the viewer not "getting it." Usually, of course, the film maker doesn't "get it" either, which is why most Gothic horror becomes so camp, translated to screen, although this works rather well as entertainment in different ways.Thankyou, Hammer.)

Necronomicon is a brave effort to translate Lovecraft's vision to the screen. It's not perfect by any means, but I'm still going to give it 9 for valour

Theoretically speaking, this is one horror movie concept that couldn't possibly have gone wrong! "Necronomicon" is an anthology embracing three lesser known stories (at least, to me they were lesser known) by the legendary novelist H.P. Lovecraft, filmed by an interesting variation of directors, and moreover linked together through an inventive wraparound story that revolves on Lovecraft himself; as played by Jeffrey Combs (who else?). Heck, even the title vividly speaks to the imagination of us, true horror fanatics, as surely everyone will recognize the "Book of the Dead" either from previous Lovecraft adaptations/novels and, if not, certainly from Sam Raimi's splatter-classic "The Evil Dead". Basically, we've got every necessary ingredient to cook up a wondrously delicious horror smörgåsbord here, but somehow the end result nevertheless left a rather sour aftertaste in my mouth… Each and every separate Lovecraft short story is superb, and more than often embodies the true definition of sheer genuine & terror, but the teleplays are underdeveloped and never fully capture the dark and ominous atmosphere that Lovecraft had in mind when he wrote them. Considering the surreal themes and sinister setting, these should have been stories that spontaneously inflict nightmares and cause phobias amongst the viewers, but sadly it never comes to that. You feel emotionless the entire time. It's actually hard to explain … "Necronomicon" seemingly has it all, from solid subject matter over stylistic filming aspects onto nauseating gore effects, and yet something essential is missing.

The wraparound, as stated above, introduces Lovecraft himself sneaking into a dark & secret library chamber, because he heard the place hides a copy of the allegedly mythical book The Necronomicon. With the suspiciously eerie librarians observing his every move, Lovecraft reads to us three stories of the macabre. The Necronomicon is simultaneously the leading thread running through the stories, as all the protagonists come into contact with the book one way or the other. The first segment has a Swedish heir returning to the ancient family hotel by the seaside. He learns that his ancestor lost his beloved wife and child in a shipwreck, but managed to bring them back to life through forces hidden inside the hotel. Since Edward also was responsible for the dead of his girlfriend in a car crash, he hopes to discover the secret and bring her back from the other side as well. Obviously not the best of ideas … "The Drowned" is my personal least favorite story of the three, but I do have to acknowledge it's a stylish contribution. Director Christophe Gans ("Brotherhood of the Wolf") takes the maximum out of the marvelous seaside location and the morbid old hotel. The flashback, with Richard Lynch as the archetypal sea captain ancestor, is masterfully handled as well. However, Bruce Payne's stone-cold performance as well as the hideously abrupt anti-climax plummet the quality level enormously. The second story, entitled "The Cold", is my choice for best segment. It's about a sleazy journalist who knocks at the door of a large mansion and brutally confronts the lady of the house with the mystery of why so many people vanished after having visited this place. She has no option but to tell him about her mother's acquaintance with the brilliant previous tenant – Dr. Madden – who developed a unique but sinister method for preserving his youth and virility. One slight disadvantage, though, it requires a lot of human spinal fluid and must remain safeguarded in a cold environment. Personally, I'm a sucker for horror stories revolving on the quest for immortality (like "The Rejuvenator" and all the movies about Countess Bathory); especially when they feature an outrageously over-the-top mad scientist character, like David Warner in this case! "The Cold" has a marvelous story-within-story structure that nearly isn't confusing as it sounds and benefices from the most properly "finished" screenplay of all three stories. This is also the only segment that finds the exact right balance between juicy gross-out effects and high level of tension. Not bad for a Japanese director that allegedly couldn't speak a word of English on the set! The third and final story has director Brian Yuzna's trademarks all over it. "Whispers" is an indescribably nasty and sickening illustration of what pure hell is most likely to look like. This segment is lacking substantially, but you'll nevertheless stare with your eyes and mouth wide open, as it is a non-stop spitfire of pitch-dark and ghastly images. Unfortunately they are not really disturbing or scary … just very, very unpleasant! Two police officers are chasing a car down to a grim neighborhood and literally end up in a subterranean labyrinth of terror. Words even file to describe the atrocities they encounter there, including petrifying elderly folks, flying carnivorous demons and extraterrestrial butchers. I like a good portion of gore and bloodshed, but this particular segment was quite unbearable.

In general, "Necronomicon" is definitely a mixed bag. Those who claim that the 90's only brought forward derivative, inferior and non- atmospheric horror turkeys should check it out because it's certainly one of the better efforts of the decade. Still, like that other 90's Lovecraft adaptation "The Resurrected", this movie can't hold a candle to some of the earlier – albeit admittedly loosely interpreted – movies based on the writer's repertoire, like "Re-Animator" and "From Beyond". I'm sure many people will beg to differ, but I think even Lucio Fulci came closer to capturing the real mindset of Lovecraft when he looked for inspiration for "City of the Living Dead" and "House by the Cemetery".

I see others lambasting this movie, but can't agree - so I need to weigh in on the side of reason.

While this is certainly not a must-see timeless classic, it's a competently-executed B movie with reasonably good special effects and a few faces who have been seen in bigger and better things. The style of the movie is similar to "Creepshow"; i.e. several small, unconnected stories told with a wraparound that sort of takes the place of a narrator. Imagine three episodes of "Tales from the Crypt" spliced together and you've got a good idea of the way the film is structured.

All of the film versions of Lovecraft's works - and yes, I HAVE seen all of them in existence, as far as I know - were B movies, and the quality of this particular one is towards the upper middle of the pile. Yes, there are rubber monsters. However, they are quite well done for the era and budget that spawned this movie.

If you want to see an example of a Lovecraft film adaptation I think is at the top of the quality scale, see Dagon. But don't shun this movie either; if you're a Lovecraft fan, this oeuvre is not to be despised.

Usually I don't like movies that have three stories with a wrapper around them but here it works fine. The first story is pretty good, the second is pretty dull and the last is awesome. The wraparound is one of the best in this type of movie. The first story was good with a great amount of creepy monster effects and scary moments. The second story left me cold. The third story was great with like demons and stuff. The wraparound would have been better as a separate story but it is very entertaining with a great ending (just like the first and third stories). Four stories in one film and three of them are great! This is a gritty classic.

There is nothing good to say about this film. The stories are bland, the effects are laughable, the actors are mediocre and the characters are pathetic stereotypes. I almost cringed at the inane dialogue. There are so many other better anthologies out there that don't waste your time and don't insult your intelligence. Lovecraft fans may be delighted by the movie (and may recognize some of the stories) but that is the only single fact to entice anyone to watch this. Although I am not a fan, I almost felt sorry that his stories be butchered in such a way as to present a sickening piece of cinematic trash as this. The only thing horrific about this film is that it was made at all.

I could not believe how bad this movie was. It starts out okay, with Combs as Lovecraft seeking the Necronomicon inside a monastery, but when he finds it and starts reading it, the unfortunate viewer must endure 3 tales that are dreary instead of frightening, dull instead of engaging or morose. These stories will not satisfy Cthulhu fans -- they are void of Lovecraft's skill or imagination. This is an hour and a half of my life I'll never get back, wasted on a miserable and unsatisfying film.

I've seen a couple of Lovecraft based movies, and, oddly, all of them were pretty good. I appreciate when a film crew manages to capture the spirit of the book being covered. And from that viewpoint, an HPL movie would hardly show any gore or monsters at all, but, instead, build our expectations through time. The plot would be intense, although not necessarily very dynamic. The final moment of the movie would unveil a grim truth, probably rendering the protagonists insane. So, having set the (in my humble opinion) optimal lovecraftian movie criteria, let's watch Necronomicon! 90% of the movie's budget was probably spent on monster fx - a waste of resources! The acting is not very bright, the characters barely believable. As for the stories, they're a desecration of all things Lovecraft. Unconnected scenes. Almost completely unrelated to any book, and devoid of sense, they made me cover my eyes in shame. Someone here's written in a comment that this movie is for Lovecraft fans only. Boy, were they wrong! If you're a Lovecraft fan, stay away from this movie! Run, like it's the Dunwich horror!. Else, if you're a classical gore flick fan, go ahead, you might like this mindless collage of scenes painted red.

I am a major horror film buff, but this was one of the worst films I have ever seen. Typical of "Special Effects" movie, the story line suffered (or should I say, "What story line????") The gore wasn't even cool gore, just lame! I had to shut it off, and come back to it later. That was the longest 96 minutes of my life. Three story in one movie, but you never really knew when one ended and another began. I actually didn't realize that it was 3 separate stories until I read it here. Lucky for me, I purchased this at the local swapmeet for $1.00, which was actually overpriced by 99 cents. Don't bother with this film, unless you need something to put you to sleep.

This compilation of several grim horror tales is rather weak and is a sad example of the way the horror genre went off the rails during the early nineties. The final part is very gruesome and gory and should appeal to gore hounds if they can sit through the hour of tedium leading up to it. A bit poor frankly.