Horror Movie Review: The Unnamable (1988)

You can count on one hand, the amount of really good H. P. Lovecraft movie adaptions. The legendary horror author is ingrained in pop-culture, but his work is often poorly interpreted. So much so that when a film has a title that begins with ‘H.P. Lovecraft’s’, it’s an alarm bell. One that was ringing deafeningly for this movie.

Called The Unnamable and based off the H.P. Lovecraft story of the same name. It was directed, written, and produced by Jean-Paul Ouellette, and stars Charles Klausmeyer, Mark Kinsey Stephenson, Alexandra Durrell and Laura Albert.

Said to be haunted, the abandoned Winthrop house has become the stuff of legends. Especially for the local university students who tell tall tales about its long-passed owner, Joshua Winthrop and his supposed demonic daughter, Alyda.

She is said to still exists within the house, hiding in the walls, screaming in the night and waiting for new victims to come wandering in. The perfect story to scare freshmen and possible new pledges. Of course, no-one really believes the stories to be true. After all, how could such a creature have survived and gone completely undetected all these years?

For a group of students, it’s just a story and the house is the perfect place to hang out and get to know each other a bit more intimately. Unfortunately for them, something wicked does exist inside. Does the demonic Alyda Winthrop actually exist?

The short spoiler-ridden answer is yes, yes she does. It’s worth mentioning that, purely because the only interesting aspect of the movie is the Alyda reveal. Even if it flat out ruins the ‘unnamable’ aspect of the original story. Alyda is very nameable.

To put that in context. Here’s the direct text from the original story when it came to describing the monster:

It was everywhere — a gelatin — a slime; a vapor; — yet it had shapes, a thousand shapes of horror beyond all memory. There were eyes — and a blemish. It was the pit — the maelstrom — the ultimate abomination. Carter, it was the unnamable!

Now, contrast that with what the film shows, and you can see the issue. Something that wouldn’t have existed if this wasn’t proudly declaring itself as H.P. Lovecraft’s The Unnamable. In fact, it probably shouldn’t be called an adaption as it’s barely recognisable.

All of that aside, it’s a decent enough horror flick with some well-done atmosphere, some good effects and a decent amount of blood. The cast, while forgettable, are all up to the task set and the story moves along nicely enough. There’s absolutely nothing to get excited about here, especially if you’re hoping for a good Lovecraft adaption.