Hi, and welcome back to Portland, OR, and day two of the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival!
I hope you’re having a good time so far! We have a lot of fun to share, so we’d better get to it - so refill your popcorn, grab some Pizza from the joint next to the theater, and off we go again!
SO: Saturday did not start well. I woke up feeling just as exhausted as when I went to bed, and for all that I did my best to get going at a normal pace, I was dragging, and once I got myself together and had breakfast, I realized that there was no way I was going to make the Writer’s Workshop on time. I was so frustrated, sad, and embarrassed that I almost cried. After all, one of the best things a writer can do for her career is to work directly with a publisher to enhance her writing skills, and here I had committed to working with one, and then failed to show up like a slacker temporary employee who decided to party all night before their first day at the office. I had to sit down and refocus my spiritual energies before I was able to plan and execute my redemption, but I succeeded in the end.
So, I went to plan B, and decided to begin with the block of short films at 1pm in order to regain my energy and still see the primary films I wanted to see. Feeling properly refreshed and dolled up again in one of my favorite dresses, I set out to the theater once again. However, I soon realized that my health condition was worse than I realized, and the short walk that I would normally hardly even notice was wearing me out with every step made more difficult by the corset and high heels I wore. However, if a girl can measure success by the number of compliments she receives on her outfits, then Saturday, the 5th of October, was a four star day. 😁
When I arrived at the theater, I was greeted by this cheerful fellow, and since I hadn’t actually entered the theater itself the night before, I hadn’t noticed him. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the works of H. P. Lovecraft, this is an artist’s rendition of the being described at the end of Lovecraft’s tale, “Pickman’s Model,” - a ghoul.
I thoroughly enjoyed the block of short films, which included “Critter,” “Prefigured,” “The Hidebehind,” “The Colour,” and “Lane 9.” My favorite of this group was “The Hidebehind,” in which a man lost in the forest encounters an interdimensional being that initially manifests as what appears to be a tall, thin person in ragged sackcloth that never turns to face the viewer. The man has fallen and hurt his leg, so he initially follows the entity seeking assistance - until he realizes it is merely leading him further into the forest. He frantically tries to get away, but soon discovers that whatever the thing is, it can suddenly change its location by materializing and hiding behind any of the trees in the forest - INCLUDING THOSE THAT ARE FAR TOO THIN TO FULLY CONCEAL ITS BULK. The man is finally captured by the monstrous creature as it reveals itself after hiding behind the very same tree the man was trying to use as shelter from it. CREEPY!
Recognizing the opportunity to rest for a while, I stayed in the same theater for the event that immediately followed: The Dark Adventures Radio Theater production of “The Lurking Fear.” I always enjoy these live productions which are performed, sometimes with audience participation, by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society. This particular show was okay, but not their best work , IMHO; in their defense, “The Lurking Fear” isn’t Lovecraft’s best work, either. I still had fun, and was feeling a bit better by the end, which marked the break in the festival for dinner and shopping. I took the time to peruse the vendors a bit more than I had the night before, and planned to make several small purchases inside my budget.
Upon my return to the theater following a small snack of vegan items I brought from home, I arrived early enough to get a really great seat to see the feature film, “The Haunted Palace,” starring Vincent Price. This particular movie is one of Price’s best, IMHO, and was based on H.P. Lovecraft’s novella, “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.” HOWEVER: for all that seeing the film again for the first time since I was knee high to a grasshopper was a treat, the most interesting and inspiring elements were BEFORE the movie. First, Victoria Price, daughter of Vincent Price, gave the keynote speech, in which she eloquently described the importance of living one’s life from the point of view of LOVE versus Fear, and how, ironically, she had learned about fear from her mother, and all about Love from her father, the character actor whose name was synonymous with horror movies. As she continued, I realized that her perspective was so close to my own that she could have been reading out of the introduction to my current novel. As I stood applauding with everyone in the theater during a standing ovation, I resolved to speak with her, if for no other reason to buy her biography of her father and get her autograph. I got even more than I bargained for, but you’ll hear about that on Day 3.
Next, Victoria interviewed Roger Corman, who had worked with Vincent Price on “The Haunted Palace,” as well as with other famous actors from that age of classic horror, such as Boris Karloff, famous for his portrayal of Frankenstein’s monster and Lon Cheney, Jr., who portrayed the Wolfman and many other monsters. One thing came out especially powerfully from this interview - the people involved with the creation of these cinematic terrors were some of the nicest people you could ever meet, which is quite the opposite of what some people expect. Victoria remarked that a question she received frequently when she was young was, “Is your dad as scary in real life as he is in the movies?” To which she would incredulously reply, “No!’ The conversation between Victoria and Roger Corman provided a feeling of depth to the overall experience that when the movie was presented, my appreciation for all that had gone into it was heightened, reinspiring me to get back to work on getting my most recent horror novel published.
“The Haunted Palace” was followed by another block of short films, including, “Deleria,” ‘Corruption,” “Racconto Natturo (Nocturnal Tale),” “VR Food,” “The Garden,” and “Maw.” One thing that stood out for me in viewing the short films this year was the sheer number of them in which the characters were speaking Portuguese. I didn’t realize that Lovecraftian horror is so popular in Brazil! The best two of these short films were “Deleria” and “Racconto Notturo,” from my perspective. “Deliria” was excellent due to its sheer simplicity: no monsters or gore, but instead the simple story of a man trapped in a nightmare in which he awakens after a nap in an idyllic, deciduous forest meadow to find that his son has vanished. He frantically searches for him, only to return to where he started to find the boy coloring a grid of squares on newspaper. He thankfully gathers his son in his arms and leads him away...and then awakens to the very same scenario, having created the very circumstances of his nightmare. Brilliant!! “Racconto Natturo” was superb for two reasons: one, its hauntingly iconic depiction of a beautiful woman working in the sex industry, and for the manner in which she is freed from a life nearly equivalent to slavery by magically trapping an architect obsessed with her in the place where she once danced, liberating her. I would love to tell you about all of them, but that would take several more blogs!
After the block of shorts, I was very pleased with the day, and I considered going to the after party, but I was still tired, so I decided to go back to my motel instead; after all, it was already 11:30, and walking alone at night in a large city is, sadly, a rather dangerous thing for a woman to do sometimes, in spite of the bright 21st century LED streetlights.
However, this was good news for you, because when I got back to my room, I was inspired to shoot another photo set, which I successfully edited to create “Handle With Kitten Gloves.” If you haven’t seen it yet, I encourage you to do so, as it is, in spite of the bad lighting, one of my best so far.
If you think this sounds fun and interesting, the best is yet to come!
Tune in again tomorrow for The HPLFF, Day 3!
💗🤗💋
- Dhyani
