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Adapting the work of weird fiction author H.P. Lovecraft to film is a problematic endeavor. At it's heart Lovecraft's work is the opposite of cinematic. The writer went out of his way to point out that the cosmic madness of his stories was beyond words, even his words. The true horror of the universe would melt our fragile human minds. If abstract adjectives pale to Lovecraft's imagined reality than images are bound to fall short.
But we live in a visual age, and it seems every Lovecraft fan wants to see a "good" Lovecraft film. A movie that is both true to the story and intention of the author but is also an interesting piece in it's own right. What the creators of the film "The Call of Cthulhu" have done is fairly ingenious: they have reversed engineered the concept of an H.P. Lovecraft film. Instead of making a modern film that tries to capture the pulp authors ideas the decided to try making a film that would have been contemporary to Lovecraft himself. In short: a silent film.
The Producer's Note found in the soundtrack to The Call of Cthulhu" shows that they had their heads in the right place when making this film. This brief note should be required reading for anyone unfamiliar with how sound in "silent" films works. Simply put: SILENT FILMS WERE NOT SILENT. Audiences were treated to some of the best local musicians either playing professional scores or improvising with thier personal talents. Either way a movie goer could hear a different soundtrack on multiple viewings of the same film.
Movies are a visual medium. The goal of most directors is to show you something as opposed to have an actor tell it to you. As the old chestnut goes, an image is worth a thousand words. But with the right soundtrack a film maker can shape and funnel those images. A dark sky could be melancholic or sinister, the audio clues will tell you which. With no spoken dialogue in pre-talkie films the soundtrack was even more important. Even the graphic intertitles were brief so that the audience could read them quickly and not slow down the flow of the film. Much of the emotional impact of a silent film is in it's soundtrack. As such much of the success of "The Call of Cthulhu" is dependent on the music composed by Troy Sterling Nies, Ben Holbrook, and Nicholas Pavkovic.
I really enjoy the individual pieces found on the "The Call of Cthulhu" soundtrack. The three composers have created some excellent and evocative songs making this is a CD you can put on and listen to without watching the film. Like Geinoh Yamashirogumi's soundtrack to "Akira" or Jackson Del Rey's "The Battleship Potemkin", "The Call of Cthulhu" stands on it's own. But in the end the only real standard for a soundtrack is how well it works with the film.
"The Call of Cthulhu" is an wonderful soundtrack. It conjures the silent film era without sounding trite. The DVD tries to convey you back in time by being intentionally "grainy". This works to a certain extent but the graininess becomes functionally invisible after the eye gets used to it. It is the songs that make you feel like you are experiencing something vintage.
Like the film these songs are generally dark, like the period the songs aren't delicate. They are frantic, melancholic, and frequently (wonderfully) bombastic. They fit their scenes perfectly. Just as a character can be established by costuming a movie can be defined by it's music. "Call of Cthulhu" is well defined and powerfully evoked by it's soundtrack.
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The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society
http://www.cthulhulives.org/toc.html
Troy Sterling Nies
http://www.troysterling.com/
Ben Holbook
http://www.ben-holbrook.com/
Nicholas Pavkovic
http://nicholaspavkovic.blogspot.com/
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