Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageNecronomicon (1993)
Director: Christophe Gans, Shu Kaneko, Brian Yuzna
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
A three-part portmanteau movie based on tales by the horror author HP Lovecraft. With its fluid camera style and lush score, French director Gans' 'The Drowned' is the most stylish segment, in which the inheritor of a 1920s cliff-top hotel, Payne, tries to resurrect his dead girlfriend. Gans' sure build-up emphasises atmosphere and character rather than effects, but the gloopy finale certainly makes up for it. By contrast, Japanese film-maker Kaneko's 'The Cold' is a torpid affair in which mad doctor Warner uses his victims' spinal fluid to sustain eternal life. Capping things off nicely is Society director Yuzna's 'Whispers', which makes a bloody spurt for the gorier end of the horror picture spectrum. Having pursued the furtive driver of a speeding car into a subterranean world, a male and female cop are lured to their fate by a sly old bum and his blind, religious-fanatic wife, who feed them to some flying flesh-eaters. While neither as subtle or stylish as Gans' segment, this certainly delivers old-fashioned gore-a-plenty. (Yuzna also directs a wrap-around segement, 'The Library', in which Lovecraft consults the Necronomicon, a book containing the secrets of the universe.Author: NF
Cast & crew
Director: Christophe Gans, Shu Kaneko, Brian Yuzna
Producer: Samuel Hadida, Brian Yuzna
Cast: Richard Lynch, Bess Myer, Obba Babatunde, Don Calfa, Tony Azito, Bruce Payne, Belinda Bauer, David Warner, Millie Perkins, Signy Coleman, Jeffrey Combs full cast
Genre(s): Horror
Duration: 97 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now