THE UNNAMABLE

New England, colonial era: in an old house, a sorcerer, after hiding for years a horrible secret, dies under mysterious circumstances. 1980s, near Arkham: a friendly group of three students from Miskatonic University, in a cemetery, have fun trying to scare each other by telling chilling episodes that occurred in the sinister villa, now sealed for centuries. Despite the jokes, one of them, Randolph Carter, is convinced that something "unnamable" hides in that ancient dwelling. Naturally, his friends do not believe these nonsense, and obviously, the best proof of virility to not disappoint in front of the opposite sex is to spend a night in the abandoned house. In 1923, the master of horror H.P. Lovecraft wrote a short but remarkable story titled "Unnamable" (unnamable), concerning one of his favorite themes: the ancient colonial villas of Providence long uninhabited, with their severe and sometimes threatening architecture. Unfortunately, as all fans of the writer know, cinematic adaptations of Lovecraft's works are singularly rare, and they are usually low-budget productions. In this celluloid desert, Ouellette's film is certainly a colossus, but like the few other Lovecraftian films, "The Creature" fails in the attempt to fully recreate the dreamlike and unsettling atmosphere that permeates the pages of the stories of the "Recluse of Providence". Despite this, it is certainly necessary to highlight the qualities of the film, which manages to blend two seemingly distant genres like a more gothic story, in a style almost "Poeian" of HPL, with the youthful horror of the 1980s, based on couples of horny college students who are invariably eliminated by the monster of the turn when consuming their relationship. The film offers moments of real terror in the sudden appearances of the creature, by the way, with a look surely successful, and in the various killings where blood and dismemberment are absolutely not spared. In fact, this is the biggest divergence between the story and the film: while the first is essentially a dreamlike story based on vague memories of the haunted house by something unimaginable, Ouellette goes well beyond this: the characters decide to enter in person, for a stupid bet, into the gloomy dwelling, receiving a horrible yet real proof of the existence of the "Unnamable", considered an implacable evil. As already mentioned, the screenplay and direction of the film prove to be well suited and many details demonstrate an excellent knowledge of the writer's work, such as the choice of the protagonist's name (Randolph Carter, protagonist of many Lovecraft stories, as well as his "ironic" alter ego), or the already mentioned Miskatonic University and the presence of the Necronomicon (none of these elements are present in the short story but are borrowed from the Lovecraftian universe and used wisely), but on the other hand, the film also turns out to have its limits, in particular, the cast is not very brilliant, among which are: Charles King, Mark Stephenson and Alexandra Durrell, all very limited in their stereotyped roles of nerds, screaming college students. Unfortunately, from this point of view, "The Creature" reveals itself to be "only" a good teenage horror of its era, like "Scuola di terrore", and many others. It is also interesting to remember that "The Creature" had a sequel in 1993, still directed by Ouellette, titled "Unnmable 2 - The Deposition of Randholph Carter"; also taken from a story by Lovecraft from 1919, therefore written before "The Unnamable", always belonging to the "Randolph Carter cycle" (through the gates of the silver keys, in search of the mysterious Kadath...), but with no connection to the subsequent "Unnamable". In conclusion, "The Creature" will certainly be a film appreciated by connoisseurs of HPL's work, despite its vaguely adventurous and carefree cut, but some might find it too simple or predictable, already seen at times. Curiosity: in the story "The Unnamable", the author drew inspiration from one of his real habits, night walks with friends in the ancient cemeteries of New England.