(Originally posted on
Back in my army days in the early 90s, I stumbled upon an H.P. Lovecraft VHS movie at the PX called The Resurrected.
I noticed it was an adaptation of a Lovecraft novella called The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (previously adapted as The Haunted Palace in 1963.) Most of the Lovecraft adaptations I’d been previously subjected to had been hideous–and not in a good way. Still, I recognized Dan O’Bannon’s name as the director and was intrigued. I snagged the copy and killed a Saturday afternoon at the barracks to watch it.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t bad. I had read the original novella many years earlier but only vaguely recalled it, so I wasn’t sure how close to the original it was. The movie had a strength that none of the previous movies had–it was written and directed with respect towards the original author’s work.
The novella was set in the 1920s/30s and a lot of the elements were updated to the 90s. The first actor I noticed was John Terry from the famously cheesy fantasy movie Hawk the Slayer circa 1980 (I movie I plan on talking about later.) John plays the private investigator protagonist John March. The second actor I noticed was the amazing Chris Sarandon (from Fright Night, The Princess Bride and Child’s Play) who played Charles Dexter Ward/Joseph Curwen.
Chris owns this role and is easily the best actor in the movie. John Terry does a passable job, but the rest of the acting is a bit uneven. Might have been O’Bannon’s unfamiliarity with directing, as he was primarily known as a screenwriter. Chris plays both roles to the hilt and takes pain to be gloriously and theatrically evil as Curwen, but never overplays his hand, even as he drifts close to scenery-chewing.
The basics of the plot are that the scientist Charles Dexter Ward is acting insane and his wife hires John March to investigate his activities. Charles found an old trunk from a distant ancestor known as Joseph Curwen from 1771. Joseph passed down some ‘ancient scientific knowledge’ (pro tip: in anything by Lovecraft, ‘ancient knowledge’ is generally bad news.) They also find a painting of Joseph Curwen and he’s the spitting image of Charles.
I don’t want to say too much more about the plot, as spoilers abound. I will mention an amusing side note about the production I remember reading about in the early 90s. During a shooting next to a river, one of the prostheses of a mutated body got away from them and floated downstream. It was found by locals later, where it scared the living shit out of them (yes, these things amuse me.)
I re-read the novella a few years later, and to be honest, O’Bannon’s screenplay is superior. Even without the updated elements, the novella is clunky and not Lovecraft’s strongest. This tightens it up without losing the tone. If you like Lovecraft, do yourself a favor and dig up a copy.
