The H.P. Lovecraft Collection, Vol. 1: Cool Air (2004)

	Benjamin K.

3 out of  3  people found this review helpful

It helps to be familiar with the stories before watching these films. Vol. 1 has a main feature and 4 short films. Lovecraft's short story format lends itself naturally to short film format and is the reason so many Lovecraft-themed full length feature films are failures. The feature Cool Air is a great treatment of the original short story. When short stories are stretched to accomodate a long film time, you end up with a lot of non-Lovecratian filler that is 99% garbage and completely ruins the atmosphere and tension. Lovecraft chose (or invented) his words carefully, and his stories are designed to have a very deliberate pacing and the tension/wonder develops slowly until the end. The average modern viewer with little-to-no knowledge of Lovecraft's style will probably not enjoy the film - they can stick to Michael Bay films that move fast and go boom. The short film Nyarlathotep was a bit of a dissapointment and the reason for less than 5 stars.

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	PAUL P.

2 out of  2  people found this review helpful

Very few people touch Lovecraft's work. And even fewer do a good job translating it to film. Many of the films I have seen made with Lovecraft's titles are NOTHING like his stories at all. In fact, most of them would probably have him spinning in his grave over their complete lack of original thought, or the careless lack of preservation of his work. That being said, this version of Cool Air was remarkable. All the story is there. The mood, the vague fealing of unrest. Nothing short of a masterpiece. Lovecraft would have loved it.

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	Michael S.

2 out of  5  people found this review helpful

I would not recommend this unless you are huge fan of Lovecraft.

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