I have the same questions. And what happened to the monster?
This is just speculation, but maybe Curwen was in total control of the portal? He was obviously using the creature to impregnate women in the village in an effort to breed some sort of new vessel for the Elder Gods to return, which led to the freakish abnormalities seen during Ward's time. It reminded me somewhat of the failed abominations Curwen created in his underground complex in the book, things that still lived a century later. Maybe the creature can only come up during a ritual, a ritual that never got completed before everything fell apart. Now the portal is buried under the remains of the burned house. Again, just speculation.
Since it was based on Lovecraft I was expecting the doctor to use Curwen's own methods against him. In the original story the doctor recites a powerful chant to Curwen which destroys him. But I guess they wanted the old standard "IS THIS THE END???" finale.
Why would you be expecting the doctor to do that when none of that was being set up in the story? At no point did the doctor explore any notes or come across any material that he could use against Curwen like he did in the Lovecraft novel. This movie is more like a stand-alone story that takes a few names and ideas from Lovecraft. It is only vaguely familiar to the book. Yes, it did end with a classic "is this the end?" climax where we see that the evil actually prevails...at least for the time. In a way, Curwen permanently possessing Ward is a nod to the Lovecraft story, seeing that in the book the reanimated Joseph Curwen does indeed kill Charles Dexter Ward and assumed his identity. I had a vague memory of this movie from long ago until finally getting to watch it again on BluRay, and this led to a very surprising reveal when I read the book for the first time earlier this year. I was expecting the plot to unfold more akin to the movie, the spirit of the past possessing Charles Dexter Ward. That vague memory led to me making an assumption about the Lovecraft story, but that assumption made the book far more enjoyable.
I do agree, however, that the mob was a bit too trusting of the Wards at the end.
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Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?
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ben-thayer
11 years ago
"Why would you be expecting the doctor to do that when none of that was being set up in the story?"
A: Because I've read all of HPL's fiction dozens of times over several decades. This was my first viewing of the film. It was merely a thought, which I had fairly early on during the film having read The Case of Charles Dexter Ward more times than I can count. At the time I pondered this there was plenty of time for the plot to move in *any* direction.
Nevertheless it certainly didn't warrant the chiding (and lecture) you felt necessary to dispense.
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TheSolarSailor
11 years ago
Nevertheless it certainly didn't warrant the chiding (and lecture) you felt necessary to dispense.
Oh lord, why do you people on the internet have to be so damned touchy? If that was a "chiding" to you, then maybe you need to get off the internet for good and hide from life. Lock yourself in a bedroom and hide under the covers, lest someone say something that didn't walk on eggshells enough for you and hurt your little feelings. I really can't stand hyper-sensitive people who look for reasons to be offended.
And by the way, feel free to be offended this time around, as this time it was intentional.
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Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?
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