The Last Case of August T. Harrison Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft

Some of these B movies are really good. Loved the low budget special effects. Captured my attention and the ending is excellent.

If this film had been made by students in high school or college, it would be understandable. The only aspects that are at a professional level are some technical ones like consistency of lighting, and decent sound. The main character's acting is okay, too. Otherwise, student-level acting, directing, editing and cheesy effects. To be fair, it is very hard for film to capture the sense of foreboding that Lovecraft's written words convey. Here, instead of foreboding, we have lethargy and dull, lifeless plotting. (Or is it plodding?) Is it the worst attempt at Lovecraft? No. It's not quite as bad as, say, The Deep Ones. And if you're like me--ever on the search for a decent interpretation of Lovecraft-- you'll ignore the bad reviews and give it a go anyway. Sometimes it's worth seeing bad films to better appreciate good ones. And maybe you will like it better than I did. But I doubt it.

Look, this is a VERY low budget movie - shaky camerawork, actors that are mostly amateurs (although the lead role is played by someone relatively known - at least he's acted before, which is more than I suspect the rest of them can say), and the trivia mentioned that the score was written in a 24-hour period. There's a scene where the character views a film and is shocked by it and insists it must be special effects - but whatever he sees isn't actually shown on film because, ya know, special effects are expensive. But if you don't go into it expecting a Hollywood production (like, you couldn't even call it a B-movie, more like D) it's actually got a decent enough story, the writing isn't terrible, and since probably 80% of the lines are spoken by the one guy who is an actual actor (not great, but at least experienced) it's really not that bad. Think of it like listening to a CD by a local band or something...it's not going to chart, but that doesn't mean you can't appreciate the effort.

Artists delving too deep...retired detective comes out off retirement. Great little Mythos movie. Worthy buy. No schlock. Well shot. Decent acting. Great effects. 5 out of 5 Elder signs.

Low budget indie with a classic noir feel and weird Lynchian twists.

I kept waiting for it to get interesting. It never did. Not really even a successful conclusion. Very low budget with lots of walking around and not really any suspense. I know everyone in the cast and crew did the best job that they were able to do. It just wasn't enough to save a threadbare script and tight budget.

If watching an old man walk is your idea of excitement, then this movie is for you. Little to no action, poor and inconsistant lighting, highlight a lackluster plot. The item holding center stage - film of otherworlding beings - isn't even shown to the viewer other than a quarter second blur. Spoiler alert - burning the film at the end of the movie should have been done with the actual movie itself. If this was a high school project maybe, but to have received the awards they list, I'd hate to have to watch the competition!

Disclaimer: I am a big fan of Jerry Lacy, Ansel Faraj, Lisa Richards, and Nathan Wilson, but I have no personal or professional relationship with them. As far as I'm concerned, Messiah of Evil and The Last Case of August T. Harrison are the only faithful treatments of Lovecraft's fiction, though neither is really a filmed version of one of his stories or novellas. Here Lacy portrays a typical protagonist who suddenly finds himself mired in a conspiracy designed to release ancient, malevolent beings from another dimension. In the bargain he has to act in order to protect his son. All of the actors are fantastic (a special nod to Nathan Wilson as H. P. Lovecraft), but Lacy really steals the show. As a longtime Dark Shadows fan, Faraj has frequently made use of actors from that show and demonstrated how great they really are. Lacy has appeared in several films, as well as David Selby (Loon Lake) and Christopher Pennock (Theater fantastique). Pennock is no longer with us, alas, but I hope to see Faraj do more work with Selby and Lacy in the future. Yes, there are some production problems, but who cares? For me it only adds to the film's charm.