I just received (and watched) the HPLHS’ adaptation of Lovecraft’s story “The Whisperer in Darkness.” It was, in short, an amazing adaptation. I cannot say that it was completely faithful to the original story plot-wise (not nearly to the extent that their silent “Call of Cthulhu” film was, at least), as many characters were added and scenes extended, but it was very faithful to the original story’s tone. It was dark, disturbing, and at times slightly gruesome (that hanging man will remain in my nightmares forever). Wilmarth was very well-acted, and the monologuing was seamless. I missed Sean Branney’s appearance the first time through, only noticing it in the credits. The mi-go brain cylinders, while not made strictly as described by Lovecraft, did their job in a way more effective on the screen, making them truly horrifying.
I had two qualms with the film. The first was that Akeley’s condition was extremely obvious from the get-go, and the surprise twist at the end wasn’t there (the kind of twist that was there was very clever and well-done, however). I felt like his “health problems” could have been more subtle; at one point my brother walked into the room and managed to guess exactly what was going on just by seeing him. The second thing was in the portrayal of the mi-go: namely, their lack of gigantic wings to catch energy to propel them through the depths of space. I missed the wings. The rest of them, however, was well-done and extremely disturbing. They were very alien aliens.
All in all, an excellent, well-done film. I greatly enjoyed it. Bravo, HPLHS, bravo!
Z. M. Wilmot 