Cthulhu Mythos in Film & Television

Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West in Re-Animator (1985).

🐙 Film and television productions have frequently been influenced by H. P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos. Some productions have adapted Lovecraft or other Mythos writers' works, more or less faithfully; other projects have been original works set in a Mythos or Mythos-adjacent universe. Other films and TV shows have Lovecraftian themes without directly referencing the Mythos, while other times screenwriters drop Mythos names as a homage to Lovecraft.

Adaptations

Film

• 13:de mars, 1941 (2004; Robert P. Olsson): based on "The Statement of Randolph Carter".
• Arkham Sanitarium (post-production as of May 2022; Andrew G. Morgan): an anthology of three of Lovecraft's short works connected by an original 'wraparound' story.
• Banshee Chapter (2013): loosely adapts the short story "From Beyond" and the 1986 Gordon film, with a similar plot involving the drug Dimethyltryptamine instead of Ultraviolet. At one point Lovecraft's short story is explicitly mentioned.
• Bride of Re-Animator (1989): begins with material from the last two episodes of the original story before veering off into Bride of Frankenstein territory.
• The Call of Cthulhu (2005): A silent adaptation by The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society, attempting to make a film that could have been released the same year as the short story.
• Castle Freak (1995 film): A 1995 direct-to-video horror film by Stuart Gordon, loosely based on "The Outsider".
• Castle Freak (2020 film): A straight-to-video remake of the 1995 film, which draws from "The Dunwich Horror" as well as "The Outsider".
• Color Out of Space (2019, Richard Stanley): an adaptation of the short story starring Nicholas Cage.
• Cool Air (1999, Bryan Moore): an adaptation that's part of the H.P. Lovecraft Collection.
• Cthulhu (2000, Onara Films): a Mythos story loosely based on The Shadow Over Innsmouth.
• Cthulhu (2007): Another film loosely inspired by The Shadow Over Innsmouth.
• The Curse (1987): based on "The Colour Out of Space" and starting Claud Akins.
• Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968): based on "The Dreams in the Witch-House" and featuring Christopher Lee and Boris Karloff.
• Dagon (2001, Stuart Gordon; written by Dennis Paoli): a loose adaptation of "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" set in a Spanish town called Imboca.
• Die, Monster, Die! (1965): A loose adaptation of "The Colour out of Space" featuring Boris Karloff.
• The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (2003, Edward Martin III): The art of Jason Thompson's comic adaptation of the novel was used as the basis for an animated feature film, with Thompson drawing additional art and help coming from volunteers and Lovecraft fans from around the world. The film premiered on October 11, 2003, at the H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival and was later released on DVD. In 2004, the film's composer Cyoakha Grace O'Manion released a concept album featuring the film's original soundtrack with extended tracks and additional music, called Unknown Music from Dream Quest of Kadath.
• The Dunwich Horror (1970, Daniel Haller): The first Lovecraft film adaptation to use the title of the original story. Starred Dean Stockwell as Wilbur Whateley, Ed Begley as Henry Armitage and Sandra Dee. Les Baxter composed the soundtrack. It was the final film for Begley, who died in April of that year.
• Die Farbe (2010, Huan Vu): a German adaptation of "The Colour Out of Space".
• From Beyond (1986): adaptation of the short story directed by Stuart Gordon, co-written by Dennis Paoli and Brian Yuzna, and starring Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton.
• The Haunted Palace (1963), based on The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, may be the first film adaptation of Lovecraft to credit its source material.
• Kammaren (2007): based on "The Statement of Randolph Carter".
• Lifeforce (1985; Tobe Hooper): an adaptation of Colin Wilson's The Space Vampires.
• The Lurking Fear (1994): A loose adaptation starring Jeffrey Combs.
• The Manitou (1978; William Girdler): is an adaptation of The Manitou, starring Lovecraft's Misquamacus character.
• La Marca del Muerto (1961), an uncredited Mexican adaptation of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, may be the first attempt to adapt a Lovecraft story to film.
• Mountains of Darkness (2006; unproduced): director Guillermo del Toro wrote a screenplay based on Lovecraft's story At the Mountains of Madness, but in 2006 had trouble getting Warner Bros. to finance the project. del Toro wrote: "The studio is very nervous about the cost and it not having a love story or a happy ending, but it's impossible to do either in the Lovecraft universe." Some of the practical effects such as the albino penguin were created.
• The Music of Erich Zann (1980): A short 17-minute version.
• Necronomicon: Book of the Dead (1993): features 3 segments based on "The Rats in the Walls" ("The Drowned"), "Cool Air" ("The Cold") and The Whisperer in Darkness ("Whispers").
• Nyarlathotep (2001; Christian Matzke): a 13-minute film version of the short story. It was re-released on DVD in 2004 as part of the H. P. Lovecraft Collection Volume 1: Cool Air.
• The Other Gods (2006; Subterranea Entertainment): a silent animated adaptation of the short story. The host website and opening credits present the film as a false document, claiming it is a restoration of a 1924 short created with permission by an associate of Lovecraft named Peter Rhodes, which became lost after Rhodes' death. It approximates the look of early cutout animation.
• Pickman's Model (1981; Austinite Cathy Welch): a short, thirty-minute version. The basic story is preserved, with the tale of Thurber's night at Pickman's being relayed by him to his skeptical girlfriend.
• Pulse Pounders (1987; Charles Band): a three-part anthology film that includes a short movie adaptation of "The Evil Clergyman". The film was intended to be released in 1988, but was shelved after the closing of Empire International Pictures. The entire movie was deemed lost until a workprint of the segment "The Evil Clergyman" was found and restored in 2011. The short was shown at the Chicago Flashback Weekend and released onto DVD in 2012, receiving positive reviews.
• Re-Animator (1985): The classic adaptation of "Herbert West: Reanimator." Written by Dennis Paoli, directed by Stuart Gordon, and produced by Brian Yuzna, and starring Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton.
• The Shadow over Innsmouth (1973; unproduced): Colombian writer Andres Caicedo adapted the screenplay. He travelled to Hollywood in 1975 to sell it to Roger Corman, alongside his adaptation of Clark Ashton Smith's "The Nameless Offspring", but failed to generate enough interest. Neither of the screenplays were shot, and remain as part of the Andres Caicedo Collection in the Luis Angel Arango Library in Bogota.
• The Shuttered Room (1967; David Greene) is loosely based on August Derleth's short story.
• The Unnamable (1988; Jean-Paul Ouellette): a loose adaptation of "The Unnamable".
• The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter (1993; Jean-Paul Ouellette): a loose adaptation of "The Statement of Randolph Carter".

TV

• The Dunwich Horror (October 2008; Leigh Scott): adaptation starring Jeffrey Combs as Wilbur Whateley and first broadcast on SyFy. Dean Stockwell also stars in this version as Henry Armitage. The working title was The Darkest Evil.
• "Graveyard Rats": An episode of the horror anthology series Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities was based on the Henry Kuttner short story.
• Haiyore! Nyaruko-san (2012-2013): an anime adaptation of the light novel series.
• Insumasu wo Oou Kage (1992): a Japanese one-hour television adaptation of The Shadow Over Innsmouth by scriptwriter Chiaki J. Konaka, a self-confessed Lovecraft fan.
• Kishin Houkou Demonbane (2006): a 12-episode anime series based on the Demonbane Mythos.
• Lovecraft Country (2020): an adaptation of Matt Ruff's 2016 novel that examines US racism through the lens of the Cthulhu Mythos.
• Masters of Horror (2005-2007): Season 1 featured the adaptation "H. P. Lovecraft's Dreams in the Witch-House", although the plot and minor details were changed to put it in a contemporary setting, with Keziah Mason becoming what the film's promotional materials refer to as "a luscious she-demon", and neighbor Frank Elwood changing genders to become Frances Elwood. References "The Rats in the Walls" in a line of dialogue.
• Night Gallery (1970-1973): Rod Serling's horror anthology series featured adaptations of "Pickman's Model," "Cool Air," "Out of the Aeons," and Clark Ashton Smith's "The Return of the Sorcerer."
• The Twilight Zone (1985-1987): in episode 18, the segment "Gramma", based on the Stephen King short story, makes reference to the Great Old One Hastur.

Original Mythos Projects

Film

• Beyond Re-Animator (2003): Follows Herbert West as he continues his experiments on prison inmates. Continuing the story begun in the adaptations Re-Animator and Bride of Re-Animator, but with a largely original plot. Set in Arkham.
• Black Goat (2001; Joseph Nanni): features The Dark Young/Thousand Young as root/tentacles assessing their prey. Later in the film, a young trapper surrounds one of the Young with fire, only to find himself surrounded when the creature calls its siblings.
• Call Girl of Cthulhu (2014; Chris LaMartina)
• Cast a Deadly Spell (1991; Joseph Dougherty)
• The Evil Dead franchise (1981 onwards; Sam Raimi): The franchise features the Necronomicon Ex Mortis as the primary source of evil.
• Glorious (2022; Rebekah McKendry): Ghatanothoa (Ghat) appears as a god inhabiting a rest stop bathroom.
• Hellboy (2004; Guillermo Del Toro): the Ogdru Jahad, the malevolent god-like beings that are the main antagonistic force in the film, are depicted as gargantuan tentacled entities residing in space, much like many mythos deities. A book is also referenced as "De Vermis Mysteriis".
• Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008; Guillermo del Toro): cameo appearances of Elder Things in the BPRD headquarters and in the Troll Market. Also, in a possible reference to "At the Mountains of Madness" - which del Toro also attempted to adapt for the big-screen - a major character from the previous film (Myers) is mentioned to have been transferred to Antarctica.
• Innsmouth (2015; Izzy Lee): despite being inspired by stories such as "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", Lee stated that Innsmouth was created to make Lovecraft roll over in his grave a little by having the cast 98% female and switching the gender roles.
• Kaiju Girls Black (2018; Shuji Katayama): Ghatanothoa appears as a kaiju girl in the climax of the film, under the name Gatanothor.
• The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu (2009; Henry Saine)
• Shin Godzilla (2016; Hideaki Anno): In The Goro Maki Journal, its revealed that the mad scientist Goro Maki used to be a professor at Miskatonic University. The film itself is also arguably Lovecraftian in theme.
• The Testimony of Randolph Carter (1987; the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society): based on "The Statement of Randolph Carter".
• Transylvania Twist (1989; Jim Wynorski): Roger Corman executive-produced movie. Dexter Ward is sent to retrieve The Book of Ulthar from the Arkham Library to prevent the summoning of the Evil One.
• Ultraman Gaia: Gaia Again (2001; Takeshi Yagi): features the Byakhee as the minions of the kaiju Gakuzom.
• Witch Hunt (1994; Joseph Dougherty): A sequel to Cast a Deadly Spell.

TV

• Digimon Adventure 02 (2000-2001): episode 13, "Call of Dagomon", features an Innsmouth setting, complete with Deep Ones.
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2003-2007): Cthulhu appears as the antagonist in the episode "Prank Call of Cthulu", where he runs a prank phone call company that transforms people into eldritch monsters. An earlier episode "Big Trouble in Billy's Basement" features Billy getting possessed by Yog-Sothoth.
• Housing Complex C (2022): features several elements from the Mythos including Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth and the Deep Ones.
• Myriad Colors Phantom World (2016): In the episode "Break Through the Monkey Hot Spring!", Haruhiko summoned Cthulhu to fight off the Monkey Phantom.
• The Real Ghostbusters (1986-1991): The season 2 episode "The Collect Call of Cathulhu" features Cathulhu, the Spawn of Cathulhu, the Necronomicon, a Shuggoth, Miskatonic University, and Arkham--all staples of the Mythos. Real-world elements were also incorporated after a fashion, for example characters named Alice Derleth (August Derleth, or perhaps his daughter April), Professor Clark Ashton (Clark Ashton Smith), and an old friend of Ray's going by the name of Howard (Robert E. Howard/Howard Phillips Lovecraft), and the group consult old issues of Weird Tales for hints on how to defeat Cathulhu.
• Rick and Morty (2013-present): Cthulhu makes an appearance at the end of the title sequence, chasing a spaceship in which Rick, Morty, and Summer are flying off with a baby Cthulhu. Because of the child’s dissemblance to all other spawn of Cthulhu, its identity is most likely Cthylla.
• Robot Chicken (2005-present): the 2016 episode "The Unnamed One" featured Cthulhu as a presidential candidate, a nod to the Cthulhu for President parody campaigns begun by Chaosium in 1996.
• Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010-2013): features several homages, including characters named H. P. Hatecraft (H. P. Lovecraft) and Howard E. Roberts (Robert E. Howard), and a character from Hatecraft's literature named Char Gar Gothakon, a pastiche of Cthulhu. After creating a new timeline in the final episode, Mystery Incorporated find themselves enrolled in Miskatonic University.
• SpongeBob SquarePants (1999-present): In the episode "Necro-Nom-Nom-Nom-I-Con", SpongeBob accidentally obtains a copy of the Necronomicon.
• The Simpsons (1989-present): In the episode "Treehouse of Horror XXIX", the residents of Fogburyport tell the Simpsons that they are about to be sacrificed to Cthulhu. Cthulhu prepares to eat Homer, but is spared when Homer tells him that he was promised an oyster eating contest. The citizens provide Homer and Cthulhu with a mountain of oysters, and Cthulhu loses.
• South Park (1997-present): In "The Coon and Friends Trilogy," Cartman (in his Coon persona) allies with Cthulhu to wreak havoc on the world, and Kenny learns that Cthulhu is responsible for his constant death/rebirth.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012-2017): In the episode "The Ever-Burning Fire", Cthulhu is pictured as one of the six Cosmic Monsters. Other references to the Mythos include a creature named Cthugha, who serves a race known as the Daagon (a pastiche of the Deep Ones), and recurring villain the Rat King, who appears to be heavily inspired by Herbert West. (the character is even voiced by Jeffrey Combs)
• Ultraman Decker (2022-2023): In the episode "Lord Ragon", its revealed that Ragon's species was responsible for many legends involving fish/human hybrids, including the incident in the American town of Innsmouth.
• Ultraman Tiga (1996-1997): Ghatanothoa appears as the main antagonist, under the name Gatanothor.

Lovecraftian Productions

Film

• Ape X Mecha Ape: New World Order (2024; Marc Gottlieb): A mockbuster of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire featuring the titular monsters teaming up to fight off the Great Old One known as Kulalu.
• The Blair Witch Project (1999; Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez) is called by Mythos writer (and film critic) Ramsey Campbell as "the most Lovecraftian of films".
• The Cabin in the Woods (2011; Drew Goddard): the Ancient Ones, massive hibernating godlike beings that require human sacrifices to be kept dormant, are thematically similar to the Great Old Ones.
• The Gate (1987; Tibor Takács): an American horror movie in which two young boys unleash demonic forces, as well as an Old God, from a hole in the backyard.
• Ghostland (2018; Pascal Laugier): A number of scenes hint at a range of Mythos figures.
• Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019; Michael Dougherty): Scylla's appearance is at least partially inspired by Cthulhu.
• Gorgo (1961; Eugène Lourié): A gigantic sea beast is captured and put on display. Similarly to "The Horror at Martin's Beach", it is discovered the beast is an infant, and his much larger mother comes to rescue him.
• In the Mouth of Madness (1994; John Carpenter): a homage to Lovecraft and Stephen King. An insurance investigator (Sam Neil) searching for a famed horror writer stumbles across the writer's fictional town and a plot to assist the Old Ones in reclaiming the world. One location is "Pickman's Hotel".
• The Mist (2007; Frank Darabont): "Tentacles from Planet X," as one of the doomed characters refers to the film's extra-dimensional antagonists. A fairly faithful adaptation of a short story by Stephen King.
• My Little Pony: The Movie (1986; Michael Joens): villain the Smooze appears to be at least partially inspired by Shoggoths.
• Prometheus (2012; Ridley Scott): the premise of the film, in which a team of scientists seek out humanity's extraterrestrial creators, is fundamentally similar to At the Mountains of Madness, which also involves an expedition to an abandoned city belonging to aliens responsible for humanity's creation.
• The Thing (1982; John Carpenter): Arguably Lovecraftian in theme. The creatures were also incorporated into the Cthulhu Mythos by Chaosium for the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game.
• Tremors (1990) and its sequels: Although the premise is pulp science fiction, the Graboid species, which is the main antagonist, is pure Lovecraft.
• The Void (2016): a supernatural horror film featuring people under siege by cultists in a hospital on the site of a dimensional portal; characters transform into eldritch horrors over the course of the film.

TV

• Beast Wars: Transformers (1996-1999): The Vok are Lovecraftian in nature, right down to their true forms and motivations being incomprehensible to lesser beings.
• Ben 10: Ultimate Alien (2010-2012): The main villain of season 3 is named after Dagon and primarily based on Cthulhu.
• Blood-C (2011): The Elder Bairns were inspired by the Great Old Ones.
• The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018-2020): season 3 onwards introduced Lovecraftian elements, with Sabrina battling a series of "Eldritch Terrors."
• Dark Shadows (1966-1971): The Leviathans storyline, featured in episodes 885 to 980, was heavily inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos.
• Gravity Falls (2012-2016): C-3-lhu, one of the monsters from Bill Cipher's Nightmare Realm, is based on Cthulhu.
• Justice League (2001-2006): In the episode "The Terror Beyond", the Justice League faced off against extra-dimensional tentacled sea monsters, led by a being known as Icthultu. The show writers actually intended to use Cthulhu but were under the impression that he wasn't in the public domain, hence creating their own pastiche.
• Northern Exposure (1990-1995): in an episode from season six, the main character goes on a quest to find Alaska's "Lost Jewel City of the North", only to realize that it is his beloved hometown of New York. This is a possible reference to "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath".
• Power Rangers Mystic Force (2006): Octomus the Master bears a strong resemblance to Cthulhu.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994): the episode "Phantasms" features inter-phasic parasites, undetectable under normal conditions, that feed off cellular matter, reminiscent of the normally invisible horrors in "From Beyond". They are perceived by Data as surrealistic objects during his dream program.
• Stranger Things (2016-present): the Dungeons & Dragons MacGuffin drew inspiration from the Cthulhu Mythos (including the series' antagonist the "Mind Flayer"), and in the tie-in novel Darkness on the Edge of Town, Lisa, a friend of Chief Hopper's wife, is said to be a graduate of Miskatonic University.
• Supernatural (2005-2020): Yokoth & Glythur, along with the Leviathans, are Lovecraftian extra-dimensional entities. Zeboyd Games' Cthulhu Saves the World was also featured in the episode "Let It Bleed".
• "The Tale of the Reanimator" (2000): an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark?, inspired by "Herbert West--Reanimator".
• "The Tall Grass" (2021): an episode of Love, Death, and Robots featuring a train threatened by strange creatures that break through from another dimension.
• The Transformers (1984-1987): The Dweller is a pastiche of Cthulhu.
• Ultraman Nexus (2004-2005): Kutuura is an extra-dimensional kaiju who appears to be an eldritch mass of distorted faces and tentacles. His name is also most likely derived from Cthulhu.
• Ultraman Taiga (2019): The kaiju Night Fang appears to be at least partially inspired by Cyäegha.

Mythos Allusions

Film

• City of the Living Dead (1980; Lucio Fulci): takes place in a town named Dunwich.
• Forever Evil (1987; Roger Evans): Evil Dead-inspired romp with some call-outs to Yog Kothag and others.
• HP Lovecraft's The Tomb (2007): was released to DVD with no ties whatsoever to the short story. The movie's plot was similar to the Saw series of horror films.
• Necronomicon - Geträumte Sünden (1968; Jess Franco): German erotic film, allegedly based on a story from a Necronomicon book read by Franco.
• Teen Beach Movie (2013; Jeffrey Hornaday): children's film, one of the protagonists is about to be sent to an "exclusive" Dunwich Preparatory School. This may possibly be a pun, as Dunwich in "The Dunwich Horror" is a regressive backwoods town.

TV

• Armitage III (1995; Hiroyuki Ochi): Chiaki J. Konaka was influenced by "The Dunwich Horror" when scripting this anime series, which includes a wealth of references such as the titular Naomi Armitage, a character named Lavinia Whateley, and a location variously referred to as "Dunwich" or "Danich" Hill.
• Babylon 5 (1993-1998): includes a race called the Pak'ma'ra whose members bear a certain resemblance to Cthulhu, and in one episode features a character named Charles Dexter who has both a good and evil side, a nod to "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward".
• The Big O (1991-2001): Chiaki J. Konaka-scripted Japanese anime series whose references include a giant robot named Dagon.
• Digimon Tamers (2001-2002): written by Japanese screenwriter Chiaki J. Konaka. Features a government branch named Hypnos amongst other references.
• Jupiter's Legacy (2021): Episode 5 of the Netflix adaptation of Mark Millar and Frank Quitely's comic book directly references the Great Old Ones and H. P. Lovecraft as being the possible source of the disappearance of ships in the mid-Atlantic in 1930.
• Warehouse 13 (2009-2014): In a season 4 episode, the Silver Key is an artifact that allows people to see waking dreams of Lovecraft's creatures.
• WWE/NXT: Arkham is used as the hometown of wrestler Simon Gotch, who has a man-out-of-time 1930s gimmick.

Miscellaneous Film

• AM1200 (2008; Eric Lange) ^{(connection?)}
• The Birthday (2004; Eugenio Mira) ^{(connection?)}
• Chill (2007) ^{(connection?)}
• Laokoon (1970; Václav Mergl) ^{(connection?)}
• La Herencia Veldemar (2010) ^{(connection?)}
• La Herencia Valdemar II: La Sombra Prohibida ^{(connection?)}
• The Whole Wide World (1996), a Robert E. Howard biopic.