A gay professor visits his creepy hometown for a funeral. He assumes the sketchy locals are homophobic. He’s not wrong, but there’s more going on. It’s a horror movie so he’ll ignore every red flag the town waves. Cthulhu is a riff on H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth. The acting is hammy, the editing is choppy and the pace is erratic. Still, there’s a solid idea at its core. Lovecraft’s paranoia translated well to George W. Bush’s America. And being LGBT can make even the most mundane of places feel dangerous.

Let’s take a look in this spoiler filled recap. Trigger warning: The film contains scenes of self-harm and sexual assault.

Act One: Homecoming

Scene One: Small Coastal Town   
RUSSELL MARSH: (A university professor) I left this town years ago. I’m only here for my mom’s funeral.
LAWYER: You’ll need to stay till we sell your family estate.
RUSS: But I hate it here. I’ve already witnessed a car accident, escaped some hooded figures and heard my aunt scream at me in tongues. I should probably just leave.

Scene Two: Awkward Family Dinner
DAD: Still gay?
RUSS: Yep. Still a cult leader?
DAD: The Order of Dagon is not a cult! When are you going to have kids?
RUSS: Leave that to my sister.
SISTER: I CAN’T HAVE KIDS! Russ, we love you but we don’t understand you.
RUSS: That sounds like a you problem.

Act Two: Mystery

Scene Three: Bar
HUNK: Remember me?
RUSS: My high school crush! We used to jerk off and pretend to be straight.
HUNK: I’m still straight. Mostly.
DRUNK OLD MAN: THIS TOWN IS EVIL! THE FISH PEOPLE ARE GOING TO EAT US ALL!
RUSS: I should probably leave.  

Scene Four: Trigger Warning
TORI SPELLING: I’ll tell you about the cult if you impregnate me.
RUSS: Sorry. I loved you in Trick but I’m super gay.
TORI SPELLING: Pity.
(She drugs and sexually assaults him. Then lays eggs.)

Scene Five: Investigation
RUSS: I’m having visions and hearing weird sounds. What’s that about?
HUNK: Would you feel better if we had sex? (They do.)
STORE CLERK: Could you find my missing brother? Never mind. He’s dead. Aaand I’m dead too.
(She’s murdered by cultists. Police arrest Russ for murder. Something breaks him out of his cell.)
VHS TAPE FROM DEAD MOM: Dear son, this town is evil. You really should have left by now.
(Dad kills mom. Then speaks to the camera.)
VHS TAPE FROM DAD: Dear son, don’t listen to her. You are Dagon’s chosen one. You’ll lead Cthulhu out of the sea.
RUSS: Golly. I don’t like the sound of that.

Act Three: The Deep Ones

Scene Six: The Coast
(The cultists attack the townsfolk. A school of fish people rise from the sea and shamble towards the shore.)
RUSS: I’ve half a mind to leave this town. I should find my sister first. She couldn’t possibly be in the cult.
SISTER: I’m in the cult. We’ve kidnapped your boyfriend.
HUNK: Help!
DAD: Prove your loyalty to Dagon. Sacrifice the man you love.
(Dad hands Russ a sharp rock. Russ looks at the camera.)
RUSS: Should I kill my boyfriend or my dad? What would you do?

THE END?  

Part of Your World

What the story reminded me of, more than anything else, was friends of mine who are gay, who come from these backwoods towns and then escape to the city to make an adult life. And then, fifteen or twenty years later, they’re in their thirties, and a parent dies, or the sister has a child, or whatever, and they have to go back and engage with that family and that place.

Screenwriter Grant Cogswell

Does Russ side with his father? The film doesn’t make a case for it. The cult never offers him anything but cruelty. The only motivation Russ had for staying was to expose his father’s crimes. In Lovecraft’s story the protagonist surrenders when he learns he’s part fish himself. Russ has no such revelation. So perhaps Russ kills his dad. Then he and his boyfriend make a run for it. They’ll have a lot of cultists in their path. Lovecraft’s not known for happy endings.

Russ is a frustrating protagonist. There’s a randomness to his actions that verges on dream logic. He has terrifying visions of monsters, corpses and caged children. He’s given ominous warnings by everyone he meets. At one point he’s attacked by an old man who resembles his late grandfather. But nothing seems to stick. He’ll keep blundering into every dangerous place. He insists on diving deeper and deeper. Maybe he’s part fish after all.

Director Daniel Gildark is harsh on the film in the commentary track. It was his first project and he’s aware of the limitations. But the work has grown on me. He creates striking images on a small budget. The titular Cthulu never appears but other horrors do. They blend nicely with the underlying fears an LGBT person has of rejection and persecution. Despite its problems I’d recommend Cthulhu to fans of Lovecraft and of queer horror.

You can find more of my reviews on The Avocado, Letterboxd and Serializd. My podcast, Rainbow Colored Glasses, can be found here.