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July 04, 2005
Maelstrom Wraps Photography on Lovecraft Flick
Seattle's Maelstrom Productions (www.maelstromproductions.com) has completed principal photography on its feature adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's The Thing on the Doorstep.
The shooting took 18 days and resulted in 28 hours of footage that will be edited for the 90-minute production. Strange Aeons: The Thing on the Doorstep is expected to be released in the fall.
"The locations we used sprawled all over Washington state, from a mental institution to a college campus, to a mansion that was more than 10,000 square feet," Director Eric Morgret explained. "And a graveyard -- every horror movie needs a graveyard."
After shooting scenes in various places stretching from Bellingham to Tacoma, Morgret selected the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in the Queen Ann Hill section of Seattle for the graveyard scene of Strange Aeons: The Thing on the Doorstep. The cemetery is the same one seen in the opening credits of HBO's Six Feet Under.
The mansion used for the production was built in 1888, Morgret said, and is now owned by Jesper Myrfors, former art director of Wizards of the Coast and the creator of the new game, Clout Fantasy.
"Every place we went, people were great to work with,” Morgret said. “They were all committed to helping us and very helpful."
Strange Aeons: The Thing on the Doorstep is a dark tale centered around Dan Upton, a Miskatonic University professor of primitive religions played by J.D. Lloyd, his teaching assistant Edward Derby played by Erick Robertson, and his mysterious, new student, Asenath Waite, played by Angela Grillo. The feature production is a tale of wizards, shallow graves and magic of the blackest kind around a campus whose halls have echoed for many years with the footsteps of some of society's most vile trespassers.
"Adapting Lovecraft for the screen is a huge challenge," admits screenwriter K.L. Young, "but I think fans will find it a faithful, if updated adaptation." Both Morgret and Young have hinted that the Strange Aeons title may be a banner for future Lovecraft adaptations.
The project is hip-deep in post-production, and a final cut is expected by early fall 2005. Morgret said Maelstrom's post-production sound team is currently seeking a computer effects person to finalize some of the scenes.
Maelstrom Productions has also released a DVD of is original short adaptation of The Thing on the Doorstep, which was an official selection of the 2003 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, Ore.
