This list includes movies that do not have explicit Lovecraft references, but have a Lovecraftian feel to them. In many respects, these films are better than those that are intentionally Lovecraftian.

Alien (1979)

This film was the general public’s first exposure to H.R. Giger’s surreal creations. Giger has long claimed to be influenced by Lovecraft (although there’s little to support that) and some consider the creature in this film to be Lovecraftian in nature. Scripted by Dan O’Bannon, who later directed The Resurrected, based on Lovecraft’s The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. (purchase from Amazon.com on VHS)

The Last Wave (1977)

An Australian lawyer (Richard Chamberlain) defends five aborigines in a murder trial and in so doing is exposed to some of their tribal secrets. Chamberlain’s apocalyptic dream-visions and the theme of “secrets Man was not meant to know” are especially Lovecraftian. (purchase from Amazon.com on VHS)

The Maze (1953)

Many have claimed that the thick atmosphere and minimal shocks of this 3-D film are especially Lovecraftian. This film featured a hedge maze over 25 years before The Shining, although the latter film put this element to better use.

Quatermass and the Pit (a.k.a. Five Million Years to Earth) (1967)

The third of Nigel Kneale’s Quatermass films with Andrew Keir replacing Brian Donlevy as Professor Bernard Quatermass. Excavations in the Hobb’s End underground station reveal a Martian spacecraft buried for millions of years and containing preserved Martian corpses. The notion that these creatures influenced our early evolution is reminiscent of Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness. (purchase from Amazon.com on DVD or VHS)

The Thing

Also reminiscent of At the Mountains of Madness is John Carpenter’s re-make of Christian Nyby’s The Thing from Another World (1951), which was based on John W. Campbell Jr.’s short story, “Who Goes There?” A dozen researchers trapped at an Arctic station are terrorized by a shape-shifting creature that has been frozen in the ice for millions of years. Although the special effects sometimes overwhelm the story, a well-crafted theme of paranoia amongst the men is present. (purchase from Amazon.com on DVD or VHS)