The Unnamable (film)
Encyclopedia
The Unnamable, based on H.P. Lovecraft's short story "The Unnamable
", was a film made in 1988 about a group of university students that made the poor decision to stay, over-night, in a 'haunted house'. Mark Kinsey Stephenson
played the lead role, Randolph Carter
(a well known H.P. Lovecraft character), alongside Charles King. It was directed by Jean Paul Oullette, as well as being written and produced by him.
After the credits we get Randolph Carter
and two of his university buddies, Howard and Joel, as he regales them with ghost stories. Randolph points out that they are sitting in the graveyard surrounding the haunted house of his tales (which happens to be within the limits of observation). The story that Randolph had been telling them was of Joshua Winthrop and his demon daughter, Alyda Winthrop. Joel comes up with the idea to stay there over night. Randolph and Howard go back to the university, leaving Joel to it.
Soon a group of students decide to go there, two young lads fresh from the university football team, Bruce Weeks and John Babcock, and a couple of girls that they want to score with: one of which Howard is in love with, Wendy Barnes, and the other is in love (use the term sparingly) with Howard, her name is Tanya Heller. They go there and get set up in a room to tell each other ghost stories. Meanwhile Howard chases after Randolph to tell him that Joel never came back from the house, prompting Randolph to swing into action saying "I'll get the flashlights" with some degree of authority and urgency, despite not being too bothered about the missing student prior to that.
Alyda Winthrop, the creature, begins stalking the four youngsters in her home, planning to kill them as she killed her father and Joel. Soon Joel's decapitated corpse is found hanging upside down, his blood dripping onto a plate of some sort, along with his head, that rolls across the floor to look at a half naked Wendy. Soon Randolph and Howard arrive at the house and Randolph discovers that the door has locked of its own accord upon their entry. Magic, he must be thinking. Howard runs off to the aid of his beloved and Tanya, while Randolph decides to study a book. In it he finds a spell to unlock the door. He goes outside and enters the ground under a tree via the tomb of Joshua Winthrop. This tree, with the aid of Randolph and the book, snatches Alyda from the house in the climax of the film, with Howard and Tanya being the only two left alive and in the desperately terrifying vicinity of the demon female.
Howard and Tanya flee from the house and run to a safe distance, but a hand comes up from the ground and begins pulling Howard down. It is Randolph coming up from the catacombs beneath having fended off the skeleton guardians.
and David Warner
. Although this was the only H.P. Lovecraft movie adaptation for John Rhys-Davis, for David Warner it was the first as he would appear in Brian Yuzna
's Necronomicon, starring Jeffrey Combs
and Signy Coleman
.
in the United States
by Vidmark Entertainment in both R-rated and Unrated editions.
As of 2011, the film has still not been officially released on DVD
.
The Unnamable (short story)
"The Unnamable" is a short story by science fiction and horror author H. P. Lovecraft. It was written in September of 1923 and was first published in the July 1925 issue of Weird Tales.-Plot summary:...
", was a film made in 1988 about a group of university students that made the poor decision to stay, over-night, in a 'haunted house'. Mark Kinsey Stephenson
Mark Kinsey Stephenson
Mark Kinsey Stephenson is an American-born actor most famous for his role as Randolph Carter in the H.P. Lovecraft film adaptation named The Unnamable and its sequel The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter; the latter covered the whole of Lovecraft's story, The Statement of Randolph...
played the lead role, Randolph Carter
Randolph Carter
Randolph Carter is a recurring protagonist in H. P. Lovecraft'sfiction and a thinly disguised alter ego of Lovecraft himself. The first tale in which Carter appears--"The Statement of Randolph Carter" --is based on one of Lovecraft's dreams....
(a well known H.P. Lovecraft character), alongside Charles King. It was directed by Jean Paul Oullette, as well as being written and produced by him.
Plot
The film begins in the late 18th century in the Winthrop house and something within it is screaming and banging at the walls of its confines. Joshua Winthrop, the owner of the house, rushes through the poorly lit corridors of the house before unlocking a heavily locked door. He begins talking to the creature inside to calm her down but she then kills him.After the credits we get Randolph Carter
Randolph Carter
Randolph Carter is a recurring protagonist in H. P. Lovecraft'sfiction and a thinly disguised alter ego of Lovecraft himself. The first tale in which Carter appears--"The Statement of Randolph Carter" --is based on one of Lovecraft's dreams....
and two of his university buddies, Howard and Joel, as he regales them with ghost stories. Randolph points out that they are sitting in the graveyard surrounding the haunted house of his tales (which happens to be within the limits of observation). The story that Randolph had been telling them was of Joshua Winthrop and his demon daughter, Alyda Winthrop. Joel comes up with the idea to stay there over night. Randolph and Howard go back to the university, leaving Joel to it.
Soon a group of students decide to go there, two young lads fresh from the university football team, Bruce Weeks and John Babcock, and a couple of girls that they want to score with: one of which Howard is in love with, Wendy Barnes, and the other is in love (use the term sparingly) with Howard, her name is Tanya Heller. They go there and get set up in a room to tell each other ghost stories. Meanwhile Howard chases after Randolph to tell him that Joel never came back from the house, prompting Randolph to swing into action saying "I'll get the flashlights" with some degree of authority and urgency, despite not being too bothered about the missing student prior to that.
Alyda Winthrop, the creature, begins stalking the four youngsters in her home, planning to kill them as she killed her father and Joel. Soon Joel's decapitated corpse is found hanging upside down, his blood dripping onto a plate of some sort, along with his head, that rolls across the floor to look at a half naked Wendy. Soon Randolph and Howard arrive at the house and Randolph discovers that the door has locked of its own accord upon their entry. Magic, he must be thinking. Howard runs off to the aid of his beloved and Tanya, while Randolph decides to study a book. In it he finds a spell to unlock the door. He goes outside and enters the ground under a tree via the tomb of Joshua Winthrop. This tree, with the aid of Randolph and the book, snatches Alyda from the house in the climax of the film, with Howard and Tanya being the only two left alive and in the desperately terrifying vicinity of the demon female.
Howard and Tanya flee from the house and run to a safe distance, but a hand comes up from the ground and begins pulling Howard down. It is Randolph coming up from the catacombs beneath having fended off the skeleton guardians.
Sequel
The film was followed by 1993's The Unnamable Returns, also known as The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter which featured, alongside Mark Kinsey Stephenson and Charles Clausmeyer, John Rhys-DaviesJohn Rhys-Davies
John Rhys-Davies is a Welsh actor and voice actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the charismatic Arab excavator Sallah in the Indiana Jones films and the dwarf Gimli in The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
and David Warner
David Warner (actor)
David Warner is an English actor who is known for playing both romantic leads and sinister or villainous characters, both in film and animation...
. Although this was the only H.P. Lovecraft movie adaptation for John Rhys-Davis, for David Warner it was the first as he would appear in Brian Yuzna
Brian Yuzna
Brian Yuzna is a director, writer and producer of films.- Life :Yuzna grew up in Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and Panama before moving to the United States in the 1960s.- Career :...
's Necronomicon, starring Jeffrey Combs
Jeffrey Combs
Jeffrey Alan Combs is an American actor known for his horror film roles and his appearances playing a number of characters in the Star Trek franchise.-Early life:...
and Signy Coleman
Signy Coleman
Signy Coleman , sometimes credited asSigney Coleman, is an American actress.-Background:Coleman grew up in Bolinas, California and attended Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley...
.
Release
The film was released on VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by Vidmark Entertainment in both R-rated and Unrated editions.
As of 2011, the film has still not been officially released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
.