The Unnamable (1988)

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

The movie's only flaw is also a virtue: It's jammed with characters, stories, warmth and laughs.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The acting in this movie is really good.

Oh jolly, another H.P. Lovecraft horror adaptation! In the vein of the successful "Re-Animator", these adaptations were extremely popular during the late 80's and early 90's but most of them were only very loosely inspired by Lovecraft and furthermore just an excuse to bring to the screen hideous demons and cheesy gore. "The Unnamable" is the best example of this, actually, as the opening fifteen minutes still attempt to create an atmosphere of mystery and morbidity reminiscent of H.P. Lovecraft's finest works, but afterwards the film quickly degenerates into a typically 80's teenybopper flick with fraternity initiation rites and really dumb dialogs. 200 years ago, Joshua Winthrop's wife gave birth to a female demon and he kept it locked away in the attic for a long time until the creature eventually killed him. The film opens with this storytelling, as the concerned house still exists and is now located nearby the Miskatonic University and three male students challenge each other to spend the night. Two of them refuse and the third one is never heard from again. The next day, the two others go back to search for their missing friend, but they're unaware than another group of brainless students already broke into the house. "The Unnamable" is far from a great horror film but, in all fairness, you could do a lot worse in case you're just looking to kill an hour and a half of time. The titular demon, which as it turns out in the end had a name all along, isn't seen until 50 minutes in the film even though there's an illustration of it on the DVD-cover. Before that, we just hear a lot of screeching, growling and thumping on doors. There are quite a few weird characters in the film, like the alleged Lovecraft alter ego Randolph Carter who talks funnily and pretends to be an expert in demonology even though he spends most of the film in a library looking things up. The gore effects are delightfully cheesy and grotesque, with a couple of torn open throats, decapitations and the repeated smashing off a person's head against a hard wooden floor. "The Unnamable" is insignificant, forgettable and quite dumb, but nevertheless okay entertainment for fans of rancid 80's horror.

When I was 10 my best friend and I had a sleep over at her house on Halloween after trick or treating. We were already riled up by the nights candy feast and were ready to get our scare on. We started our escapade with The Unnameable. At first no problems then the tag line came on and from that point on throughout the movie we were clinging to the couch in fear of the creature on the screen. What was crazy was we couldn't believe that it had breasts!!! Anyway, it scarred the crap out of us and I have never forgotten that movie, I loved it and still do. If you are looking to stricken fear into the hearts of 10 year olds grab this movie its freaky!!!

This isn't a very good movie, but it's not all that bad either. Based (very loosely) on a tale by H. P. Lovecraft, The Unnamable tells the story of a hideous beast birthed by a mortal woman and kept imprisoned in the house by hergrandfather/wizard. Gramps soon has his heart ripped out by thetemperamental she-beast, but the house remains a prison; the monster cannotescape from the magic spells that hold her inside.A few hundred years later, some lifeless dorks from Miskatonic Universitydecide to spend the night in the spooky old house and guess what? They start dying. No great loss, really. Every victim is so easy to spot that they may as well have had Victims #1 thru #4 tattooed on their foreheads. Of course, the two nice virginal people and the one smart guy live to save the day. Didn't see THAT one coming, did you? The deaths are reasonably gruesome and should mildlyamuse splatter fans: throats ripped out, heads bashed in, necks snapped, etc. The monster is also pretty impressive to look at. Played by lithe dancer Katrin Alexandre, Alyda the Unnamable is a white haired gargoyle, complete withhorns and cloven feet, kind of an odd cross between a goat and the abominable snowman. Considering the fact that this creature was made long before CGI, it's quite good and is the one saving grace of the film. With the exception of Alyda, this movie is pretty unoriginal, predictable and dull despite the best efforts of the crew to lend a shadowy, creepy, cobwebbyatmosphere to the old dark house...a house whose walls wobble alarminglywhen characters rattle doorknobs too hard. A good hard sneeze probablywould have been sufficient to free Alyda from her prison. But it's not a total loss and fans of 80s teen horror (i.e. Hell Night) may be mildly amused by this one. I'd suggest skipping it altogether, but Alyda really is a cool looking monster. Fast forward through the first 80 minutes just to see her Big Reveal if you have to, you won't be missing much.

This low-budget horror picture inspired by a Lovecraft short story benefits from the sincere effort that went into making it. Also nobody seems to be taking things too seriously until the University student fun and games have gone past the point of no return. Corny and non-sensical elements can be overlooked in the name of entertainment here. The lovely monster (if you've read the story you have an idea of what it is like) is only the tip of the iceburg, for the story has one foot in Bluto Blutarski's universe and one in H. P. Lovecraft's. The effect, taken together, is charming if neither laugh-out-loud funny or terrifying.