An interview with Andrew Migliore, producer of Return to Innsmouth and owner of Beyond Books.

You've read it here on the site a million different times in a million different places. You've seen folks complain about it on the discussion groups. You've heard the rumblings at NecronomiCon. No matter how it's put, it all comes out the same—when the hell is someone going to make a real Mythos movie, one that is true to Lovecraft and not just some rip off? You can't turn to Hollywood, we all know their definition of Lovecraft inspired movies. As long as the words Cthulhu or Necronomicon is located at least twice in the script, it's a Lovecraft movie. Yeah, right.

I've lately discovered a whole different venue of art, one that is oft overlooked because it's overshadowed by the droves of major filmmakers and their expensive fallacies into the world of the Mythos. Independent filmmakers, you gotta love them. Often working on a shoestring budget, knowing full well the biggest thing they'll get out of the project is the satisfaction of knowing they made H.P. proud, these movies have heart, and some of them are down right good. Not to say that any will enjoy the sudden success of Blair Witch Project, but you never know. The one thing you will find consistent throughout each of these short films is heart and creativity, and satisfaction knowing that someone is making the Mythos movie.

One such movie just screened at the NecronomiCon and from all reports, did pretty good, too. Return to Innsmouth is a portrayal of The Shadow over Innsmouth produced by Andrew Migliore of Beyond Books. You can get a copy of the movie by ordering it direct from his business on the Internet. The NetherReal interviewed Andrew to see what makes an independent filmmaker want to take on such a paramount task as the making of a Mythos movie, knowing all too well the audience they have to please and how vicious these folks can get.

And don't forget, on October 15-17, 1999, in Portland, Oregon, Beyond Books hosts the annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, featuring some of these movies I talked about. If you're in the neighborhood drop on in. If not but you'd like more info on the event, email Andrew at andrew@hplfilmfestival.com.  

NR: How did you get involved with "Return to Innsmouth?" Give us a quick history of the film's concept and how it was brought to life.

AM: I run the annual H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland Oregon and through the festival became friends with Aaron Vanek who previously had made two short films shown at the 1996 and 1997 festivals (The Outsider and My Necronomicon). Well, in April of 1998, Aaron contacted me because he was interested in doing a 3rd HPL adaptation for the festival and was looking for people to collaborate with. I had done an HPL adaptation of From Beyond the previous year and was very interested in doing another one.

Aaron had just been re-reading The Shadow Over Innsmouth and was struck by the last paragraph where it states that Robert was not going to kill himself but instead was going to free his cousin from the Canton Asylum and return to Innsmouth. He naturally asked, "How would the story unfold if Lovecraft had continued it?" With this in mind, Aaron and I produced the first draft of the script about mid-May and sent it out to get general comments.

There were many problems with the script—dialog, too many locations, clarity—but in the next couple of weeks some of the problems were fixed by subsequent revisions. Aaron then turned to recruiting more people to help out. The first people who signed on where Toren Atkinson, Mike Tice, Bob Fugger and Dave Howard.

With these initial people we started to work. I scouted locations, and secured equipment, Aaron got sponsors like Chaosium and Mythos Books. Toren started to create the Deep One monster outfit and we all started working on a schedule and securing crew and talent (actors).

NR: Was the film done using a tight circle of friends as actors or did you cast for them?

AM: Both Aaron and I put an ad out in the Portland and L.A. newspapers announcing the reading for Return to Innsmouth. Since I lived in Portland I took all the readings in Portland and likewise Aaron did the same in L.A. We both video taped the actors reading their lines and then we exchanged our tapes. With both of us in different cities this was a real necessity. After reviewing all the readings, we both agreed on the primary 4 actors—two from L.A. and two from Portland.

NR: How much did the film cost to make?

AM: If you include everything (post, promotion), the total budget was under $10,000; the bulk of the money ($5000) raised through donations from die-hard H. P. Lovecraft fans over the internet. I think that alone makes this film note worthy and is a testament to Aaron Vanek's networking prowess.

NR:  Who plays in the film?

AM: Ezra Hubbard (L.A.) plays Robert Olmstead, Larry Curwen (L.A.) plays Lawrence Marsh, Robert's Deep One cousin, Edgar Reynolds (Portland) plays Zadok the bum and Paul Palazzolo plays Yeager the steadfast Delta Green like investigator.

NR: There is talk of the makeup being "just enough," which is actually a good thing. Who did it? How was the Deep Ones conceived?

AM: Yoko Tsukui did the prosthetics and she did a wonderful job—especially the teeth. Personally I don't think we took advantage of the makeup as well as we could have. The amount of makeup was "just enough" because it gave the hint of a transformation—no neck, fish lips bulging check bones—without going over board.

The Deep Ones were first visualized by the amazing Toren Atkinson (the infamous lead singer of the Darkest of the Hillside Thickets). He drew sketches and eventually made the Deep One mask and body suit.

The CGI Deep One and Dagon (by Richard Corben) were based on these initial drawings.

NR: What is your intent with the movie?

AM: To sell it on video tape through my business, Beyond Books http://www.beyond-books.com/catalog; send it around to various film festivals and conventions; and Aaron wants to use it to pitch the concept of an HPL favored T.V. show.

NR: If you had to identify one scene that is a cut above the rest, which one would it be?

AM: I personally really like the Gilman House hotel room scene where Robert sees himself as a deep one in the mirror and then later wakes to the sound of someone trying to break into the room. There is good tension and the sound design by Mark Fauver really really helps. The only thing that flaws it is the sound effect of the door breaking down and the towns people chasing him through the window is missing.

NR: We both know that a lot of movies claim to be rooted in Lovecraft, but very, very few meet the mark. Did this worry you and does it worry you now?

AM: To me, it is the quest that matters—can we adapt a HPL story decently? No one has been truly successful. We have all missed capturing that unique atmosphere that Lovecraft was so masterful at creating. But the point is that we are trying. More and more adaptations are being made. We are learning from each other what works and what doesn't work. We in short have formed a new Lovecraft Circle but in the film area. I see things only getting better and of higher quality.

NR: On the heels of "The Blair Witch Project," do you have any secret hopes for "Return to Innsmouth" and its distribution?

AM: Heck no. Unfortunately, the plot is too confusing to follow unless you've read the original story and are a fan of HPL—it is not for the general public. If I have any advice for aspiring filmmakers it is to work on the script, the script and the script. Did I mention the script?

NR:  What was the hardest scene to film?

AM: Logistically it was the scene were the investigators (ala Delta Green) intercept Robert and his cousin on the road into Innsmouth. That was quite an undertaking. We had 3 antique cars. Five actors toting firearms that had to be loaded with blanks, a crew of about a dozen and our character actors in full prosthetic makeup. I was on a cellular phone calling the police to inform them that we were about to "shoot" (literally) so that neighbors could be informed that it was only a film crew and not some gang warfare!

What was going to be the easiest scene to film was the Gilman House. We had a crew of 5 and 1 room with a minimum of lights. Unfortunately, a grumpy neighbor called the police in and my worst nightmare had come true. Luckily I knew one of the police officers and was able to smooth over the whole affair. I made my Luck & Fast Talk rolls that night.

NR: Any strange happenings on the set?

AM: The Canton scene was filmed in an abandoned hospital in Portland and it was creepy. We had mice running through our set! We could have done a whole movie in that building if we had known about it ahead of time!