#115 -- The Unnamable (1988)

Director: Jean-Paul Ouellette
Rating: 4/5

There are things on God's earth that we can't explain and we can't describe. From the depths of Hell comes...The Unnamable.

Back in (I'm assuming) the 1800s, a man is keeping some kind of woman-beast locked away in his attic. It is constantly screaming, a truly terrifying screech. He is able to eventually quieten it, lets it out of its cell, and it rips his heart from his chest. Fast-forward to the 1988, and a couple of college kids try to decide whether the stories they've heard about the house are true. One of them decides to check it out, while the other two would rather not risk it and head back to campus. When their friend does not return the following day, they are forced to return to investigate. Along with Carter and Howard, there are four other students in the house. John and Bruce are checking the house out, because they plan to use it to pledge possible brothers into their fraternity; Wendy and Tanya are along for the ride. They soon discover that they're not alone in the house, and "something" is trying to kill them all. Carter is the bookworm of the group, and he spends the majority of the time in the living room reading old dusty books, in hopes that he will figure out just what the creature is and how to defeat it. It seems that the old man back in the 1800s, Mr. Winthrop, attempted to resurrect his dead wife using his trusty Necronomicon. She became The Unnamable beast.



The beast is sort of like a horse-dragon. It has hoofed feet, clawed hands and small wing-like things protruding from its back. It is so strange that it's almost comical, but no less frightening. It is actually quite terrifying. While the kids are either dead or trying desperately to find a way out of the house, Carter is out in the yard--in the tomb of Mr. Winthrop--calling on Tree-Spirits to protect them. While our last two surviving kids are struggling to evade the beast, trees burst through the windows and create a barrier between them.

Based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, The Unnamable is indeed an interesting movie. I really enjoyed it up until the trees attacked the beast. That's where it lost me, because that was a bit cheesy even for me. That doesn't mean I didn't thoroughly enjoy this movie, though. It was different and interesting, and it had me freaked out a little bit. I really fell in love with the character of Howard; I love when I can have feelings for a certain character, and feel for them and hope that they get out of it alive. The other characters were kind of dim, and Carter just got on my nerves (the way he talked was extremely annoying, and he was a bit condescending). Overall, this was a good movie. I've only read one story by Mr. Lovecraft, and that was the Cthulu Mythos. Now I am very interested in reading The Unnamable. I can only imagine how H.P. Lovecraft eloquently described the beast; I know it must be beautiful. If you're a fan of weird and strange things, definitely check this out. Mrs. Winthrop, the unnamable beast, is definitely a strange thing to behold.