Published in 1922, H.P. Lovecraft‘s short story Celephaïs is the author’s latest work that’s headed to the screen, with Dream Apex Pictures revealing exclusively to Bloody Disgusting this week that they’re currently turning the story into a short independent film.
The team tells us, “The story is a mix of dark fantasy and horror that deals with familiar Lovecraft themes: desperation, isolation, obsession, dreams, cosmic horror, and, of course, madness. The story is seven pages, and we estimate that our film will be somewhere between twenty and thirty minutes.”
Celephaïs tells the story of a boy who has the most wonderful dream when he is seven, and then spends sixty-six miserable years desperately trying to find it again, to escape his mundane and depressing life.
Here’s the full press release we were sent by Dream Apex:
“We have been as faithful as we can be to the source material, using as much as possible to tell the story in a way that makes sense on film. Although much of the short story can be adapted at little to no cost, the biggest challenge is the fantastical elements that are far too expensive for an independent film, such as flying boats, camels, and a pink marble city floating in the sky. So we have modified these to fit the constraints of our budget, while still maintaining their essence. We have also included tons of Easter eggs for Lovecraft fans.
“We live and work in New England, and we feel passionate about shooting here and bringing places that have never been filmed to the screen. It is our home, but, more importantly, it provides us locations that look and feel like they were taken directly from his work, and which are nearly impossible to replicate elsewhere. We can practically walk out our doors and find perfect, creepy spots in which to shoot, such as eerie seaside towns, rocky coasts, and even medieval castles.
“Our special effects, by Jeff O’Brien and Nicholas Flanagan (Shuttle, Drive-In Horrorshow, God of Vampires) are all practical, including latex gore, puppetry, and camera tricks. With the exception of compositing our effects using a computer, there is nothing in this film that couldn’t have been done one hundred years ago. This approach was born out of our lack of budget, but has become our strength as production has continued. And we are children of seventies, eighties, and nineties horror, so we feel right at home making our film this way.
“The schedule has been intense and grueling. We wrote the first word of the screenplay in late August, produced major parts of the film (including casting and location scouting) in a short amount of time, and were able to roll camera eight weeks later. The film consists of over twenty scenes, in different locations, so we have had almost no time from finishing one shoot and producing the next. It’s been an insane process, but I suppose it’s appropriate to have a little bit of insanity when tackling Lovecraft’s work. As with all films in production now, we have been delayed by COVID-19, but we are about two thirds the way through filming, and we hope to have a finished, mixed cut sometime this summer (although that may change).
“We are incredibly excited to tackle this story. We are huge Lovecraft fans, and it has been an honor to try and bring his world to life, filming it in the creepy corner of our country that he called home. Since the scope of this project is quite ambitious, we have relied heavily on support from the local film community, and we are overjoyed at how everyone’s collective efforts are paying off. Celephaïs is a celebration of the talent, passion, and dedication of New England filmmakers. We can’t wait to share it with all of you.
“Celephaïs is directed by Michael Neel (writer/director of Drive-In Horrorshow, director/head animator of Infinite Santa 8000, and director/animator of Jasper Tales) and produced by Joe Lemieux (writer/producer of The Stoop, artist for Infinite Santa 8000 and Jasper Tales, and writer/director of Veil of Blood), from a screenplay written by both. The film stars Chuck Schwager, Silvia Graziano, Jasper Neel, Judith Kalaora, Christopher Bricklemyer and Cieara Donati.”
You can check out some early promotional artwork for the film below!
