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Pickmans Model

hplc04The H.P. Lovecraft Collection. Volume 4. Pickman’s Model. Lurker Films. By Brian Kirst

Lurker Films’ fourth volume of its noble H.P. Lovecraft collection is balanced here by sly and densely beautiful atmospherics that make this a subtle, slowly permeating scare fest. With these variations on the tale of Pickman, the Lovecraftian artist whose muses are monstrous and otherworldly, Lurker Films ultimately does fans of the more softly macabre a huge favor.

Italy’s Pickman’s Model, directed moodily by Giovanni Furore, delivers the sharpest shocks of this collection, particularly in its final moments. This tales features Pickman as a central figure and the way he changes the life of two fans of fine art is both chilling and hauntingly potent.

Chile’s Chilean Gothic follows investigative journalist Gabriel (a nicely calibrated Rodrigo Sepulveda) as he uncovers the events leading to the death of fellow journalist and friend Anibal. As Gabriel hunts down the deadly, visionary Pickman, his own sanity is questioned and he eventually discovers that his world will never be the same. More than anything, it is director Ricardo Harrington’s stunning use of damp, mysterious locations that enhance and decorate this piece with mood and melody.

As a break from the gothic gloom, Lurker also includes the bright and irresistible In the Vault. Crafted with Pixar-like animation, In the Vault joyfully and comically chronicles the comeuppance and reformation of a drunken, destructive graveyard caretaker.

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