What if Lovecraft had ghost-scripted Roman Holiday (Audey Hepburn’s debut, romance in Rome)? And then it had been made by the director of An American Werewolf in London? That’s what Spring (2014) sounds like, a new movie by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. The plot seems to be: confused 20-something American boy goes bumming around Italy, falls for hot local Italian girl, they discover a weird ancient tentacle monster and ancient secret knowledge… Sounds like a dire spoof, but it’s being very widely acclaimed as a comparatively flawless and restrained horror movie. Apparently it’s a character-led film with an “original and surprising mythology” and “stunning location photography” through the use of HD drone cameras (blurb for the Tiff festival, Canada).

Be warned, though, if you suffer from ‘cinema sea sickness’: hand-held cameras…

“The hand-held work is often distracting and does not have any clear narrative or aesthetic reason”, yet overall the movie is “without a doubt one of the most original monster features in recent years” (Sight on Sound).

Here are the various posters…

No idea when it’s due out on download and DVD, and Google didn’t immediately surface a website for the film. This sort of art house festival film can stay away from a proper release for years, sadly, while it grinds its way around the festival circuit. Although it does appear to be getting some sort of cinema release in America from 17th April. No details on that at IMDB, just the date.

The pair’s next film appears to be an art house “story about the enigma that is Aleister Crowley”, seemingly to be filmed in Scotland, UK. That old loon is not my cup of tea, but it’s bound to get them a big audience. Who knows, we may eventually see them doing a proper big Lovecraft adaptation one day.