Guillermo del Toro Shares Clip of Lovecraft Sci-Fi Horror CGI from 2012

Guillermo del Toro Shares Lovecraft CGI Clip

Guillermo del Toro shares a CGI clip of At the Mountains of Madness from 2012.

Guillermo del Toro recently released on social media the CGI clip of a shoggoth bearing down on an unsuspecting explorer in an Antarctic cave.

It can be said, without hesitation, that H. P. Lovecraft is among the most seminal authors of spectral horror. His ability to evoke the most fearsome primeval images is as remarkable as his savvy. In fact, his prose style is so forcefully literate that it pays to take a break once in a while to let all that erudition settle in. There is little so terrifying as the creatures of the Cthulhu mythos that have left such an indelible legacy for fans of psychological horror.

By the same token, the novella “At the Mountains of Madness” leaves just as deep an imprint, now in the realm of science fiction. Not that the shoggoths aren’t terrifying in their own right. They are monstrous, to be sure, but not monsters. These are more than creatures but genetically engineered servants, created by “the Elder Things,” as the explorers called them. The Elder Things were an advanced prehistoric race that evolved before Earth’s Cambrian Period. Shoggoths were metamorphs which could physically adapt to any task set before them. While the Antarctic expedition in the story cross-referenced Lovecraft’s other works, among them the Great Old One itself, “At the Mountains of Madness” remains essentially pure science fiction.

This clip was made by the gift director ten years ago. At that time it seemed he had a bit of hiatus between the end of directing Pacific Rim in April 2012 and its release in July 2013. In any event, he found the time to compose this brief but memorable footage, in which we could easily believe that the truly terrifying chthonic entity is the real thing — you cannot take your eyes off any of its 25 seconds.

The main question now is: Why, after a decade, release it now? And on so wide a platform like Instagram? Testing the waters for a feature? Is there more on some thumb drive somewhere?

I am certain I’m not alone in hoping these questions will be answered with a green light from somewhere, especially if the Elder Things are given their full due with respect to their culture — even the shoggoths, who are only at the mercy of their design. But no worries on that score: With Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water — and now also Cabinet of Curiosities — to his enduring credit, Guillermo del Toro has proven himself among the masters of modern movie folklore. Let’s hope that “At the Mountains of Madness” will be another notch in his belt.

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