venusboys3 This movie has something of a reputation as a stinker, but having watched just watched it again I am not sure why that is.It does stick fairly close to the story, up to a point. The main deflection is that Wilbur Whately is the primary villain, whereas in the story... well, he wasn't such a looker to be picking up naive students and he checks out early on. Still, I think the movie made a good choice in keeping Wilbur around and giving him a creepy allure. His motivation here is more about getting revenge on the townies who mocked him than it is getting into Sandra Dee (literally). Not that Sandra Dee's character was in the story at all. One complaint will probably be that we don't get to see much of the monster and what we do get at the very end is... well, kind of silly looking. Up to that final moment though, I was very happy with how they chose to depict things. Cthulhu creatures are weird, and still defy even the best CGI as far as I'm concerned. They're as much about presence and atmosphere as they are oogy looking tentacled thingies. This movie keeps it scarier by not showing it and instead opting for colored filters and distorted lenses. As filmed versions of Lovecraft's stories go, I'd say this is one of the better ones... along with Roger Corman's other Lovecraftian film of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (Titled 'The Haunted Palace' because?). It captures more of the Lovecraft's weird atmosphere than other attempts, which often eschew atmosphere in favor of graphic gore and sex and bug eyed monsters.

Rainey Dawn This is not a bad adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's story. The movie has it's flaws but it's an overall decent film on the occult (specifically the Necronomicon).Wilbur Whateley is not quite human - his heritage is part human and part otherworldly. He is after a rare copy of the Necronomicon to help the old ones break through and rule planet Earth. Armitage finds out what Wilbur has planned and gathers help to put an end to it.This is not a bad late night film - it is worth watching for those interested in occult topics or for those who simply like classic horror films.7/10

Nabob13 Pretty good flick for the usual Lovecraft completist list. Dean (the Boy with Green Hair) Stockwell as Wilbur Whateley is kinda cool casting, but his characterization could've been a little more elaborate (i.e., the short story character was literally "out of this world!"). Sandra Dee's casting was strictly camp (as a fellow critic remarked, "Gidget Goes To Hell"), but not unlikeable, given her character is Wilbur's love interest! Ed Begley, Sr.'s Professor Armitage was really strong, great protagonist for Wilbur's evil intentions. Sam Jaffee as Wizard Whateley is a very different character than his usual ones (The Day The Earth Stood Still, et Al.), but seemed to generate more compassion than menace.The special effects generally lack enthusiasm, and Daniel Haller, a very fine production designer, could've insisted on stop-motion than in-camera opticals (Wilbur's "twin" looks like cut ribbons of paper or cloth!). The ending, with Sandie pregnant by Dean, is a real hoot.

Andrei Nancy Walker and Elizabeth Hamilton, two students who attend Miskatonic University and work in the school library, are putting away the Necronomicon , a rare book on the occult, after a lecture on the supernatural given by visiting professor Dr. Henry Armitage. Dr. Armitage discovers Wilbur Whateley memorizing ritual passages from the Necronomicon and is at first angry, but learns that Wilbur comes from nearby Dunwich, a village having a history of evil occurrences, and that Wilbur is the great-grandson of Oliver Whateley, who was hanged by the villagers as a demon. Nancy, finding herself attracted to Wilbur, offers to drive him home when he misses his bus. Later, in the old mansion where Wilbur lives with his grandfather, Wilbur drugs Nancy and sabotages her car, thus forcing her to stay for the night. (He plans to sacrifice her in a fertility rite in the hopes of gaining for himself contact with the spiritual world.) Nancy accepts his invitation to spend the weekend there, but her absence alarms both Elizabeth and Dr. Armitage, who learn that Wilbur's mother has been living in an insane asylum since giving birth to twins--Wilbur and a boy who has never been seen. Wilbur steals the Necronomicon from the library, kills a guard, and takes Nancy to the "Devil's Hopyard," a rocky hillside, for the ritual. Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Dr. Armitage arrive at the Whateley house; Elizabeth opens a locked door and is immediately devoured by an invisible creature, the Dunwich Horror (Wilbur's twin). The Horror escapes and ravages the countryside, intending to kill Wilbur. Eventually, Dr. Armitage confronts Wilbur and the monster at the Devil's Hopyard, and there Armitage utters a curse which sends both Wilbur and the Dunwich Horror up in flames.