Inspirational Movies and TV for Dark Conspiracy

[Linden]

My brother pointed me in the direction of short film The Fisherman. He was of the view that this tale of a down on his luck Hong Kong sea farer battling an alien tentacle beast owed a fair bit to Lovecraft. Perhaps it does but there's more than a hint of Dark Conspiracy in there too. Wang the eponymous fisherman is very much a prole archetype - disabled, broke, in hock to a local businessman and desperate for a big catch. He gets his wish but not in the way he wanted - the alien interloper on his boat would make a great facsimile for the Tentacular ETs: About the right size and a lot more horrible than the vaguely cartoonish octopus men of the rulebook.

[ReHerakhte]

I get a similar vibe to the future-retroism of Dark Conspiracy from the movie It Follows.

Sure, it's about teenagers not trained professionals, but the way the wider world is not spoken about, and at the same time seems eerily underpopulated.

But especially the mix of vintage design elements like furniture, TVs and some cars paired with some futuristic consumer tech (the clamshell ebook reader) creates a vibe that I always associated with some of the original art in Dark Conspiracy.

Actually the movie made me finally purchase Dark Conspiracy.

I've seen It Follows some time back and quite liked it despite some of my friends thinking it was bad. It's interesting (to me at least!) that this movie was the one to convince you to buy Dark Conspiracy. There's plenty of other movies out there that would seem to be better suited but I agree with you about It Follows, the feel of the world is the one thing that most of my friends missed when they watched it but it's an important part of setting the tone of the movie. And it does fit well with the way the Mikes are portrayed in Dark Conspiracy.

[ReHerakhte]

My brother pointed me in the direction of short film The Fisherman. He was of the view that this tale of a down on his luck Hong Kong sea farer battling an alien tentacle beast owed a fair bit to Lovecraft. Perhaps it does but there's more than a hint of Dark Conspiracy in there too. Wang the eponymous fisherman is very much a prole archetype - disabled, broke, in hock to a local businessman and desperate for a big catch. He gets his wish but not in the way he wanted - the alien interloper on his boat would make a great facsimile for the Tentacular ETs: About the right size and a lot more horrible than the vaguely cartoonish octopus men of the rulebook.

I've been meaning to watch this at some point and knew the basic premise from some teasers I'd seen. I haven't seen the alien from the movie but I like your idea for it being a better Tentacular ET. If I can get my gaming crowd into a DarkCon game sometime this year I'm tempted to use it

[Linden]

I've been meaning to watch this at some point and knew the basic premise from some teasers I'd seen.

It took me a while to get round to seeing it but it is a little gem, well worth 20 minutes of your time. I watched it as part of an aquatic horror double bill with Proteus, the 1995 rip off of The Thing/Alien which is also quite DC: Genetic experiments create a monster and it's all the fault of an evil corporation. Not the best film in the world but I thought it was all right. Foreshadows Prometheus with its wicked-old-capitalist-who-doesnt-want-to-die theme.

[Morthrai]

Just yesterday I happened across this 1987 short which, while not made as a horror, is actually very weird in a JG Ballard via MR James sort of way. I'm not sure how come I've never heard of it until now, but it does confirm that very British suspiscion that you cannot trust London

https://youtu.be/hw6exAfUWMI

[ReHerakhte]

That was a great discovery Lee, I'd never heard of John Smith before so this was quite interesting for me.
Being Australian with a culture that's barely 200 years old, I'm still fascinated by some of the cultural beliefs of the "old world" and while I was aware of the British suspicion about Londond being as much a living entity as it is a city, this was a new take on the very little that I've seen on the subject.

For those interested in some of the details behind Smith's short film, I found this pdf (despite what happens to the narrator in the film, my curiousity got the better of me, I had to know exactly what the Black Tower was!)
http://johnsmithfilms.com/wp-content/up ... -Meyer.pdf

[Morthrai]

Has anybody seen the BBC adaptation of China Mieville's "The City & The City" yet? It contains a number of elements that could be useful for flavour in Dark Conspiracy, possibly including dimensional shifts, and the difference between the cities is like that between the haves and have-nots in DC. Also, the scenes set in Besźel are very much as I have always pictured the city streets in my DC world - grimy and filled with aging cheaply-built cars. Strange how parts of Liverpool and Manchester make such a convincing "faux Eastern Bloc" cityscape too

[Linden]

Has anybody seen the BBC adaptation of China Mieville's "The City & The City" yet? It contains a number of elements that could be useful for flavour in Dark Conspiracy, possibly including dimensional shifts, and the difference between the cities is like that between the haves and have-nots in DC. Also, the scenes set in Besźel are very much as I have always pictured the city streets in my DC world - grimy and filled with aging cheaply-built cars. Strange how parts of Liverpool and Manchester make such a convincing "faux Eastern Bloc" cityscape too

Not seen it, was sort of interested, but not enough to make an effort to watch it. Put off by Mieville's name to be honest. He always seems quite prententious in interviews and the one book I read by him, Kraken, I didn't reckon much to - like a poor man's Tim Powers with bits of undigested Clive Barker sprinkled in.

Watched Pan's Labyrinth last night. Perhaps a little too retro for Dark Conspiracy but I thought the places Ofelia visits when carrying out Pan's tasks had a touch of the Protodimension about them - the toad's lair could be in the Plague Lands while the Japanese eyeless ghoul could be residing in Gothic, or somewhere similar.

[Morthrai]

He always seems quite prententious in interviews and the one book I read by him, Kraken, I didn't reckon much to - like a poor man's Tim Powers with bits of undigested Clive Barker sprinkled in.

I have heard that from other sources, and must admit I know very little about him. Of his work, I have only read Perdido Street Station which was OK but I wanted to like it more than I did. I know he's an ex-gamer which is really the only reason I'm interested in his stuff at all.

As for Pan's Labyrinth, I haven't seen that in ages. Must have another look.

[ReHerakhte]

Haha, so I'm not the only one put off by Mieville's name.
I don't know anything much about him but my very first impression was that his name was some sort of gimmick for publicity. That sort of thing tends to give me a negative impression and while I was somewhat interested in some of his books, I still can't get past the name!

[Linden]

Haha, so I'm not the only one put off by Mieville's name.
I

Not his name per se, it's more I don't reckon him much as a writer. So if I see his name attached to a project I give it a miss.

[ReHerakhte]

Ah ha, I understand now.
Here in Australia there's a writer by the name of Tim Winton, I feel the same way about him. He writes stories set in Australia that are so overtly Australian that they're cringeworthy and while some of his stories seem to be of interest, I think he's a poor writer relying on "Aussie" stereotypes to get his stories across.

[Linden]

I suspect there's always going to be some writers you just don't "get". As I've said before I don't reckon much to Charles Stross's "Laundry" novels, but most Cthulhu geeks seem to regard them as the best thing since sliced bread.

[Morthrai]

I suspect there's always going to be some writers you just don't "get". As I've said before I don't reckon much to Charles Stross's "Laundry" novels, but most Cthulhu geeks seem to regard them as the best thing since sliced bread.

Definitely agree with that opinion. I've not read any Stross yet so I'm neutral on him but as you say the Laundry stuff is popular.

[Phulish]

The 1972 movie "The Legend of Boggy Creek" is a docudrama about an Arkansas "skunk-ape" like monster .