Lovecraft Country Episode 1 Review: I Can't Wait To See Where This interesting Interpretation Of Lovecraft's Work Leads

"Lovecraft Country" premiered on HBO on August 16, 220. It is based on a book by Matt Ruff and was adapted for thh screen by Misha Green. The ten episode series is executive produced by Jordan Peele, JJ Abrams, Ben Stephenson and Green.

It's the 1950s. Racism is rampant (especially in the Jim Crow South). Korean War vet Atticus "Tic" Freeman (Jonathan Majors) heads back to his hometown of Chicago. Tic is a big scifi fan. We see in the opening scene an imagined fight with UFOs, War Of The Worlds tripods, and a alien woman who comes down from her spaceship to embrace him. Tic reconnects with Uncle George (Courtney B Vance) who is doing a travel guide highlighting safe places African Americans can visit. Tic's father Montrose has gone missing but left Tic a letter as a clue to his whereabouts, They are looking for a place called Ardham Massachusetts but it's not on any map. It is supposedly in Bideford County. Tic, Uncle George and Letitia "Leti" (Jurnee Smollett) set out on an adventure.

I've only watched episode 1 thus far. The show is off to a great start. During their travels the group encounters all kinds of baddies (cops and white people). They are accosted by the police after sundown. The racists cops plan to blame some recent robberies on the trio and apparently lynch them. Those guys are the worst.

All of a sudden the group is attacked. Everyone runs for their lives. Body parts are flying. We see these galloping monsters. They're all teeth and eyes and claws. Great CGI by the way. I loved it! Uncle George determines that the monsters are similar to vampires. They dont like the light. Also, if someone gets bit, they also turn into one of them. Great transformation scene!

The trio eventually escapes and walks to a gigantic mansion. A man opens the door and says "We've been expecting you Mr Freeman. Welcome home". And we're off to the races.

This series is in part based on the work of HP Lovecraft. Back in the early part of the 20th Century (he died in 1937) Lovecraft invented a new genre of horror called "cosmic horror". It has all types of crazy monsters including Elder Gods, shoggoths, etc. His most famous creation is Cthulhu (he's the guy with the tentacled face that you see memes of everywhere). The only problem is that Lovecraft was IRL a big old racist. Controversy remains on how to deal with his legacy. The World Fantasy Award (which is actually several awards given for best fiction works in the previous year) had a likeness of Lovecraft on it until 2015 when writers petitioned for it to be removed. Previous winner Nnedi Okorafor says the award is particularly problematic to people of color. "A statuette of this racist man's head is in my home. A statuette of this racist man's head is one of my greatest honours as a writer". There is still work to do.

Grade 4 1/2 Monsters (out of 5). Off to a great start: Putting Lovecraft's cosmic horror world inside an extremely racist 1950s, is a very interesting choice. Obviously the most menacing monsters here are not those with a thousands eyes and tentacle heads. I hope the very racist Lovecraft is rolling over in his grave thanks to this new interpretation. Great cast, beautiful cinematography and top notch CGI monsters make 'Lovecraft Country" a must see.