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**Overview**
"Cthulhu" (2007) is a horror film loosely adapted from H.P. Lovecraft's "The Shadow over Innsmouth," relocated to the Pacific Northwest. Directed by Dan Gildark, it features a gay protagonist, history professor Russ, who returns home for his mother's funeral and uncovers his father's cult tied to ancient sea horrors. This marks it as the first Lovecraft adaptation to center a homosexual lead, blending cosmic dread with queer identity struggles.[1][3][10]

**Plot Summary**
Russ reunites with childhood friend and lover Mike amid eerie discoveries like a warehouse of names and a sacrificial cudgel marked "Dagon." He faces cult rituals, rape, arrest, and pressure to procreate for an apocalyptic rite raising sea creatures. The story ends ambiguously with Russ ordered to sacrifice Mike, highlighting tensions between his sexuality, family legacy, and otherworldly threats.[5][8][1]

**Gay Themes and Interpretation**
Screenwriters framed the horror as a gay man's return to a repressive small town, exploiting metaphors of familial rejection and sexual shame. Russ's relationship with Mike offers rare positivity, contrasting grotesque heteronormative cult demands like forced impregnation. Critics note it prioritizes his orientation over pure Mythos elements, evoking homoerotic undertones in Lovecraft while critiquing societal norms.[3][1][5]

**Reception and Style**
The film premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival in 2007 and saw limited release in 2008. Reviews praise its unsettling atmosphere and queer lens but fault uneven pacing, ad-libbed dialogue, and deviations from Lovecraft fidelity. Indie horror fans appreciate its bold LGBTQ+ integration into cosmic horror, though some find the protagonist's actions illogical.[4][1][3][5]

[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cthulhu_(2007_film))
[2](https://www.facebook.com/groups/119441938068660/posts/4651627248183417/)
[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478126/)
[4](https://www.wyrmis.com/blots/2010/49/blot41517.html)
[5](https://www.reddit.com/r/Lovecraft/comments/21zkcn/discussion_of_the_film_cthulhu_2007_spoilers/)
[6](http://martianmigrainepress.com/CTHULHU-Is-The-Best-Lovecraftian-Film-You-Didnt-Watch)
[7](https://morbidlybeautiful.com/from-beyond-cthulhu/)
[8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soDSk0e9-ok)
[9](https://mubi.com/es/us/films/cthulhu)
[10](https://lovecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Cthulhu_(2007_film))