Another Hole in the Head Film Festival 2024 Coverage
Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep review
A Lovecraftian horror story not afraid to unleash its wild side…and wilder monster.
Festival reviews will not contain spoilers.
Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep
Directed by Chad Ferrin
Written by Chad Ferrin
Starring Edward Furlong, Bai Ling, Ginger Lynn, Cyril O’Reilly, Steve Railsback, Lew Temple, Robert Miano and Elina Madison
Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep Review
Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep is an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s 1919 short story Beyond the Wall of Sleep. I’ve never read that Lovecraft story…but I will safely assume it involved 100% less penis monsters. Yep…we’ve got a weird one. That’s a good thing, of course. Especially when considering a Lovecraft adaptation. They aren’t all fish smells and tentacle monsters, you know. At their best…they’re about creeping dread and uncovering a world of insanity. Aspects of the story that Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep get very right.
Dr. Ambrose London (Edward Furlong) investigates a patient named James Fhelleps (Robert Miano) who seems to be possessed by another man. Dr. London uses his dream technology to get into Fhelleps dreams…accidentally unleashing an alien that threatens to destroy the world.
That is some pure Lovecraftian horror right there. But I know you want to hear more about the penis monsters. We’re introduced to this wild concept early in the film. We see a flashback to the man (Joe Slater) who is possessing Fhelleps in prison. His cellmate attempts to intimidate him…and meets the business end of his penis monster. Later, we witness Dr. London experiencing Slater’s memory. In it, we see his penis monster defeating a second penis monster. It is exactly as it sounds. A penis shaped monster where a penis should be. With that out of the way…I will attempt to refrain from talking any more about the penis monster.
Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep comes to us from writer/director Chad Ferrin…no stranger to delivering wild and strange films. He’s well-suited for the filthy/crazy side of a Lovecraft adaptation. We last talked about Ferrin’s work in his recent release Scalper. Many of that film’s actors (including Miano) return here. Susan Priver has a lead role as Dr. Barnard, who aids Dr. London’s investigation at Arkham Asylum. The amazing Bai Ling pops up for the film’s final scene lending her unique insanity at the exact right time. Several other familiar faces pop up as well. Steve Railsback appears as a doctor as well. He missed out on Scalper but returns from Ferrin’s Night Caller…the move that Scalper is a sequel to.
It’s clear that Ferrin has assembled a troupe that understands what he wants to do…even when that is something downright insane. Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep often does something downright insane. One of my favorite Lovecraft inspired scenes comes at the end of John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness. John Trent (Sam Neill) emerges from his asylum and into a world of pure insanity. Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep takes some inspiration from this moment to complete its Lovecraftian tale. It’s an inspired moment that accomplishes what so many Lovecraft adaptations fail to…feel like a Lovecraft story.
Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep understand the key notes to play…but it struggles a bit with the music in between. It begins with the bonkers scene in the jail…has some great moments with a garbage disposal, and again with the corruption of asylum inmates. Another bonkers scene in a church…Bai Ling’s appearance…and the pitch perfect Lovecraftian ending. There is no shortage of standout scenes…but what happens in between them doesn’t make leave nearly the impact.
If you’re a fan of dick-ripping mayhem and (yeah, I’m going back to it) penis monsters…Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep has what you’re after. It also creates the appropriate feel for the material it is adapting. There might be a bit more waiting around for the next crazy thing to happen…but it never makes you wait very long. Chad Ferrin’s style and interests are a great fit for the kind of Lovecraftian insanity that makes for the best adaptations. Hopefully, we’ll see him revisit the author again in the future.
I purposely left a lot of plot discussion out of this review. Partially because the brief synopsis largely sums up the whole thing. Partially because it would take several pages to try and break it all down. That’s the duality of Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep. Easily distilled to a few simple surface level sentences…impossible to explain to someone in detail. It’s more about the experience. As all good Lovecraft adaptations are.
Scare Value
It was probably around the time of the monster-penis battle that I realized Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep is at its best when it goes utterly insane. That’s true of Lovecraft’s stories too. Which makes this one of the more successful adaptations as far as capturing a feeling is concerned. It gets deeper into that feeling as the story unfolds. And is the better for it.
