The poster for "The Call of Cthulhu" (2005) is a visual homage to the iconic story penned by H.P. Lovecraft, masterfully capturing the essence of cosmic horror that defines Lovecraftian lore. It is steeped in the aura of the unknowable and the ancient, as it depicts the monstrous entity Cthulhu emerging from the depths of the city of R'lyeh. The towering figure of Cthulhu looms over the scene, an embodiment of ancient terror, with tentacles that suggest a deity-like dominance over earth and sea.
The artwork is crafted with a dramatic flair reminiscent of early 20th-century horror illustrations, appropriate for a film that is a silent adaptation, paying tribute to the style of filmmaking contemporary to Lovecraft's time. In the foreground, a fragile human vessel—a boat—bobs ominously on the water, dwarfed by the colossal, jagged structures of the sunken city which now breaches the ocean's surface.
Dominant colors of dark sepia, fiery orange, and murky sea-green create a palette that conjures a sense of aged parchment and timeless dread. This reinforces the film's anachronistic treatment as a silent movie, with the poster's font and design mimicking the era's cinematic promotions, hence transporting the viewer to the interwar period, a time rife with its own real-world anxieties and horrors.
The film itself is an exercise in retro cinema, meticulously crafted to resemble a 1920s silent film, complete with intertitles and a haunting, orchestral score. It adheres faithfully to Lovecraft's narrative, telling the tale of an investigation into a cult and the uncovering of Cthulhu's eldritch influence over the minds of men. "The Call of Cthulhu" is both a faithful adaptation of the source material and an artistic reflection on the medium of film itself, which the poster encapsulates in its atmospheric portrayal of one of literature's most enduring and enigmatic monsters.